If you have taken one of my classes, or heard me talk or "get on my soap box", then you know that I think that men should be more involved in scrapbooking/memory keeping. They have an important story to tell, and a different perspective on events and life than a woman does. I am always encouraging women to get the men in their lives involved. Men are just as creative as women are, and even if they aren't "creative" they can still create pages and albums that will look awesome and be treasured by present and future generations. An easy way to start is to get them to help you with your journaling. They will remember things that you forgot or look at it differently.
I was talking with one of our customers, Tim, who is a male and is a scrapbooker (way to go Tim!) about this whole concept and was asking him his thoughts on how to get men more involved in scrapbooking. He feels that part of the problem is the "genderizing" that occurs within the industry, and we are all guilty of this. Scrapbooking isn't just a female hobby just as it isn't just a creative hobby. Anybody can and should scrapbook/memory keep. He had a few thoughts he emailed me to share with you.
Arts and crafts. Handicrafts. Needlecrafts. Hobbies. Ok, more specifically,let’s talk paper crafts. Card making and scrapbooking to be exact. How many times have you heard “oh that’s for women” or “that’s a girl thing”? How about the number of scrapbooking tools that are pink!!!?? Papers that are hearts and flowers in pastel colours??!! I concede that the target audience is women for the most part. At least that’s how scrapbooking, card making and paper crafting are being primarily marketed. There is a huge untapped male market out there.
Just as not every woman wants to scrapbook, not every man wants to have his head stuck under the hood of his vehicle. It’s stereotyping at its worst – and let’s not pretend that we are not guilty of it! I believe I can safely say that we have all made a gaff or two whether intentionally or accidentally. I think our society is much less sophisticated overall than we like to suppose that we are. Instead, let’s concentrate on the creative aspect of this endeavor.
Since when is creativity masculine or feminine?? There are tremendous artists around the world in every facet of artistic passion. And, yes, I believe scrapbooking is art. Who’s to say what’s good or bad? That’s the whole point. It’s a personal work and you do what appeals to you. Some create for themselves while others create for future generations. The reasons for scrapbooking are personal and individual.
While
some are actively seeking ways to bring men into this hobby, there are
too many others working against the proposal – mostly unintentional I
believe. How many emails open with “hello ladies” or“hey girls”?? I’ve had myself removed from email distributions list on this basis. I have been a crafter all of my life but I have been “officially” scrapbooking for over eight years. I
consider myself to be fairly well known in the local scrapbooking world
so I find it offensive to receive emails that exclude my gender. I have had these emails from businessmen as well so neither gender is innocent.
I’ve heard often of husband and wife teams that scrapbook together. What an opportunity to share!! Share your life and your passion while maintaining your individual creativity!! What a novel idea (sarcasm intended)!! One of the national scrapbooking magazines – yes, a Canadian magazine – has a man on its editorial board. Don’t think I wasn’t extremely happy when I found this out. There are some forward thinking people out there and they are making slow progress in this arena.
Unfortunately,until
society in general stops labeling and “genderizing” everything we touch
we will not see a lot of men in this arena. There will, however, always be that small group that is comfortable enough in their own skins to do as they choose. Bravo to this merry band!! I applaud every effort to bring more men into the realm. I can only urge men and supportive women to keep at it, enjoy your craft and don’t be afraid to crow about it. It’s all good!!!!
Tim
So, try to get the men in your life involved in scrapbooking, and if you are a male scrapbooker (and bravo if you are!), try to get the women in your life involved. Share your passion and hobby with others - male, female and kids too! And if you can think of some ways to help get the message out to more men that this "hobby" is important, let me know.
Michele
