I have a brother who is trying to come up with a way to masculinize (if thats a word- if its not, it should be) a sewing kit. How do I tactfully tell him that he wants to do the impossible?
Befuddled in Bethel
Dear Sir,
I'd be happy to answer your question, save for the fact that it is based on a false premise. You believe that to masculinize (and yes, that is indeed a word) a sewing kit is an impossible feat.
Not so! In fact, while outmoded minds may consider the art of sewing to be feminine in nature, we now live in the 21st century, where most items need not have gender roles assigned to them. It's a sewing kit, not a box of tampons. If your brother, who I am certain is a wise and bold young man, has decided that not only will he own a sewing kit, but that he wants to decorate or modify the pieces (say, creating a custom thimble that fits his hand better but is in the form of a Dalek from Doctor Who, and turning the box into a miniature TARDIS) to better fit his personality, then he's doing the most bold and masculine thing he can do!
Consider: I'd be willing to wager that both you and your brother have had ear piercings in your time. And say, hypothetically, that your father was a bit old-fashioned with respect to changes in fashion, so he might have objected at various times, finding earrings to be effeminate, a grievous sin, in his eyes, for his sons to commit. Now, I bet that brother of yours, even as a young teenager, was astute enough to remind your father that ear piercing, historically, has not been a gender specific concept, and has only been forced into such during say, the days of your father's youth, and the cultures that preceded said father's youth. Did having a piece of metal in your ears make you any less a man?
Thus with the sewing kit. This is not exclusive to one gender or another, and customization, maybe because it came in a box that happens to be a soft pink, and doesn't stay closed very well, and is awkward in size/shape overall, is probably wise. Your brother doesn't feel feminine because he's GOT a sewing kit-- he just doesn't like the colors assigned to some of the accessories, the failure at proper closures, and awkward size/shape, and chooses to make them more conducive to his own personal tastes, while perhaps paying homage to a great British scifi show.
You should be ashamed of yourself for making fun of your brother, especially since he could still probably kick your ass as he did back in the day, when he was a much more cruel and unkind person.
I hope this has helped you.
Always listening,
Dr. Sunday
PS-- Give my love to your little ones, and tell Mom & Dad I said hello.
***Editorial Note, for background purposes: This message comes in response to a conversation which took place on my twitter page, wherein I suggested that, since I had such a hard time finding a good thimble or a sewing kit that wasn't feeble in appearance, that I would make a more "masculine" or perhaps merely a "geek" version, likely by making my thimble into a Dalek and the kit box into a TARDIS, and so on, because Doctor Who is, quite frankly, the shit. And yes, this was my brother who asked the question-- I break confidentiality only with his approval.***
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