Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Man! I Don't Feel Like a Woman



Do you ever feel less than womanly?  I'm not talking about when you stay in your pajamas all day, I'm talking about your interests or non-interests.  I know I do.  Here are a few examples.

I do not like crafts. Let me rephrase that, I appreciate crafts, but I do not enjoy the art of crafting.  Sewing, making cards, scrapbooking-- whatever requires creativity.  I have detested this since I was in grade school, when I'd have to make things like Valentine's boxes, posters, and little things during art period and would inevitably feel sub par when I compared my stuff to my peer's stuff.   Crafts do not interest me.  I hope my kids won't pick up on this because we definitely do not have craft time around here.  They are lucky if I pull out a piece of paper and encourage them to color.

I can't bake. This is kind of a lie.  I am sure I can bake, but I prefer not to bake.  Baked goods are rarely seen in our kitchen.  If you do find some, they were probably store bought.  Unless they look horribly mottled, then they might have been something I tried to make.   There is a good side to this: We don't have a problem with junk food at our house.  Unless you include chocolate candy bars--which I don't.  Survival, people, survival.

I prefer action over romance. I don't mean romantic evenings with my husband, I am referring to romantic themes in movies, books, and TV shows.  When Ben and I married, I forbade him to ever bring chick flicks homes.  In my mind I think, how many different ways can a girl/guy get their love interest?  We are on a strict action/adventure, espionage, and crime show diet.  I believe we have been chick flick free for over 5 months now.  Thankfully, Ben is cool with this arrangement.  Though he doesn't like that I boo/laugh at romantic scenes in the movies or television shows we watch.

While I don't prefer chick lit, I will read it occasionally.  Especially if it is well written.  (I have some awesome blog friends (Melanie and Aidan) who write chick lit, and I'd read their stuff any day.  Well...at least those days that I'm not involved in my crime books. )

While my interests don't always align with my girl friends' interests, I don't necessarily feel like an outsider.  Only sometimes do we clash--like when they want to have a craft, chick flick, or baking party.  Shudder.

Please tell me I'm not the only one.

13 comments:

  1. [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Amber, Amber. Amber said: My confessions--http://wp.me/p18NsG-hi #nablopomo [...]

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  2. Okay so in this I think we are opposite. I enjoy all the things you list here, I just wish I had more time to do them. I am decidedly girly! Which is why sometimes I wish I had a daughter to share it with. My stepmother and I share little in this regard. Sigh....

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  3. Hm.. Well, I agree with you about the crafty thing - I'm hopeless when it comes to that kind of stuff- or decorating in general. That's why my house still has barely anything on the wall, no drapes, etc, even though we've lived there for over a year.



    Baking - If it's out of a box, usually works - my other attempts tend to fail..



    But, I do love chick flicks and romance... Sorry! haha.



    Two out of three isn't bad. Oh, and chocolate candy bars totally don't count as junk food!

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  4. This post made me smile, Amber.

    I love a good romance. I love to bake (when I have time). I love to quilt. I adore art, fashion, and as everyone knows... shoes. Pretty girly, right?

    At the same time, my taste in terms of style is very un-girly. I love styles that are clean and simply. Unfrilly. More than likely, a room decorated "for a woman" would turn my stomach, whereas a room decorated "for a man" would please me - as long as I could add wild contemporary art and tons of books.

    I also choose to think like a man - in some ways, about some things. Because it suits me, in some things.

    The net? I think we ought to pick and choose what feels right to us, and enjoy it! (And now I'm off to put on my pumps and bake a cake! OK. Kidding.)

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  5. Ha! Well, I love crafts. I cook every day, but I leave most of the baking to my husband (a good balance, right?). And I prefer comedy over romance - in the movies and life, almost all of the time. If there's comedy and a little romance and some artful thieves, all the better! I value practicality in a sometimes un-womanly kind of way. But I balance that with some cute shoes, and you'd never know. :)

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  6. I LOVE me a good action movie. I'm always the one who has to convince my husband to go with me.



    I do like baking, but I don't scrapbook OR have a Costco membership.

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  7. Oh I want to hug you. We are so alike it's scary! I don't care for crafts - the only thing I do indulge in once a year is in making cards, and that's just around my daughter's birthday. Really, I'm doing it for her (even though she's not quite old enough to appreciate it yet, so I don't know why I even bother).



    Baking? I can do it, but I don't like it because it's so restrictive. Reading and following instructions are not my forte and I find that restrictive. I love cooking because I can improvise - I'm not a recipe follower.



    As for romance v. action - give me action any day. I hate Rom Coms and chick flicks or chick lit but I can really get into watching action-packed adventures all day. Like Terminator, the Lord of the Rings, etc. The louder the better :) If I do want to nurture my romantic side, I go for something a little more off the wall like Secretary and Lost in Translation. But shows like 27 dresses and the like? No thank you!

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  8. I am not crafty either, but pretend well. My daughter absolutely loves crafts and so I get roped into trying to attempt them. Have never been a baker, but love to eat homemade baked goods. Some days I prefer football over a romantic movie. Amber, you are not the only one.

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  9. Ok, so I'm crafty and I actually like to bake on the odd occasion that I get around to it but I hate chick flicks and even chick lit is, well? borderline.



    Don't worry, it doesn't define you as a woman, or rather it does define you, it just doesn't make you less womanly. To each her own!

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  10. LOL! I totally hate doing anything crafty! Ugh!



    As for baking, there are a few things that I don't mind baking once in a while, but I don't love to do it. Sometimes it's just because I don't want to waste bananas! But I definitely don't have a passion for it and I can't make anything amazing or fancy.



    I'm with you about action over romance. Well, not action like guns and fighting, more like drama like true crime shows that you mentioned. I'll watch a chick flick once in a while (hubby doesn't mind them either), but books are the worst - I really don't like girly, cheesy love story books.



    So no, you're not the only one! :-)

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  11. Viva la baking, down with crafting! And thanks for the shout out!

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  12. [...] thought that in writing about my non-womanly likes (and dislikes) would help me to stop comparing myself to other women who do enjoy crafts, baking, [...]

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  13. As a physics education major who loves reading history and cringes through chick-lit, I get this post. Although I started out marriage hating baking and crafts, but found my groove with both. Never have found my cleaning and laundry groove, though.

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