5 ms·

It makes me sad that this is a "celebration of girlhood" but boys are not even mentioned in this article. Why can't boys also practice hobbyhorse training?

• saagarjha 8y ago
  > boys are not even mentioned in this article They are: > she is at home in the world of hobbyhorses, where boys and grown-ups have no place.
• daliusd 8y ago
  It seems boys can, they simply don't. It seems for some reason it became girly thing in Finland (like fake eye lashes, maybe) and boys avoid it. Citation from another article: """ There doesn’t seem to be that many boys riding hobbyhorses? Alisa: I think it’s quite sad, actually. It feels like boys aren’t allowed to do this thing that is considered to be a girly thing. At the same time, I think it also means we have a strong sense of feminism in this community. It’s a place for girls to do what they want. But the boys we do have are very much welcomed and included. """ http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/36050/1/hobbyhorse-finlands-bizarre-stick-riding-craze http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/36050/1/h...
  • close04 8y ago
    > It seems boys can, they simply don't Society and entourage treats a boy doing this far worse than it would a girl doing it. I can only imagine the kind of bullying I would have opened myself up to by doing this in my childhood (say at 10+ years old). I remember some of my friends being laughed at by their own parents for playing "girlish" games. Bullies were far less forgiving. It's a good case study to understand why many women avoid certain fields not because they're not up to it but because society "guides" them another way.
  • belorn 8y ago
    I have a hard time imagine a area where boys would be allowed to have a similar community with that skewed gender ratios. The common assumption is that any gender segregation is caused by the minority being discriminated against. If competitive hobbyhorse riding officially became a sport here in Sweden it would have to follow some recent laws dictating affirmative action within the sport organization. A minimum of 40% men and women. No exceptions.
    • whenchamenia 8y ago
      So if 40% of boys were not interested, it would be denied to girls? That seems noble in intent, but draconian in application.
      • blattimwind 8y ago
        How exactly does that seem noble?
      • icebraining 8y ago
        From what I can tell from a short search, it seems it's 40% of the board of the organization, not 40% of the members.
        • belorn 8y ago
          That is right, but the political discussion around it involved more than just the board. The idea is that the organizations need to become more welcoming and as a start the government want that the boards get a minimum of 40% men and women. Recent survey show that two national organizations that manage a major sport has failed to comply. Ice hockey and horse riding. 80% men in one, 80% women in the other.
    • mcguire 8y ago
      Software development?
    • deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
• mogadsheu 8y ago
  >boys are not even mentioned in this article. Why can't boys also practice hobbyhorse training? They could, but my guess is that they get more into cars. Some of the best motorsports athletes of all time (Raikonnen in F1, Makinen in rally) have come from Finland.