On Demand
The Importance of Being Handy
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Should men today know how to cut metal, solder circuit boards, or hammer nails? Glenn Reynolds, who writes the blog, Instapundit and is a law professor at the University of Tennessee, thinks they should have the same traditional skills as their fathers. We ask him why it matters.
- About the Brian Lehrer Show »
- Staff Bios »
- Contact Us »
- Tapes and Transcripts »
- Latest Episode »
- Show Archive »
Features & Series
Podcast
Stay up to date.
Subscribe to the Podcast
YOU PRODUCE The Brian Lehrer Show
Be a listener-producer with facts, questions and people you'd like to hear on the air.
More
The Brian Lehrer Show Scrapbook
Visit the scrapbook for daily photos and miscellany from The Brian Lehrer Show.
More
Shop at Amazon!
The Brian Lehrer Show picks
Start your Amazon shopping on WNYC.org and a portion of your total purchase goes to WNYC.
More
Comments
Refresh
My girlfriend laughed when she heard about this segment. She's the handy one in our household. Everything I hang on the wall is crooked or eventually falls down.
But then, I'm the chef in the house. Her cooking specialties are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cereal.
What about women? Although I am not nearly as handy as my dad was, his example made me feel like I can try almost anything. I can cut metal, hammer nails, tile a bathroom, cut down trees, refinish a floor, paint anything, and fix some things. I think it is important for women to be able to do these things too.
Reynolds is a right wing hack whose views on ANYTHING are suspect. Cf. http://instaputz.blogspot.com/
That said, I had to hang light fixtures and fix leaks in our house because my Dad couldn't do it. My father had trouble mastering shoes trees, bless his heart.
What premise is this? That our fathers were bad teachers? That we're flabby dunces? That our mothers don't handle power tools? That we don't?
Weak. Just weak.
The men I know that can't fix things seem to have fathers that didn't fix things or didn't want the kids around when they fixed things. So when my son was born I told my wife that I would fix things in front of him and tell him what I'm doing. She loved the idea that he would be curious about how things worked.
He's two years old now and to some extent troubleshoots his toys when they don't work. He understands that sometimes we don't have spare batteries and he has to wait for us to go shopping. He understands when a toy is broken and sometimes how it happened, so he's learning what not to do. He also applies this to larger objects like the fridge or a car and that sometimes we have to call a repair man to fix things.
I can't help thinking that a man (or woman) who doesn't know how to fix things) looks to me like a person who hasnt' enough curiosity about how things work, and hasn't the assertiveness to take control of his/her environment. This is very unattractive in anyone, but particularly in a man.
I may be wrong, but that's how I feel! I think a man should be able to do at least as much, repair-wise, as I can. (Unfortunately, I can do quite a lot!)
I was sitting back and admiring a cabinet I built for my girlfriend and bought at IKEA a few months ago. I then remembered that by my age (28) my uncle had built his own house. This uncle has gone on to build his own ocean going fishing boat. I felt shamed (as I should have).
My dad taught me how to be handy when it came to cars. What I lament now is that most vehicles are almost impossible to do your own repairs or mainatenace. Have you tried adjusting your sparkplugs latley in any car built after 1995?
Growing up in a contractor's household, not only am I very handy, but have become very controlling about how things get done. Also, the inevitable comparison of "your man" to "the man your father was", I have had a hard time being OK with men I've dated not being as super-handy as my own father. I want a man who can build me a house! But, I'd be willing to trade great cooking skills for handiness, because I am a pathetic cook & actually really enjoy handy stuff.
My father is not handy at all but my mother is and I learned from her. I am more handy than my husband who is what you call a "hack." My husband believes he is handy and can accomplish tasks but not without breaking something and cursing up a storm. That said, his father is not handy at all and would never even attempt to teach him how to fix something whereas my mother would take the time to show me things and we got enjoyment out of doing projects together.
This is about a 'cultural moment' where gender roles that prescribe what a man does (fixing things) and what a women does (cooking) no longer need to be subscribed to! Why not talk about both men and women and how handy they are not just men!
The Lowes ad is making fun of straight men. Gay men are far more handy than their straight counterparts.
My neighbor is a contractor of sorts. His little
van has a big writing which reads "we repair what your husband fixed".
A quick and related question: How many women of that same age group know how to cook? In my experience of that age group, of which I am a part, the vast majority of women do not know how to cook while the men do cook, and quite well. Maybe there has been a larger shift of skills for men toward domestic skills that were once considered their mother's skills, as women have left many of the domestic skills behind altogether.
I just moved in with my girlfriend and the number of tools she brought to our household outnumbered mine 100 to 1. Her dad is extremely handy and imparted that on her, where as my dad didn't really have those skills. But when it comes to setting up a wireless network, fixing the computer, or helping an injured iPod, I could teach my girlfriend and her father a lot. I don't feel less manly because I can't build something, but I do want to become more handy as a means of improving my connection to my environment.
I wonder what relation this has to the involvement of Boys in The Boy Scouts. Troupes that would teach you these things all the time, and I rarely hear about these things now-a-days.
Why are we reinforcing gender typing by lamenting mens' inability to do handy work? Being handy is important for everyone - not just men. While I worked in factories and refurbished my furniture in my past, my husband pursued more cerebral routes and saw much more of the world than I did. He's not handy, but he is well-traveled. So I can put together the furniture and determine what to do about the car if it malfunctions. He can work on getting us tickets to Paris.
And by the way... why can't the woman in the Lowe's commercial get off her toosh and install the bathroom herself?
Was talking to engineering profs from Pratt recently. They said they have students who have never used a hammer. Reason: No summer work on construction -- once a traditional summer activity. They've been displaced by illegals.
I think that everyone should learn the basic skills of working with the basic tools (screwdriver, hammer, pliers, drill, changing a car tire, etc...) for these are essential when person has situation where immediate attention is needed to fix something for the short term.
Hi,
I am proud of my husband who can do so many varied things. He can:
fix cars,
do flooring,
mechanical-electrical things,
carpenter job,
and a lot of many other things.
A huge benefit of having a handy-husband is that it saves a tons of money in long run. We just re-innovated our family room which could have cost us thousands of dollars.
I sure will tell my daughter to go for the one who os handy (qualification on dating resume....haha).
My sister's husband is not handy and a lot of times I have heard from her that 'he is so dumb'. So I think, it's very important for a man to be handy.
Thanks,
Overall gender roles have changed, I am 33 year old woman and I am a terrible "housewife", I don't like cleaning, laundry and other typical "women" chores (but I do them). I think the division of labour has generally changed and things tend to be more balanced. What I think is important, as Glenn is saying, that both boys and girls be taught all chores that are useful for life. These chores do not make us more masculine or feminine... we need to learn to do all chores to be able to function in life (our gender is irrelevant!)
I'm not handy at all... My friend and I took a road trip to LA from Milwaukee. On the way back, we hit a huge pothole in Nebraska; at night!
We pulled over and I changed the tire. I've never changed a tire before and I never learned how to. I really bent the rim (my step-dad had to replace it) because I thought it would "pop-off". After many attempts, the rim did not "pop-off" and I changed my strategy. I eventually removed the flat tire and fixed it!
I rule!
It is very important that both males and females have a basic knowledge of handywork. I am mostly an academic, but I feel I have an above average knowledge of construction, auto repair, etc. I am always amazed at the lack of knowledge of my peers. Handywork is not actually a skill about knowing how to fix things but skills in improvising, confidence, and problem solving--skills that too many people lack. Handywork develops a greater sense of one’s surroundings and environment.
Are there any particular "Do it Yourself" books, periodicals, manuals, etc. re: house hold & automobile fixes that Mr. Reynolds suggest absolutely clueless people like myself should read to get a basic understanding?
My dad was a farm kid from Nebraska. He and his brothers are still handy. Even now in his seventies, my dad is still doing things like hanging dry wall on the ceiling, hanging fans, polishing the hard wood floors and any number of do it yourself home repairs.
I spent my childhood, and adolescence watching and helping my dad do this stuff. Which is why last summer I spent a week fixing the broken boards, and reshingling the porch roof. He made sure that I knew how to hang drywall, fix plaster lathe walls and change car tires.
More than anything I learned the DIY ethic. On my own, I've learned to build walls, run electrical outlets, install lighting. I've also learned that I should take an initiative in learning how to fix things that are daily parts of my life. To that end, I've become a pretty handy bike mechanic and computer repair guy. And have mostly taught myself my trade; computer programming.
My dad never wrote a check for something he thought he could do himself, and that is one of the most important things he taught me growing up. He instilled the confidence in me to learn how to do things on my own, and do them.
I am old enough to remember "Ozzie and Harriet" and "The Stu Irwin Show" from the 50s and TV has always used the bumbling buffoon husband/father for comedic effect. This is nothing new.
Also, I never took shop, but in 1963 when I was 14 my family moved into an 80 year-old house that needed a LOT of work. My father, my brother, and I all learned to be very handy the hard way. So did my mother.
I think it is a question of what men and women are doing. Women sewed, did laundry, farmed. When the machinery of those chores break down, I bet there are many women who learn to fix the broken machines of their task. Some won't, but some will. Just as men drove, farmed, built things. Many many to save money will do themselves. But they don' have time, they get a professional to do it. I do believe that people just don't have the time to fix it themselves. Nowadays, too, when the machines like a car break down, it is way too difficult to fix without instruction.
(Two comments today, I'm on a roll!)
I think it is in part due to increasing specialization in all areas. My grandfather was an engineer with over 100 patents. When he died, in the mid-90s, my brother, who is an astrophysicist, talked about how my grandfather's generation was the last where someone could have an idea for something, draw the plans, machine the parts, and then build it themselves, while engineers and scientists nowadays work very differently, each working on one area of focus within a large group of researchers.
I am as handy as my mother was, and I'm the handy one in my marriage. I put up shelves, lay down floors, paint, put up sheet rock and everything in between. My husband has no interest.
Mr. Lehrer:
This is just a curiosity. I can remember back to my high school social studies class in the early 1970's. The teacher assigned us to read articles that proposed different explanations for the campus radical activities of that era. One article entitled "The Roots of Radicalism", unfortunately I don't remember the author, proposed that campus radicalism was due to the change in the nature of work. Specifically, the argument that because children of the mid 20th century, especially the children of white collar workers, did not see their fathers perform actual physical labor, they did not develop an understanding that the fathers actually worked for their livings, and thus developed a disrespect for authority that they transferred to their campus teachers and administrators.
Somehow, I don't think this explanation would go very far nowadays.
a few points. #1 - Everyone has less time to do any of the things they wnat these days, because we all work too much, irregular hours, etc. So, it's in the long run cheaper to have somebody else do it. #2 - Many formerly fixable things are not fixable anymore. Either they are too complicate, or to inexpensive to make it worhtwhile. It used to be you could tune up your own car - can't do it anymore, you probably need a computer or at least special tools to do it. So, a kid/guy today is not going to learn by doing the simple things like changing your oil, doing brakes, etc. Fix your toaster? No, you will probably throw it away and buy a new one - much cheaper.
Who was that quote by, that ended in 'specialization is for insects'?? anyone?
Mr. Lehrer:
This is just a curiosity. I can remember back to my high school social studies class in the early 1970's. The teacher assigned us to read articles that proposed different explanations for the campus radical activities of that era. One article entitled "The Roots of Radicalism", unfortunately I don't remember the author, proposed that campus radicalism was due to the change in the nature of work. Specifically, the argument that because children of the mid 20th century, especially the children of white collar workers, did not see their fathers perform actual physical labor, they did not develop an understanding that the fathers actually worked for their livings, and thus developed a disrespect for authority that they transferred to their campus teachers and administrators.
Somehow, I don't think this explanation would go very far nowadays.
I think the sitcom scenarios Glenn Reynolds referenced send a more complex message than "men are incompetent idiots"...what i think they point to is a) men can't do many of the things their fathers could, per this discussion and b) they will plow ahead acting as if they can because of female expectations, at times with disastrous results.
I'm a single mother of a young son. I've always been handy - always doing things myself. I learned much of it from my father. I want my son to see me changing lightbulbs, fixing broken appliances, hanging pictures, climbing ladders. I'm the primary role model and feel good about the fact that he won't miss out on observing this aspect of managing a household.
Stop calling this a 'stat.' It's nothing more than a supposition based on advertisements and anecdote. Idle speculation does not statistics make.
My wife and I do volunteer work with the local community theatres and as a consequence she has become pretty adept with hand tools. I think the major problem with my skills is that I lack the space and the equipment to do many of the things that I would like to. My son, who is in his early twenties does not really have that many mechanical skills.
I think in our (coastal) society today, men have very much fewer ways to express their masculinity, whereas women always can express their femininity through fashion.... I think this is one of the causes of confusion between the genders, when men cannot express this... to the disappointment of both genders.
another thing - there is still a hacker culture out there though - See the recent O'Reilly magazine MAKE: http://www.makezine.com/
I wonder if home ownership amongst men in the age group you are describing effects this statistic. Renters are less likely to learn how to hang dry wall or rewire an outlet if they don't feel ownership in their home.
Dave.. I totally agree with you and I can't believe it.. you're from High Bridge too!
For what it's worth, radio broadcaster—and gadfly—Jean Shepherd once talked about a trend in modern writing, media & culture that "celebrated" the incomptence of things. The kind of culture in which people write essays and proudly declare, "Hey, I can't do this? Who can do something like this?" And this piece reminds me of that sentiment. It's quite sad to see that being "helpless" is now a measure of social status. And bemoaning how "complex" things are is now an overused premise in modern essays and discourse.
Definitely an issue. I remember that my dad was more than a little surprised when he found out a couple of years ago that I actually WAS able to knock in a nail, and a female friend of mine has been trying recently to restore the last remnants of my (illusion of?) masculinity by letting me set up the TV set and DVD player in her living room before movie nights. Sad, isn't it?
Being handy in very important for men and women. It gives you control over your environment. I learned it under the stern eye of my father and grand father. I hated the yelling, but it's great to have those skills now. For big jobs it puts you in a better position when talking with the carpenter or mechanic. I see my son starting to get less handy. He wanted a video game and cell phone for his birthday. He received a bicycle and a copy of "The Dangerous Book for Boys", (He is 11).
Stwart.
Maybe in Tennessee this passes for wisdom, but this is NYC, guys. Time spent fixing the sink is time wasted when you could be 1) playing a musical instrument; 2) reading Donne; 3) exploring your psychedelic perimeter (i.e., getting wasted); 4) engaging in lewd practices that Senators from Louisiana could only dream of. Pay the super his nickel and get on with life!
For millenia, up until only very, very recently, most men did nothing but move around masses of stone, wood, crops, animals or other men.
I remember a time when dealing with the hard physical world was a giant, seemingly necessary source of male pride; and men would feel DEEPLY insulted if they were accused of helping the little lady do the dishes.
I believe that if you brought one of those guys from the 30s or 40s into the 21st Century, one of the first things that would happen is that they, with roughened muscles and fingers, would break everything in sight, all the electronic niceties we have been trained since the 60s to handle.
I think there is a larger concept that is being overlooked here. Things are no longer built to be "repaired". Rather they are built to be replaced. There was a time when you could fix a broken TV, Radio or even Toaster. When's that last time that you heard of someone fixing a toaster.
keith
I was at a physician's office in on the Upper East Side. I was telling a female employee about my age that I just had a fun weekend with my 6 yr old grandson fishing upstate NY. He caught tons of sunnies. She said she was fishing on the lake in Central Park with her 10 yr old grandson, but he didn't catch anything. I asked if she used bait and she said they put bread in the lake and the fish ate it, but he did not catch anything, there was no bread on the hook. I immediately told her about the Dangerous Book for boys which I received as gift from WNYC. She said he kissed the book, was so excited, started gathering material to make a battery and took it to school the next morning! A great book for girls and boys. By the way, my husband is very handy, but he tells everyone he married me because I came with a box full of tools.
Perhaps handiness is a biological imperative. I fixed my fiances broken hair straightening iron and you would have though I was Brad Pitt. She tells me that I am at my sexiest when I have tools in my hands. Each piece of Ikea assembled leads to a romance. Who knew? Perhaps single men need to take this into consideration.
What about the recent New Yorker cartoon that showed a female praying mantiss saying "after we have sex and before I eat your head off, do you mind hanging some shelves".
isn't it interesting that these are the same skills needed for the jobs labled in the imigration debate as "jobs americans won't do"?
i also agree that tv shows and commercials really dictate (and very negativly) the american "man" image right now.
I am extremely handy but it is because of interest, not example. My father died when I was 5 but I have always liked to build things (starting with go carts, of course), advancing to adding rooms onto houses, electrical, plumbing, etc. Plastering is my specialty which might be in my genes - great grandpa was a platerer !
On the contrary, I have NEVER touched a car engine.
Why is everyone making a big deal of the Lowes ad? They are simply targeting women to shop at their stores.
I think this may be an economic issue as much as it is a social issue. Growing up, my family didn't have two pennies to rub together half the time, so we had to learn how to fix things when they broke. My dad learned and then taught all of my brothers and I how to do most everything in home construction, plumbing, electrical, fixing cars, etc... To this day, I still replace my own brakes/oil/alternators and other easy fixes on our cars even though we certainly don't need to do it ourselves.
I struggle with the fact that my children will not learn as much b/c we simply won't have as many things that need to be fixed around, and if we do we often don't have the time to do it ourselves so we hire someone!
I am one of a half dozen people (my Dad included) I know who could be considered handy. I do it all from electricity and plumbing to masonry and auto repair as good (IMHO) as any "professional". If there is something I haven't done before I read and look at examples of other's work before I attempt it but I will always attempt it. I am also trying to pass this knowledge and attitude down to my four children so they are able to be self-sufficient. Even if they choose not to be handy, they will be able to deal with the professionals on their own turf and not be victimized by the unscrupulous ones.
Just another thing too ... A photographer friend of mine, a woman, in fact, takes great pride in mounting from scratch her photos. All the mechanics of it. Same is true for all the tools of her trade which you can imagine is enormously machine dependent. She not only puts the right ink or puts together the right chemicals, but fixes the lab herself because she loves all the stuff involved in her art -- photography. Even built her own dark room with her husband's help ... I do believe it goes to what you are deeply interested in. This is the profoundest difference of our generations. Necessities have changed nowadays. My generation (I am 56) often only does what it really has some kind of interest. In the past, you had to fix thing on your own no matter what. Nowadays, you can pay for someone to do it or have a handy friend who would love to do it for you. Products answer all the daily needs. And what's more, when they break, it is almost better to buy the next generation object because it will tricks to it that make it better, faster, easier to manipulate. This doesn't foster handiness. (I helped build a split-level house with my dad when I was in 7th grade because my dad was handy and had lots of things to do in building his house. He was also an engineer. I became handy by force but am an editor writer now and know how to do practical things almost by luck.)
I think that we should be careful to avoid assuming that work that involves tools is not "intellectual". This term was used as a contrast in the radio segment to the manual skills discussed. I find that many of the problems that my husband (who is a very handy "blue collar" worker) has solved required high level mathematical and analytical skills. I admire his intellectual ability. Many of his friends and co-workers do not have a college education, but I feel that they are just as smart as many of the people that I work with who have Masters degrees.
This topic elicits many issues. Concerning the "cultural moment," I believe American's must aware of the modern world's effect on us. American's must be able to both enhance their modern skill set to meet the global economy, as well as keep traditional skills most American's once had. These skills are based on self-sufficiency, a "just do it" attitude, and basic tool use. We need to be cognizant of the message the media puts forth to further the economic aim of dependency and of a service orientated economy. This doesn't mean all things in our society are aimed this way, but the lack of skills today is circumstantial evidence the effect is clear. It also doesn't mean the modern skill sets such as IT work and air traffic control are not impressive in themselves. We can have both, as long as we hold to our values as a People who control our own destiny and shape our physical environment. An example of a cultural threat is the safety of urban people and the ability of American's to turn off gas properly when there is a gas leak. We need to pass on these skills to our children, and keep to traditional values of self-sufficiency in the American citizenry.
I do wonder what the role of single parenting has in this. I was raised by a single mom, though she would hammer a nail with the best of them. As others have intimated here, there are many small teaching moments that occur between parents and children. Seeing your dad (or mom) pull out a toolbox and repair a bicycle of hang a picture, there are so many other lessons in those jobs...patience, having the right tools for the job, measure twice cut once, etc., etc.
I think single moms want their sons to "be a man" but in many cases don't know how to impart that knowledge. I'm not knocking moms, just acknowledging the challenge of the task.
For my part, I didn't really get my knuckles scraped up until I was an adult and bought a motorcycle. Don't mind telling you that I was very proud of myself the first time I changed the oil and more so later when I put on a new clutch cable (though that required an emergency phone call to a mechanic friend of mine).
I do believe women prefer a man who can handle himself. Thing is men also prefer a woman who can handle herself.
To be handy, one needs tools. Have you priced, say, a miter saw, at Lowe’s? Mine cost $180.99—and that was the sale price. Add a reciprocating saw, a Bosch cordless drill…you get the idea.
Oh, and don’t forget the subscription to Popular Mechanics.
Robert A. Hayzer
I’m a mechanical engineer. I grew up in Pennsylvania surrounded by kids who built their own cars and engines before they were old enough to drive. I read books on how to autoclave prepreg carbon fiber. I’m designing a custom fuel injection system for my race car. Engineering is my passion. I could go on.
I am starving. I can’t afford to feed myself on an engineer’s salary. Why would any parent allow their children to waste time developing technical skills if those skills are not valued by society? I know people who have forbidden their children from pursuing a technical education.
CEOs like Bill Gates are CRYING about a so called shortage of engineering talent. If that were true, why have engineers’ salaries remained stagnant for the past decade?
I just finished my MBA. I would crawl on my hands and knees on broken glass to find a job in any industry other than ENGINEERING.
Al
You're right, but look at why the marketing works. The way gender roles are portrayed in media either reinforces or challenges beliefs.
When I was a kid AJAX was the cleanser of choice and the ad had a man alarmed when it turned the sink blue ("Honey!"), and a woman who calmly explained, "Relax, it turns blue while it disinfects" (or something like that).
Advertisers try to re-define roles in a new way in order to lure you into identifying and being like that role: Woman as smarter than male regarding use of cleaning product - assumption - women are smarter than men in this arena and smart women (the role-model) use AJAX.
This show was examining gender role assumptions vs "real-life" attitudes.
Wow this topic does reflect on other large issues: Loss of these skills due to divorce of parents: a sign of power for some men to pay someone else to do it versus the empowerment a woman might feel in doing it herself; the shift of manufacturing jobs overseas and this class of manual labor ...
I would add that it seems we are living more abstractly, less in the physical world. Building a shelf in the actual three dimensions is quite complex; we are spending more and more of our lives in the artificial 3-D world of the computer, the two dimensional world of print.
As an artist I see this same emphasis in the galleries. Making a political or art historical point is valued over traditional observation and representation. The abstract idea trumps traditional skills.
All this talk of gender roles and working with your hands is making me think of Limor over at http://www.ladyada.net/. She is a New York based electronics design engineer who makes very interesting electronic kits that you can easily build in a few hours. The kits range from simple LED Persistence of Vision light toys to full blown electronic musical instruments. She even provides "How-Tos" on soldering and working with circuit boards. The reason I bring this up is because here is a woman teaching "traditional male" skills, but also in response to tech bashing. I think of computers just the same as a Skil saw or a good claw hammer, they are tools. While you can use a computer to get to level 50 on Quake, you can also use it to find HAM radio kits you can build yourself. A fine addition to any go cart!
I think that there is a gradual putting down of men by the media in general. However, I think that much of this has been done by us men. We men seem to enjoy putting down men especially when they are less then competant in 'masculine activities' while women seem to be more accomadating.
I'm 25. I was not allowed to even begin driving until I could prove that I could change a tire. I agree that this is someting everyone should know.
A few weeks ago, the pipe under my kitchen sinks was leaking. I unscrewed it, looked at it and saw the rim of the pipe was cracked and the screw holding it on the drain was broken. I thought of calling a plumber to fix this. But instead of paying over $100, I took the parts to the local plumbling supply store and hardware store two block away. They gave me a new screw, and a new copper pipe, that they cut to the proper length for me for free. Total cost of parts, $7. I put it together, and it's working prefectly. Total cost of labor. Zero. Time spent. 1 hour. Electricity is next.
It is Respect for Authority (tm).
Academics have a bad tendency to go around doing the modern equivalent of quoting from Aristotle and thinking that solves everything. Doesn't breed independence of thought, though sometimes you learn some useful contrariness.
And techs have a bad tendency to take the label on the Box as defining the capabilities of the item inside. Even forty years later I still remember the outrage of a purchasing director when I needed a piece of brass, grabbed one out of a bin, and machined it to my specs. The label on the bin said it was a fuse cap.
To succeed as a maker, you have to be willing to experiment. Neither academe nor purchasing like that.
I was listening to the program while in the car today and really felt compelled to comment, so better late than never, here it is.
I think a lot of the lack of handiness has to do with the perception of status a couple of generations ago. At that time, if you could hire someone to do the handy jobs, it signified that you were monied and could have others do the work for you. You did not have to get your hands dirty, even if you knew how. And you certainly did not teach your children to take on the crafts. If, however, you worked in a capasity where getting your hands dirty were required, and something broke, no one was going to wait days to find someone else to fix it, let alone pay them to do it. Usually, that machine or the roof of the house was needed immediately, so you did what needed to be done.
Now, folks treasure the time when they are not at work and value true leisure activities more than they take pride in "doing it themselves." In addition, people often learned some of these skills from Grandpa Jack or Uncle Sol. Today's transitory lifestyles take us away from the extended family and the sources of the knowledge and skill.
One of the comments was about how women are not as skilled in these areas either, and no one thinks that is odd. In fact, women want to learn how to fix the toilet or use a level to put up a shelf themselves. I think this is due to the same concept of leisure. Because of modern conveniences, like washing machines and dishwashers, women have a bit more time to consider what else needs to be done around the house. After waiting for someone else to do it for generations, they are tired of waiting and want to obtain the skills to do now, themselves. They don't have to worry about the family garden, putting up preserves or canning vegatables for the winter,baking the bread or making the pasta, or sewing clothing, along with the daily meals, housework, job, kids, laundry. You can bet they knew how to clean and repair their own sewing machines.
It is important that everyone knows how to hand a picture, change a flat, or repair a leaky faucet or running toilet. There are plenty of books out there with simple step by step instructions and probably even more web cites. Being able to "do it yourself" is very empowering and just plain smart!!
Thank GOODNESS for WNYC. Finally, someone talking about: why *people* don't know how to fix stuff.
Why is being able to fix things or (in my book) take care of yourself without having to pay someone else to fix things for you a gender issue??!!
I think it is just a laziness issue. My mother couldn't cook to save her life and I learned how to cook by reading cookbooks and watching cooking shows on PBS. Why? I believe a BASIC skill any *adult* should have is being able to cook a meal for yourself.
My father's skill was computer science and he wasn't very handy with anything else and I learned how to fix things by: reading books and watching PBS house maintenance. shows. Why? I believe a BASIC skill any *adult* should have is being able to do basic home/apartment maintenance for yourself.
I am a woman.
ANYONE can do these things; they just have to decide they will learn how to do them.
Use your mind and teach yourself how to be self-sufficient. Stop blaming TV commercials, your inept parents, or gender expectations.
Ladies and gentlemen, LEARN and make yourself more useful than your profession or what you studied in college.
I do not feel that being "handy" is gender specific. I grew up in a house with 4 brothers, however after my parents divorced I became the fixer around the house because my brothers couldn't be bothered with it. I attribute it to laziness. My husband grew up without a father but is handy to a degree. Our current battles arise with me wanting the job done now and he wants to sit on the couch (laziness?) and get to it when he gets to it. He gets offended (ego?) when I go ahead and start the projects myself, it becomes an ongoing battle. Everyone should be handy and know how to change a tire and fix a few things. It makes life easier and is very empowering.
Guys today ARE handy. They're just handy at the things their dads are NOT (hi-tech, Internet, WY-FI, wireless)...just as those dads were handy at things THEIR dads weren't. Guys born during the depression probably drove their dads crazy because they couldn't plow a field, and THEIR dads were too busy marvelling with their heads under the hood of a Model-T instead of learning how to saddle a Morgan or shoe a plowhorse. It's all about the era. Guys are always tinkering and learning the latest in domestic technology OF THEIR ERA, whether it's a Tin Lizzy or a PlayStation. The REAL issue is those sexist radio ads. Guys are portrayed as bumbling no-nothings and women are desperate to find Mr. Right ("I just sold my car to CarCash; I'm in love with that CarCash guy!") Let's stay focused, shall we? I say the advertising copywriters need to get handy and learn to modernize THEIR craft. END
Dads of small children - The secret is, include your kids in what you're doing. My kids are 26, 24, and 20. When they were little and I was about to work on something, I'd invite them to come watch and even join in some. Later, I gave them tools of their own. As a result, they're not afraid to try stuff on their own.
Hey Brian:
How about a show about (modern 18-25 years of age) women and housekeeping. I'm sure there is plenty of ignorance in this department. Why learn how to "keep house" when you can pay someone to do it. Cleaning a bathroom and ironing shirts is just as boring and dirty as changing spark plugs and un-sticking a window.
I agree with Doris [post 71]. I don't understand why this topic provoked so much defensiveness on the part of women and gay men. Being able to say "I'm a woman and I can change a tire" or "I'm gay and I can fix things" is not cause for celebration or gloating. Homosexuality and femininity are not handicaps. A woman who is comfortable with tools in her hand has not triumphed over any adversity. Those notions of gender roles have long since been broken, and this chest pounding is old-fashioned. It moves us backwards.
The listener asking about the quote re: specialization...I think it was Robert Heinlein, the scifi writer (I could listen to the program again to confirm but must be going soon). I'd like a copy of the quote myself.
Listener Russell asks about basic DIY books for household & auto repair. I'd recommend anything put out by Taunton Press. Their book Renovation 3 should be owned by everyone that lives in anything beyone a tent or a yurt, and Black & Decker has basic books with really good pictures. Automotive stuff is more complicated than it used to be because of the computer stuff in them these days but if there's a will, there's a way :) . The book Home Comforts by Mendelson and The Housekeeping Handbook by Martha Stewart also has some basic stuff in it (and as any good handyperson knows, part of a thorough job is cleaning up after yourself). Lastly, the internet is pretty cool for DIY videos if you poke around, though so far I think many are too short & pithy.
Are men less handy? I like the person that said that men learned what was useful to their fathers or what was considered useful or valued as useful at the time. My guy's dad runs a movie theater so he learned to run a projector at age 10 or so. Did he learn how to fix them? Not really, but then again, neither did his dad who was an academic as well.
Everyone should learn to do basic life management skills when young...cooking, cleaning, sewing, basic home repairs, basic car repairs, money management...and then can decide whether to pay or not for those services in the future (if you have the option), but at least you could do it in a pinch if need be.
Robert Heinlein quote:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight effieciently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
I think my Dad wastes a lot of time, and sometimes money, fixing things and figuring out how they work, especially where the computer is concerned. My attitude is, I don't need to know how a hammer's made, I just have to know how to use it.
Leave a Comment
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Back to EpisodeEmail addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. WNYC reserves the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the WNYC.org Comment Guidelines before posting.