It is one thing to have to stand the comments from my fishing buddies about all my "Girlie" pink fragrant roses growing abundantly in my garden. My neighbour, who is a blacksmith says he holds his breath walking by my garden in the summer months, because the fragrance of all the roses in my garden is so overwhelming. It´s like there is something 'suspicious' about men who have gardens with that many roses. Teenagers would probably exclaim -that is sooo Gay! To them everything that is out of the ordinary seems to be sooo gay!. I find that rather offensive on behalf of male gardeners, whether they are gay or not.
But imagine the comments a man gets if he also try to learn how to arrange flowers from his garden? I have never had the courage to take lessons in flower arrangements. I am 100% sure I would be the only man attending. So far I have read a few books about flower arranging. I grow flowers better than I arrange them as cut flowers. My supply of vases have grown over the years - it seems like I always have too few vases in summertime. I take lots of roses into the house, so I can enjoy the fragrance and beauty! I don´t think I have much talent for arranging flowers. I can make huge bouquets of roses, but they are not exactly posies.
I wish I had the innocence of a boy again. I picked lots of flowers on the meadow for my mom and the girls I liked. They were almost dead, when I handed them over to them, but the flowers were always much appreciated. Amazing how such a bunch of wild flowers look so beautiful and do not need much arranging. But boys stop picking flowers. I still want to take lessons in flower arranging - whether the majority of people seems to say "That is sooo gay". Time to get over myself and grow up! Next time I post I will tell about the rose used in the bouquet in the picture. At least I know something about roses!
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8 comments:
How I hate stereotyping and discrimination, its just so pathetic, and in my not so humble opinion, it is the real men who are happy to express their emotions and what is generally classed as their feminine side! It's those with issue about their masculinity, that stick to such ridiculous ideals of machismo.
Some of the best arrangers are men, my hairdresser who is married with kids, also flower arranges, and has a huge following in his church, where his are often demand for weddings, christenings and the like too.
Love your arrangment; you just carry on being you, your are far more interesting as a person than a man who has to prove he is a man all the time!
Oppps I went off on a rant! Sorry!
Zoë
Neils, evocative post mate! Admittedly I am the one who loves to pick flowers and arrange them in our household but my wife loves them. Does it emasculate me? Nuh, it just keeps the testosterone to suitable levels.
I love when you get on a rant Zoë! I think that many men who do not do any gardening themselves, will have this misconception that it is feminime to like gardens. All of us know that gardens is hard work, sweaty and dirty - but so rewarding. The sad part is that I find that some men forget to smell the flowers. I will follow yours and Stuarts advice and go for it. I can improve my flowerarrangements and I do need to keep my testosterone levels down!
Ignore the stereotypes. I know I did as a kid. I used to go backpacking with the guys. My husband and son wouldn't backpack with me for a long time, but my daughter would. We would take off by ourselves. And I only saw one other woman rowing rafts as I did when I was growing up (now lots of women do, but they didn't back then). I always figure in life that your friends will love you for who you are, and the strangers that don't understand don't matter anyway. Do what makes you happy.
Niels, du har en enorm talang - följ den med hela ditt hjärta! Jag har kommit till en punkt i livet där man helt enkelt måste gå sin egen väg. Inte bry sig om vad andra tycker. Även jag får kommentarer om att älska rosor - det verkar som om man måste vara pensionär för att gilla trädgårdsarbete.. Hursomhelst - jag tycker du har en bedårande trädgård, din kunskap om dina växter är imponerande! Jag håller på att lära mig och förhoppningsvis växer min trädgård upp till ett lummigt paradis!
Kram Karin (skriver på svenska, hoppas det är OK - min engelska är inte så bra...)
It doesn't make sense. A man can be a gardener growing roses and not pick them and arrange them ! Assigning gender to any role or chore is pathetic. Go ahead ! Gather all you can and enjoy them in a vase arranged or otherwise !
I completely agree with Zoe and the others! Love what you do and allow your creative side to shine. What a wonderful way to get closer to the flowers and their beauty.
PS~~Your arrangement is lovely!
Pay no attention! I have long been a backpacker and climber. Love the flowers!
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