Recently I received a letter from a man who was perturbed with me. He suggested that I depict letter writing to be a female pass time.
Stopped me in my tracks he did. Once I got over my emotional response, which was not pretty, I sent him back a letter.
I wish I kept a copy of my response but believe me when I say, I had to take a few deep breaths so calm would prevail. I assured him that I invite and encourage everyone to discover the lost art of letter writing.
Mostly women that attend my LWS’s
But he did get me thinking. As I furiously scrolled through photos, I was hard pressed to find more than a handful from my Letter Writing Socials that showed men in attendance. Mostly it is women who come.
But I know for certain that guys do write letters, because some of you reading this right now write to me. Over at artofmaniless are not one but several articles on the importance of letter writing for guys.
Yes, men do write letters. I do and so do a number of my pen pals. Not only do men write letters but men do calligraphy as well, as any search on Instagram will show. However, I do see that on calligraphy courses etc. most of the attendees are female.
How many typewriter mechanics/ repairers are female and how many are male I wonder and do those who repair typewriters actually use them to write letters?
Hi Stefan, Thanks for weighing in on this debate. Thrilled to hear you and pen pals are writing letters. Calligraphy is one skill I do not have; it is so incredibly beautiful. You pose a most interesting question about who is it that is repairing typewriters and if they write letters with the machines. All I can speak to is my personal experience and the person I take my typewriters to get fixed is a male. I have no idea if he uses to write letters. Appreciate you leaving a comment here. Happy letter writing!
Among the people who write me more or less regularly, half are men. So yes: men write letters.
But it is not unusual to read articles and blog posts about letterwriting that are aimed exclusively at women. With another of my hobbies, knitting, it’s the same (or worse). I guess that must be frustrating for men who write letters.
Gender-based hobbies… that sound very ridiculous!
Eva, I couldn’t agree more “gendar-based hobbies….sounds very ridiculous!” I wonder how I could encourage more men to come out to the Letter Writing Socials I host? Would love to have more men represented at the typewriter table. Thank you for sharing your experience.