From CAROL HAYMAN
About Sexism and Knitting (Letters, 15 February): it is not sexist to
assume all women and only women knit, but rather Euro-centric. In other
cultures it is perfectly acceptable for men to knit. In Jamaica, men can
be seen on streetcorners knitting and chatting. They are usually making
the colourful tams used to cover Rastafarian dreadlocks and for sale to
tourists. Women are more likely to crochet. On Taquile Island, on Lake Titicaca,
Peru, knitting is a man’s job; women weave. Supposedly, the men used to
knit on long cactus spines; nowadays they use sharpened lengths of coat
hanger wire.
The value of Margaret Boden’s metaphor is that it allows us to look
at a concept in a different way. Car engines are useful too, but haven’t
we heard that one before (along with Descartes’ body as a machine, and more
recently, the mind as computer)?
Carol Hayman Austin Community College Texas, US
