"America is evolving from a "young" society to a "middle-aged" one. The median age of Americans was 35 years in 1996, up from 30 in 1980 and 23 in 1900. The median age is expected to increase to 37 in 2010 and 39 in 2030." -- from Rachel Shapiro's article The Demographics of Aging in America
I have just this moment figured out what's wrong with RWA. I never thought about it from an age angle, but I bet if you took a survey right now you'd find out the voting majority of RWA members are going through perimenopause or menopause. Yep, everyone's hormones have gone whacko. It's just like puberty, only in reverse.
That explains so much I could not for the life of me fathom until this moment. Ties in with my scrapbooking/crafts emotional control conspiracy theory, too. Wanna hear that one?
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Scrapbooking/crafts emotional control? Sure. Let 'er rip. Could cause backlash, though.
ReplyDeleteWith certain exceptions, every female I know is rabidly into those pursuits (including every female family member except me). I don't get it, but I know it's a powerful force out there. Not sure it's wise to disrupt what's important to them by openly disagreeing.
Of course, that's a flaw of mine. Too many things aren't worth falling on my sword about. It's gets to the point sometimes where I wonder if there's anything I'd fall on a sword for. I believe there is, but I haven't found it yet.
Jean wrote: Scrapbooking/crafts emotional control? Sure. Let 'er rip. Could cause backlash, though.
ReplyDeleteOr I could set my people free! Lol.
Kayla wrote: It's scary to think about what my generation will leans towards for middle-aged entertainment. I'm hoping it's video games and not gothic tea parties.
The younger generations are so much more fun and liberated than us; y'all will resist Madison Avenue and think up good stuff on your own. I just worry about all those pretty tattoos. Have you ever seen what happens to a tattoo after 40 years? (Older gals will remember what happened when we licked our arms too much before applying a paper/ink tattoo from a box of crackerjacks. Same thing, only it doesn't wash off.)
*G* finally, a theory that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI don't have much use for RWA, but i stay in it because I love my local chapter. that's the only reason I even really rejoined anyway.
Most of the crap going on is just something I ignore or snicker about anyway.
Maybe we should send a care package? Estrogen, those soy pills that are supposed to help with the problems of menopause, etc...
I would LOVE to have some insights into the scrapbooking fad. I don't get it, just seems like an expensive way to go back to kindergarten play-with-construction-paper-and-glue time.
ReplyDeleteNow, quilting on the other hand...
Speaking of quilting, will the quilting blog be rejuvenated?
ReplyDeleteLOL, Jim. My hubby outgrew his Mark VIIIs and has settled lovingly into a pick-up. I'll be joining him with a twin soon (probably in 2008), 'cause that truck is just hot!
After gluing my fingers together in my last art class, I'm not allowed to get within twenty yards of a scrapbook. I hear you laughing, PBW. Knock it off. (wg)
ReplyDeleteI don't know about other crafts, and I only know one person who's seriosly into scrapbooking -- but boy, is she scary. She's married to a guy who made a pile of money in the microsoft boom and they have two children ... the first of whom happened to be concieved, by accident, just when she found out he was thinking about divorce. Those kids' lives are probably more heavily documented than the Apollo mission. She never goes anywhere without a camera, she makes them wear color-co-ordinated outfits (that is, not each kid's outfit is internally co-ordinated, but the kid she doesn't favor has to match whatever the favored kid chooses to wear...) and she spends hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars on making these books -- starting with leather photo albums from Levenger -- not to mention her time, which she has available for scrapbooking because the kids are being raised by a nanny (or rather, a series of nannies) and the house is taken care of by a maid. Meanwhile, the favorite (older) daughter (heavy into gymnastics, like her mom) is anorexic, and the younger daughter has somehow, mysteriously developed migraines and TMJ problems at the age of eight.
ReplyDeleteThe scrapbooks are very, very pretty. It actually kind of reminds me of the way totalitarian governments tend to create fake histories of the Glorious Revolution.
Anonymous, you'd scare me if I didn't already know four or five women who have captured every moment of life at arm's length on film, slipped them between self-adhesive photo corners and surrounded them with bright and happy sticker art.
ReplyDeleteAfter beading, rubber stamping and fun with flat foam art, I used to comfort myself with the idea that scrapbooking would be the final rung for females sliding down the crafts ladder into the pit of uselessness. That is until I received an invitation to come to a do-it-yourself greeting card decorating party.
Next we'll be mastering how to color in the lines in our Baby's First Year Coloring Books....
Kayla...video game tea parties?? LOL
ReplyDeletePBW I so don't get the scrapbooking thing! But I have a friend who does it, she made me one and I treasure it. I'm just not crafty like that either.
Anyway I'm with Shiloh...the only reason I stay in the RWA is my local chapter (they're the bomb!)
Wow. I used to hate scrapbookers. Said I'd never pay more money than the pictures...the pictures are expensive enough and speak for themselves.
ReplyDeleteBut, now I do it. I was not celebrating or experiences the happy family moments enough. We groan and moan and worry and fret and cry and ask about a loose tooth for weeks, and in one moment, the first tooth is out and gone, and we go on to the next growth curve. The scrapbooking "craze" is about me learning to celebrate and focus on the victories a little more. I hope my kids enjoy it...my husband sure does. They pour over their books. In all my instruction and direction and frustration...I sometimes don't get a chance to let them know...that I notice. You can go overboard with anything.
But, it's a helpful tool to help me remember how quickly they are growing up...and how much they really are learning and changing right in front of me.