Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls

Post by nabla9 » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 2:48 PM UTC

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #43

nabla9 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it crazier than square dancing? Square dancing, freestyle canoe [2], cosplay, cross-stitch etc. These are all activities that people do for the sake of the activity itself without any extra motivation except maybe to be able to hang around with others. [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofq_nl366VM

In the UK, the local equivalent of square dancing might be morris dancing, and yes, people regularly mock it as a silly pursuit of weird people.

Post by mogadsheu » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 2:53 PM UTC

ktpsns wrote: post #16

It makes me sad that this is a "celebration of girlhood" but boys are not even mentioned in this article. Why can't boys also practice hobbyhorse training?

Post by whenchamenia » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 2:54 PM UTC

wemdyjreichert wrote: post #36

michaelt wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not sure why the community would see that as a problem If someone is learning martial arts, you might see that as a demanding sport, for tough serious athletes, demanding discipline, hard work and self-control. Or you might see it as playing at being Bruce Lee. Hiiii-Ya! Needless to say, the former perspective implies more respect for the people doing it! But there's not a bright line between 'serious' activities and…

I'd say there's a bit of a difference between martial arts and a toy pony. I know martial artists who can break a dozen cinder bricks with an elbow; that's a serious pursuit. I'd say there is a serious difference between that and riding a toy stick. This extends to many other sports and activities: you can practice at a serious level or an amateur one. The difference here is that I see no serious level for this. Same…

Post by whenchamenia » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 2:56 PM UTC

belorn wrote: post #41

daliusd wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems boys can, they simply don't. It seems for some reason it became girly thing in Finland (like fake eye lashes, maybe) and boys avoid it. Citation from another article: """ There doesn’t seem to be that many boys riding hobbyhorses? Alisa: I think it’s quite sad, actually. It feels like boys aren’t allowed to do this thing that is considered to be a girly thing. At the same time, I think it also means we have…

I have a hard time imagine a area where boys would be allowed to have a similar community with that skewed gender ratios. The common assumption is that any gender segregation is caused by the minority being discriminated against. If competitive hobbyhorse riding officially became a sport here in Sweden it would have to follow some recent laws dictating affirmative action within the sport organization. A minimum of 40…

Post by distances » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 3:00 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #40

So as an occasional (male) rider of real horses, there's something I've always wondered about: how did the recreation become so gendered? Up until about the middle of the 20th century there was still utilitarian and military horse riding. Men would learn to ride. Now it seems to be culturally associated almost entirely with young upper-middle-class girls or middle-aged women. Is this the result of toy marketing (My L…