I didn't know stickhorses were a thing here in Finland until I went to a harness race event with some relatives who are enthusiasts. I was flabbergasted that the first event of the race evening was a stickhorse start, with dozens of young kids (mostly girls) lining up on the trot course. (This was about 10 years ago).
Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls
101–110 of 158 posts
Re: Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls
#102Sometimes I wonder if I'm just getting old and no longer get things, or if the world is just getting crazier.
This is not as crazy as child beauty pageant competitions or plastic cup stacking competitions
Re: Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls
#103So 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…
The Official Preppy Handbook repeatedly treats a phase of interest in horses and horseback riding as nigh-inevitable for girls (of the set of people it's describing, so, the wealthy professional class up through the idle rich, though especially the lower half of that range) and no consideration at all for boys. It was published in 1980, so before My Little Pony, and much of what it describes, though tongue in cheek, represents trends and habits that pre-date it by years to decades, at least.
Don't know why, though.
Re: Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls
#104We went to the mall this weekend and literally saw adults carrying large hammers from the movie "Thor". Presumably Marvel's Thor features in the new movie too?
Re: Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls
#105So 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…
Imho different gender preferences might play a big role. A horse combines utilitarian with something emotional: You get means of transportation but you also gotta empathize and take care of said transportation because it's a breathing and feeling being. While most males probably prefer the "no hassle" approach of motor vehicles, where you don't have to empathize to figure out what's wrong but only need to check for "…
For this to hold true you need to buy into the traditional gender stereotypes
Re: Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls
#106So 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…
This discussion reminded me of a video I saw a while back. It's a song that gives a moving glimpse into the male dominated urban horse culture in Dublin, Ireland. It's amazing to see shots of teenage boys racing their horses through city streets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19A53SyAUak
This reminds of the feeling when I discovered some urban areas have subcultures of mostly black people riding dirt bikes and four-wheelers around cities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D34OOYXF10
Such a remarkable juxtaposition of people, vehicles, and setting, like watching a schooner drift through a grocery store.
Re: Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I guess much in the same sense that people would probably not be amused if you ran around a Comic Con telling everyone this is just make believe. And yet, this is what an outsider would think (as someone who does not go but has friends who do). Some people would call tinkering with computers "playing", though my spending years on it resulted in a career path. I don't see the issue with "playing". At some point, if…
It doesn't even need a potential career path. Especially now that many people can be unemployed for life and still survive, being able to enjoy an unproductive hobby is itself a useful goal.
> many people can be unemployed for life and still survive
Unless you mean housewiving, no one can be unemployed for life (save perhaps welfare queens). I still consider housewiving to be a job; it is quite a bit of work. To what are you referring?
Re: Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't even need a potential career path. Especially now that many people can be unemployed for life and still survive, being able to enjoy an unproductive hobby is itself a useful goal.
> many people can be unemployed for life and still survive Unless you mean housewiving, no one can be unemployed for life (save perhaps welfare queens). I still consider housewiving to be a job; it is quite a bit of work. To what are you referring?
Housewiving is more of a hobby until you have children.
Re: Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls
#109So 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…
> What interests me about this Finnish subculture is that it's perfectly cloned the "horse culture", just without any actual horses. It's very close to a cargo cult. Possibly Finland is too cold to have a regular horse culture? There is a horse culture in Finland, and as you said, it's heavily associated with teenage girls. Horses are of course quite an expensive anf time-consuming hobby by definition, so I'm sure th…
There is boy/men oriented horse culture too but is focused on racing (ravit). Also mainly popular in the rural region as breeding/training the horses is as big part of the culture as the actual racing.
Re: Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes it is. - Per the guide-lines : "Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports " - Per usage
The sentence goes on, saying unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon which might apply here.
"I caution against beginning or ending a quotation with ellipses."
-- Bill Walsh