Don’t call me a tomboy just because I’m a capable woman
By Christa Terry
You know I love color. I love bright playful colors enough to somehow overlook the fact that a purple toaster will run you a sick $300! So you’d think that I’m sitting here with credit card in hand ordering myself a pink tool belt, right? Wrong. The Beard will tell you that I am the DIY queen, whether you’re talking about epoxying the hell out of something wobbly or refinishing a cabinet I found in someone else’s trash. Sure, there are some things I won’t do–big appliance installations, for instance–but I’m competent when it comes to small home improvements.
I think that double X chromosome construction workers rock. More specifically, I think they rock because they have made a career for themselves in what is still considered a tremendously masculine profession. The construction trade has its own line of accessories…safety glasses, hard hats, work boots, and such. These typically come in shades of brown and black with the occasional bit of gray. They come in these colors for one simple reason: they are going to get very, very dirty.
How long will those Tomboy Trades pink boots stay pink? How long is a Tomboy Trades baby blue tool belt going to be baby blue? If they’re still pink and blue after a couple of weeks, you’re doing something wrong. Construction work is dusty…there are solvents and paints and oily liquids to contend with. Thus the brown! The lack! The gray! And how about that Charlie’s Angels-esque design on the hard hat…I’m sure that’s gonna command plenty of respect down at the construction site, right?
You could pair it with this for spectacular effect:
January 25th, 2008 at 10:31 am
You’re right — anybody who does any serious amount of work would have that pink stuff all filthy in about a week.
The pink safety glasses, though — I will confess to being intrigued by those. The hard hat wouldn’t be as bad if it didn’t have that cringeworthy decal on it. Then again, the construction site I’m working on is my own house, and where I’m paying these people, they damn well better treat me with respect no matter what colour my hard hat is. (It’s a rather fetching shade of safety orange, FYI.)
January 25th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks the logo is atrocious, La Petite Acadienne! I, too, would wear the safety glasses, I think. It’d be a nice touch, but not OVERTLY PIIIIIINK EXCLAMATION POINT!!!!
January 25th, 2008 at 11:53 am
This kind of reminds me of the La Femme car. If you don’t remember it, it’s because it was a flop: a pink car pitched to women in the 1950s.
The only reason I can think of for this equipment is if it runs in small sizes. Or if, say, the wrenches have a longer handle for women to get more leverage. Otherwise, what’s the point?
January 25th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I just looked at the site, and at least the boots come in a couple of sensible colours. The deep red tool belt isn’t too bad either. And yes, I can see the point of it if the sizes are better for women. Chainsaw pants are not an easy thing to find to fit over a woman’s hips.
But aaayyyyy! Those hardhats! They look like they were made by Fisher-Price. “Little Girls’ First Hardhat!”
January 25th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Pull off the bad sticker and put a shoe sticker on! (See “Manolo Blahnik Drawings” the book). I had a custom front liscense plate made for my car (internet $14.00) that had one of the shoe drawings on it and my plate “shoes 4 me” on it. Yes the pink would be dirty quickly but you know what? So is the tan. What’s the difference between well used caulk covered dirty tan and pink? I actually enjoy being a girl! I get to wear fun colors, super fantastic shoes and now feminine construction gear!
January 25th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Uh, you can enjoy being a “girl” even if you’re not wearing pink, jeez. I hope that you are not implying that those of us who wish to wear sturdy, practical, functional tool belts, hats, and boots are “unfeminine”. Because that would be downright offensive. Why do you need to perform your femininity at home while you’re sheetrocking?
Alas, home repair & construction stuff in pink is usually shoddily made. I was looking for a too lbelt recently, and a cute pink had a bunch of reviews that said the dye came off on your pants! The one up above looks like it could hold about 3 screws in each pocket.
And the shoe-and-knife set is just plain offensive.
January 26th, 2008 at 12:49 am
Accessorize with a pink trowel and you’ll be all ready to work in the garden too!
January 26th, 2008 at 9:27 am
My big beef with this whole issue of making what are serious pieces of work equipment in colors like pink is – and perhaps this is because I am, ahem, of a certain age and went through the 1960s and 1970s — these items could be the very best of their class, the toughest built, the most technologically advanced, the best designed that there is. But as soon as you make ’em pink or baby blue or advertise them as “women only” or “women specific” and all of that, the little feminist voice in my head says, “yep – basically crap”. I would never ever go on a job wearing a pink tool belt. A smaller tool belt built for my frame, but made out of the same stuff and looking the same as the larger ones – absolutely.
January 26th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Toby, I too am a woman of a certain age. I have been on construction sites for over 30 years in various capacities. I have a pretty serious collection of power tools and I only buy the best (cheap tool don’t last, don’t have the torque, & don’t do the job!) I can rewire a house, do major plumbing (ought to see me with a sawsall under a house cutting cast iron pipe!), hang cabinets, sheetrock and wall paper, install tile, wood and vinyl flooring. Etc…Etc… The only respect I have gotten on job sites is after I have proven myself. I actually got to the point where I would act girly and then show the MCP’s how to do the job right. I have also taught a lot of women how to use power tools. That being said, I would have absolutely no problem wearing pink as long as it is the same or superior quality as the “normal” colors. It also means it’s less likely to get stolen on the job site! Can you see the straight burly construction worker getting away with using my pinks? My inner feminist tells me to that I shouldn’t have to adapt to the patriarch norm. They can just adapt to me…..
January 28th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Oh! By the way, my motorcycle is pink too…..
January 28th, 2008 at 9:00 am
I would totally ride a pink motorcycle, but only if it had cool black and silver flame decals on it.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Here’s the trick: buy the high quality stuff and spray paint the handles pink. That way you get the good stuff, but the boys won’t steal it. The pink hardware is NEVER as good as the regular stuff.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Jezebella, is this a marketing niche we should pair up and develop? Home Depot did Rigid tools (what every woman needs) Maybe we could team up with DeWalt and come up with the DeFem! I have to agree that the cutsey pink tool kits out there right now suck. An 8oz hammer for gosh sakes! What the f*** do you do with that? Tap little tacks into the wall to hang the needlepoint… Give me something with some heft so it will do the work!
October 4th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Hahahaha!
Me and my mom were redecorating/renovating an old house and were in the hardwear store complaining about the sizes on tools, that it was impossible to get a firm grip on things that were too big in the que, when a (another) gorgeous lady came in, tres chic, and asked the deskoperator for a small axe – ladysize! Me and my mom looked at eachother and laughed!
October 6th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Ladysize! I love it!