Manly Projects

Chris recently posted a picture on Facebook of a workbench he made and commented "now I can start on any number of manly projects." He was taken to task for using the wold manly. Women objected to the masculine adjective, saying they liked to make wood projects so manly was not an appropriate word. 

What adjective did they want him to use? He is a man. Has man bashing has become so commonplace that it has become acceptable to berate men for using a masculine word to describe himself or his interests?   I don't think anyone would take offense if I used a feminine adjective to describe my quilting and sewing projects. 

Foy years women have tried to inject the use of a female or gender neutral pronouns when describing themselves. Humankind instead of mankind. Police, fire, delivery, service and mail women as well as men. We of all people should be aware of the devaluation that language has to any gender.

Just because Chris wants to build manly projects on his new work bench does not mean that a woman cannot build any kind of projects she wants on hers. John has built girly projects for our granddaughters and womanly projects for me in his wood shop. But it is still his manly wood shop. 

I don't want to live in a gender neutral society where I have to be cautious of every pronoun or adjective I use to describe myself or others. I want to be able to use phrases like "boyish good looks" or "she is such a girly girl" without offending others. The advance women have made to include themselves in the descriptive lexicon of our language should not be used to eliminate the use of our masculine descriptive vocabulary. 

Mama's Father: Guy Phillip Hill

I askedmama what she remembered about her dad, Guy Phillip Hill. He died when she was only 71/2 years so she doesn't remember much. 

He was born November 12, 1904 in Bountiful, Utah to John William Hill and Sarah Ann Frisby Hill. Guy and Eva Cowley Willey met when they were in high school. She was a 6 months older and a grade ahead because she skipped a year. As a side note, mom said her elementary school wanted her to skip 5th or 6th grade but grandma always said no.  

Guy and Eva married on his 21st birthday, November 12, 1925. They had 4 children, Dean, Kieth, Beth Ann and David. Guy had a "toxic goiter" that must have made him a very sick man. He worked driving cars to and from Detroit and would pass out going into Little America in Wyoming due to the altitude. Mama remembers walking down the street with him and he would have to stop to catch his breath every block or so. They were living with his parents and he tried to help dig a half basement when he was home from his cross country drives and would have to stop and rest. For some reason his mother got really cross with him and told everyone he was a lazy bum who wouldn't work hard for his mother. ( I asked mom if I should put that in and she said "why not, that's what happened.)  Mom also remembers that the family received a box of oranges from a caring friend and her grandmother kept them all. "I never had one of those oranges."

 The doctor told Guy that he would have to have surgery or he would die. They didn't have the money, but finally his brother John said he would pay for the operation. But before he could have the surgery, he died on May 4, 1941 after eating a meal that included early spring radishes, he thought he had bad indigestion from the spicy food and went out to the outhouse. When he didn't come back in Uncle John went out to look for him and found him collapsed by the outhouse door. Mama remembers the doctor trying to revive him by jabbing a long needlle into his heart. She cried out "Don't you hurt my daddy!" He was 36 years old. She was 7. Mama  saiid that her mother never had radishes in the house again.

Mom said her fathers' death didn't sink in until she was sitting in front of his casket during the funeral and realized that her father was really dead and not coming back. Then she started crying and was inconsolable. 

This picture was taken after the funeral. Butch or Uncle Dave was 9 months, Uncle Dean was 14 1/2,  Uncle Keith was 13 1/2 and mom was 7 1/2 years old

Mama's Elementary School: Stoker Elementary

Mom and I passed the old red brick school in Bountiful on 2^nd South and 1^st East where the University of Utah holds their continuing education program on the way to the Legacy Center where dad is staying. Mama went to elementary school there when it was called Stoker Elementary. She walked from the apartments on 3^rd East and Center Street four blocks away. It was a game to seem who could cross the creek without getting their shoes wet, no one wanted cold wet feet all day at school. She never remember losing, her feet were always dry. She has come full circle as it is the same creek that passes by the Legacy Center, only now it goes through a cement culvert.  

Mama in the sixth grade. 

One of her memories of elementary school is when she was walking to school she felt the strap on her full slip break. She kept tugging at her slip because it was starting to show. Then she felt her other strap break. Her slip started falling off and she ran down a hall she wasn’t supposed to go to get to the restroom to fix it. All the girls carried an extra safety pin to fix things like that. The principal saw her and told her to come see him. She told him no and ran home because she was so embarrassed that her slip was falling down. Of course her mother made her go back to school and apologize to the principal. He had already called Grandma Trump and told her what mom had done. Mom said that from that incident onward the principal always liked mom and would have her run little errands for him.