closing tag is in template navbar
timefactors watches



TZ-UK Fundraiser
Results 1 to 40 of 40

Thread: Army accused of sexism over 'housewife kits'

  1. #1
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1

    Army accused of sexism over 'housewife kits'

    You couldn’t make this nonsense up,all that’s going on in the world and this is important?

    It’s also poorly written and shows no knowledge of the army.




    The army has been accused sexism after regiments referred to sewing sets carried by soldiers as “housewife kits”.

    Acknowledging the term was “outdated”, the Ministry of Defence said that it no longer has a place in the armed forces.

    Sewing kits are not issued to Army personnel who are expected to assembled their own.


    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-a9074666.html

  2. #2
    Grand Master Chris_in_the_UK's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Norf Yorks
    Posts
    42,912
    Non story.
    When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........

  3. #3
    Master Lampoc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Lincs. The bit with hills.
    Posts
    6,174
    I've never, ever heard of a sewing kit referred to as a "housewife kit".

  4. #4
    Master Papa Hotel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Not Edinburgh
    Posts
    7,487
    Bloody splitters.

  5. #5
    Grand Master VDG's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Whitehole
    Posts
    18,967
    Idiotic PC correctness will be the end of us all, I tell ya..
    Fas est ab hoste doceri

  6. #6
    Master
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Saundersfoot, UK
    Posts
    1,305
    Quote Originally Posted by VDG View Post
    Idiotic PC correctness will be the end of us all, I tell ya..
    Seconded


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  7. #7
    Master
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Saundersfoot, UK
    Posts
    1,305

    Army accused of sexism over 'housewife kits'

    Ah......The Independent.....enoughsaid.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Lampoc View Post
    I've never, ever heard of a sewing kit referred to as a "housewife kit".
    It’s been going for ages.



    https://ageofrevolution.org/200-obje...fe-sewing-kit/

  9. #9
    Master Lampoc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Lincs. The bit with hills.
    Posts
    6,174
    Quote Originally Posted by bwest76 View Post
    You learn something every day! Obviously being in the RAF we had butlers or maids to do our sewing.

  10. #10
    Master Templogin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Shetland
    Posts
    2,722
    The clank of mess tins rings in my ears to this day.

    Let’s hope that the papers don’t find out what WRAC was said to stand for by the squaddies. Bear Pit material I’m afraid.

  11. #11
    Grand Master Chris_in_the_UK's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Norf Yorks
    Posts
    42,912
    Quote Originally Posted by bwest76 View Post
    And it's still a non-story.
    When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........

  12. #12
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Lampoc View Post
    You learn something every day! Obviously being in the RAF we had butlers or maids to do our sewing.
    Now that I believe

    We did everything ourselves except tailoring of no2s.
    we where expected to be self reliant in every way.
    If I sew a button on its stays on,though threading the needles harder nowadays.

    Some of the PC nonsense in the forces nowadays is ridiculous to the detriment of the job.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Lampoc View Post
    You learn something every day! Obviously being in the RAF we had butlers or maids to do our sewing.
    Bat man

  14. #14
    Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    2,383
    Quote Originally Posted by bwest76 View Post
    You couldn’t make this nonsense up,all that’s going on in the world and this is important?

    It’s also poorly written and shows no knowledge of the army.




    The army has been accused sexism after regiments referred to sewing sets carried by soldiers as “housewife kits”.

    Acknowledging the term was “outdated”, the Ministry of Defence said that it no longer has a place in the armed forces.

    Sewing kits are not issued to Army personnel who are expected to assembled their own.


    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-a9074666.html
    It's pronounced "hussif". At least it is (or was) in the RN, where they weren't issued but were available from the NAAFI. I still have one, and dug it out the other day to sew a button onto a pair of trousers and a suit jacket. I need the needle threader nowadays, though, which fortunately came with the kit.

  15. #15
    Grand Master Andyg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wiltshire
    Posts
    24,924
    Oh it was in the Independant.

    A bastion for liberal, the self-righteous, right minded people who aren't susceptible to a little viral signaling.

    Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
    Friedrich Nietzsche


  16. #16
    Grand Master VDG's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Whitehole
    Posts
    18,967
    Quote Originally Posted by Andyg View Post
    Oh it was in the Independant.

    A bastion for liberal, the self-righteous, right minded people who aren't susceptible to a little viral signaling.
    Should it be 'self-lefteous' and 'left minded' bastion or something, a lot of people could take offence you know.
    Fas est ab hoste doceri

  17. #17
    Perhaps the report from the Daily Mail would be more suited to some.

    R
    Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.

  18. #18
    Grand Master
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    sussex uk
    Posts
    15,483
    Blog Entries
    1
    I still carry my housewife in my offshore kit bag

  19. #19
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1
    It was reported in several places I saw it when reported on a military site.
    There seems to be a lot of unnecessary extreme political correctness going on.

    Perhaps we shouldn’t call it a bayonet frog anymore in case we upset the French etc.etc.?

  20. #20
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1
    This my original I thought it was issued to me but maybe I got it from the NAAFI,the buttons are correct for the uniform of the time.
    I called it a sewing kit myself, I certainly couldn’t darn and not much good on the useless nylon socks we had.





  21. #21
    Grand Master VDG's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Whitehole
    Posts
    18,967
    Whao, that thing is short of a deathtrap, I'm surprise 'elf 'n safety people didn't jump on it yet. The long supers strong threads are clearly a strangulation risk if someone entangle in them, sharp needles could be easely injested or take someone's eye, and loose buttons are clearly a choking hazard. Well and that yellow thing, I don't know, it looks brutal.. I say ban them immediately.
    Fas est ab hoste doceri

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by VDG View Post
    Idiotic PC correctness will be the end of us all, I tell ya..
    It's just a new term for "manners". How any normal, decent human with any empathy would instinctively behave, assuming they have come from a good home.

    Loony right-wingers appear to believe that it's perfectly OK to be gratuitously offensive to whomever, usually justifying their boorish behaviour as "banter" or "humour".

  23. #23
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Ashford, Kent
    Posts
    28,934
    Quote Originally Posted by bwest76 View Post
    Perhaps we shouldn’t call it a bayonet frog anymore in case we upset the French etc.etc.?
    In which case, you’ll need to find a different name for that bladed extension to your rifle, o Grand Master Of the Order of the Witty Reply. Bayonet is also French.
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  24. #24
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    In which case, you’ll need to find a different name for that bladed extension to your rifle, o Grand Master Of the Order of the Witty Reply. Bayonet is also French.
    As is half our language

  25. #25
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Holsterman View Post
    It's just a new term for "manners". How any normal, decent human with any empathy would instinctively behave, assuming they have come from a good home.

    Loony right-wingers appear to believe that it's perfectly OK to be gratuitously offensive to whomever, usually justifying their boorish behaviour as "banter" or "humour".

    Where did that come from?
    it’s a sewing kit hardly gratuitously offensive, FYI the army lives on banter it keeps the moral up.

  26. #26
    Grand Master Andyg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wiltshire
    Posts
    24,924
    Shame that the author failed to identify who was actually making this accusation. Perhaps it wasn't anyone and the author simply made it up.

    Shame the author did not actually get confirmation from the Army, that this term was actually still or ever in use. Sounds to me that it could have been a term used 50 years ago, but much more likely that the correct name was a "sewing kit"

    Shame the author did not write an article on the Young Women's Trust (who she quoted) on why the YWT is both sexist, ageist and discriminates against all women over the age of 30 and all males.

    But then this would not fit her agenda.

    Its just pulp designed to infer how bad and how down trodden women still are in 2019, but not actually providing any real evidence to support it. However I image the readership just lap it up because it plays to their own trigger points and sensitivities.

    So actually no different to the Daily Mail, Express, etc.

    People a being played by the media and the vast vast majority are simply to dim or to lazy to see it.

    Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
    Friedrich Nietzsche


  27. #27
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1
    This is known as a “housewife”, a compact sewing kit that a soldier carried on campaign to mend his uniform. It was owned by Captain Newton Chambers, who served with the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards. At the Battle of Waterloo he was aide-de-camp to General Sir Thomas Picton and was killed during the battle, as was Picton himself.

    This housewife was made of silk pockets containing threads, five buttons and a small pincushion in a card tied with a pink ribbon. The term housewife referring to a portable sewing kit was used in print for the first time in 1749. Such kits were also known as a “hussif”. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was common for mothers, wives and sweethearts to embroider personalised sewing kits for their menfolk to take to war. The one above is obviously a gift from a woman who was close to Captain Chambers. These sewing kits are very popular with collectors today.

    From the mid 19th century to the mid-20th century a more prosaic khaki roll-up pouch containing thread, buttons, scissors, needles and a thimble became standard army issue. Before the advent of safety pins the housewife was useful for mending uniforms and sewing on buttons, ranks, and awards. The needle could also be used for removing splinters, and on occasion, sewing up a wound. Some soldiers even took up recreational needlework. After the First World War (1914-18), embroidery became a popular therapeutic occupation for wounded soldiers.

  28. #28
    Master
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    NW Leics
    Posts
    8,153
    Quote Originally Posted by Holsterman View Post
    It's just a new term for "manners". How any normal, decent human with any empathy would instinctively behave, assuming they have come from a good home.

    Loony right-wingers appear to believe that it's perfectly OK to be gratuitously offensive to whomever, usually justifying their boorish behaviour as "banter" or "humour".
    No. They aren't the same thing.

  29. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by monogroover View Post
    No. They aren't the same thing.
    What is the difference between normal, civilised manners, and PC? The advent of PC (I'm 57) hasn't altered the way I interact with others.

  30. #30
    Shame someone is either too dim or too lazy to read the article.

    R
    Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.

  31. #31
    Grand Master Andyg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wiltshire
    Posts
    24,924
    Quote Originally Posted by bwest76 View Post
    This is known as a “housewife”, a compact sewing kit that a soldier carried on campaign to mend his uniform. It was owned by Captain Newton Chambers, who served with the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards. At the Battle of Waterloo he was aide-de-camp to General Sir Thomas Picton and was killed during the battle, as was Picton himself.

    This housewife was made of silk pockets containing threads, five buttons and a small pincushion in a card tied with a pink ribbon. The term housewife referring to a portable sewing kit was used in print for the first time in 1749. Such kits were also known as a “hussif”. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was common for mothers, wives and sweethearts to embroider personalised sewing kits for their menfolk to take to war. The one above is obviously a gift from a woman who was close to Captain Chambers. These sewing kits are very popular with collectors today.

    From the mid 19th century to the mid-20th century a more prosaic khaki roll-up pouch containing thread, buttons, scissors, needles and a thimble became standard army issue. Before the advent of safety pins the housewife was useful for mending uniforms and sewing on buttons, ranks, and awards. The needle could also be used for removing splinters, and on occasion, sewing up a wound. Some soldiers even took up recreational needlework. After the First World War (1914-18), embroidery became a popular therapeutic occupation for wounded soldiers.

    Not questioning the historical use of the term, but according to the IMW, it's a term that died out in 1989 - so 40 years ago. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30016350

    So is it an actually a term still officially/unofficially used in the Army today. Because if not, then this article-allegation is some fabricated fake bullshit outrage based upon a term used years ago

    Even the author, reported that the Army no longer issued these kits and troops have to provide their own. FFS

    But just in case I suppose we start remaining things like the Husband Shark because it might be viewed as sexist by this twat. And don't get me started on Midwife.

    Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
    Friedrich Nietzsche


  32. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by Holsterman View Post
    What is the difference between normal, civilised manners, and PC? The advent of PC (I'm 57) hasn't altered the way I interact with others.
    No, I'm damn sure it hasn't.
    It's just a matter of time...

  33. #33
    Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    2,383
    Still available at Silvermans, in plan or in waterproof versions:


  34. #34
    Master Artistmike's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Devon, U.K.
    Posts
    1,806
    I'd love to know how your brain reconciles statements that you make, like these, I really would.....

    Quote Originally Posted by Andyg View Post
    Shame the author did not actually get confirmation from the Army, that this term was actually still or ever in use..

    Quote Originally Posted by Andyg View Post
    Not questioning the historical use of the term,

  35. #35
    Grand Master Andyg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wiltshire
    Posts
    24,924
    Quote Originally Posted by HappyJack View Post
    Still available at Silvermans, in plan or in waterproof versions:

    Cool, but shouldn't it have a NSN number if it was actually issued. Also just because Silverman refers to it as a Housewife Kit, is that it's formal title? The reason for asking is that piece of cameo, would look pretty crappy on many fatigues. Plus I cannot see the NSN.

    Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
    Friedrich Nietzsche


  36. #36
    Grand Master
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    sussex uk
    Posts
    15,483
    Blog Entries
    1
    Andy, let it go, the horse has been flogged, it was called a bloody housewife when many of us served, if you want a picture of mine balanced on a turd just let me know.

  37. #37
    Grand Master Andyg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wiltshire
    Posts
    24,924
    Quote Originally Posted by Artistmike View Post
    I'd love to know how your brain reconciles statements that you make, like these, I really would.....

    Well play, I accept my position changed when I saw a reference to a Housewifes kit in the Imperial War Museum. Although it was never a term i had heard during my dealings with Army personal in the past.

    However the question remains - who exactly were these people "accusing" the Army (but not Silverman ) of sexism over the use of the term.

    As others have said, it was a non-story, but still a story deemed important enough for the Independant to print. So the big question has to be why?

    Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
    Friedrich Nietzsche


  38. #38
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1
    That’s no surprise we didn’t sit in the NAAFI discussing the best way to sew on a button or pearl one stitch one.

    We had bags of booze and lined up tenants cans for beauty contests and usually talked a load of drunken nonsense.

  39. #39
    Grand Master Andyg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wiltshire
    Posts
    24,924
    Quote Originally Posted by seadog1408 View Post
    Andy, let it go, the horse has been flogged, it was called a bloody housewife when many of us served, if you want a picture of mine balanced on a turd just let me know.

    Fair enough Mike, but just for my information how long ago did you serve? Plus I bet you used lots of other terms at that time, which you couldn't get away with today.

    i just hate all this revisionist bollocks. 99.99% of the population simply don't care and there are more important things impacting society and the world to worry about. In next weeks Independant will there be a peice on why Dad Army is isn't gender neutral and sexist or the Black Watch is racist. FFS!

    Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
    Friedrich Nietzsche


  40. #40
    Grand Master
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    sussex uk
    Posts
    15,483
    Blog Entries
    1
    I served 80's/90's Andy, and I agree with you regards the modern day bollocks.


    mike

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Do Not Sell My Personal Information