Rant against Pinterest

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Ok, this one has been brewing for a while (there are more long-standing grievances to file, but this is sufficient for now).  I have a deep and abiding hatred for Pinterest.  It's unabashedly gender-role enforcing.  It's basically a place where straight, white women go to collect pictures of aspirational interior design, fashion, recipes, saccharin inspirational quotes, and they accumulate. More accumulation - as if that's what we need to cure the ails of society.  They tack up meaningless quotes that they think are insiprational that are usually historic/literary quotes taken out of context or meaningless drivel. They decorate homes they can't afford, select outfits they will never be able to buy, find makeup tips they will never use, and pin recipes they will never bother with.  It's the ultimate way to feel like a domestic goddess without ever actually trying anything.

There are some snarky pins that I run across, including some I don't understand - about how some women pin things depending on how they think others will judge them. Really? Is that the depths to which our society has sunk? Caring about what anonymous people you will never meet think about whether or not you like something silly on a social media platform?  As if it could be more rigidly enforcing of what it means to be "feminine" or a "woman".  I must want to work out to aspire to have my body look a certain way, to dress a certain way; I must aspire to have a home that looks a perfect way. I must care about everything beautiful and be sensitive to quotes that touch my soul (even if it's just total crap).  I must aspire to fuel the consumer-driven economy by buying useless junk, and flimsy clothes that are destroyed after a couple washes.

Eff-that-ish. I love power tools (particularly the sawzall), when I knit, I want to make things that are geeky and functional. I am strong, I am my own person, I read books that fall outside of the category of "chick lit", and I watch sports (and enjoy it). I hike. I am the butchest straight girl I know. I make my own definition of "feminine" and "womanly". I make no apologies.

And now the confession. I use Pinterest. I use it so that I can remember where I found awesome patterns for knitting and cross-stitching that I want to do (or do something like it). I have never once changed the caption on an image that I re-pinned, I just use it as my own personal scrapbook of awesome crap I want to make and know I can't remember where I found it any other way. I could just do bookmarks on my browser, but after a while, those are just unwieldy. Where else can I easily keep track of the dwarven knit hat with beard that I absolutely must make, or the quote from Firefly that I want to put in a cross-stitch pattern (which I have designed, I just need the fabric), or the link to a Dr Who themed lace knitting pattern?  I don't care who sees what I pin, I'm just doing it to help ease my mental fatigue.  I'm fine using it as anti-social media, more fun that way.