Penmanship
Okay, so penmanship isn't a gender-neutral word, but the term encompasses more than mere handwriting.
Whether someone writes Chinese characters, cursive script or block letters that tells you a little something about the person. Then there's the individual flair, which says so much more (e.g., loopiness, slanting this way or that, sloppy scribbles, coloured ink, a heart or a star to dot an i).
It saddens me that young people today are unlikely to grow calluses on their middle finger, because apart from signing formal documents it is rare that millennials ever handle a pen or pencil.
Instead of ink-stained digits, people are now plagued by carpal tunnel syndrome and strained eyes from composing long texts on computers and countless text messages on handheld devices.
Today, many people consider penmanship old-fashioned, but I would argue―admittedly with a touch of nostalgia―that penmanship is personal, artistic and AWESOME.
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Whether someone writes Chinese characters, cursive script or block letters that tells you a little something about the person. Then there's the individual flair, which says so much more (e.g., loopiness, slanting this way or that, sloppy scribbles, coloured ink, a heart or a star to dot an i).
It saddens me that young people today are unlikely to grow calluses on their middle finger, because apart from signing formal documents it is rare that millennials ever handle a pen or pencil.
Instead of ink-stained digits, people are now plagued by carpal tunnel syndrome and strained eyes from composing long texts on computers and countless text messages on handheld devices.
Today, many people consider penmanship old-fashioned, but I would argue―admittedly with a touch of nostalgia―that penmanship is personal, artistic and AWESOME.
Actually there is an argument to be made that penmanship is gender-neutral. See Robert Hughes’ The Culture of Complaint, especially the bit where he indicates that one is (regardless of gender) a committee chairman not a chair (as one does not have four cabriole legs and a pierced splat). J
ReplyDeleteI lament the loss of it as you do. I understand that children are no longer taught cursive writing at all in some jurisdictions. However will they sign their names?
I write all fiction and poetry long-hand (and diary entries and grocery lists and-and-and…). So there.
Lorna