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I saw this Joanna Wood Toolbag (top) on shiny shiny today and rolled my eyes so hard I thought I saw God. These girly-girl handy kits, like Pink Toolbox (bottom), are not only a paradox within themselves, but they offer no where near the same calibur of performance and quality that you would find in tools available at your local Home Depot. If one needs scissors, a tape measure, hammer, utility knife, and level that will REALLY get the job done, she should avoid all products that appear as if they were hand-crafted by Hello-Kitty herself. Real tools look the way they do for a reason--because they actually work. If companies wish to encourage DIY build and repair to fragile female audiences, perhaps they should market the power drill, saws-all, belt sander, nail gun, circular saw kit...encrusted with Swarovski crystals.
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Comments
Wait a minute, have you not looked at your local hardware store lately. 90% of the tools in those pictures are at your local hardware store. They are the generic brand you buy because they are the cheaper of the two options on the wall. Those Girl tools just have pink handles, if you go to the hardware store and buy the guy version, the handle is black or blue, Or maybe XTREME rubber grip thing. And Don't tell me that Hitachi's all over rubber alien skin pattern makes more difference than the amps of the motor on a chop saw...These girls tools are just that, designed for with what women are more familliar, they don't want some over the top "tough as nails" look, they are girls..I don't meen to sound like all women everywhere love pink and hate Xtreme grippy tool, but I think they are going after the women who pick up a fashion mag before a woodworkers weekly...Hey if a screwdriver with a floral patern makes a women more confortable handling a home improvement project all the more power to her. If anything I would say these Girl tools could go even farther, by considering even more characteristics of a women. For examples smaller hands,or maybe they care more about clean up, so why not include a set of matching rags..Even your crystals idea might have some merit if considered the right way....Telling a women she shouldn't buy tools because they have a more femine colored handle is like telling a guy he shouldn't drink beer because it might make him drunk.
Here are a couple more - Handy Mandy & DIY Diva, by Mayhem -
http://www.danlockton.co.uk/portfolio/jpeg/DanLocktonHandyMandy150dpi.jpg | http://www.danlockton.co.uk/portfolio/jpeg/DanLocktonDIYDiva150dpi.jpg . In my defence: I didn't come up with the names, they sold quite well, and were always intended to be fun/whimsical! In this case - though I take Adam Jossem's point - these weren't actually the most professional power tools to start with.