The 30-year-old British actor was speaking at a Yahoo kids’ Q&A with the cast of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 when he was asked a question about how Spider-Man makes his suit.
He replied that Spider-Man sewed the suit himself, which he reckoned was a ‘feminine’ task.
“He made it. He made it with his bare hands. He sewed it, he took some sewing classes and some needle work,” he said in the video above.
“It’s kind of a feminine thing to do, he made a very masculine costume out of a very feminine [task].”
At which point, his on and off screen girlfriend, 25, questioned why sewing was a feminine task.
“It’s feminine how?” she asked.
“It’s feminine in the sense… It’s amazing how you took that as an insult,” he said.
“I’m not taking that as an insult, I’m asking how it’s feminine,” she replied.
“It’s feminine because I would say that femininity is about more delicacy and precision and detailed work and craftsmanship, like my mother, she’s an amazing craftsman,” he explained.
“She in fact made my first Spider-Man costume when I was 3 so I use it as a compliment, not just in complimenting women but in men as well. We all have feminine in us, young men.”
It's annoying when people overreact to obviously harmless comments like that, but at the same time...he should have phrased that better. Or not said it at all, because sewing being "feminine" is irrelevant.
Yas Emma! We teach girls that they should aspire to sew. Now sewing is a very good skill, but why do we teach girls it is good to sew and we don't teach boys the same.
