To most people, ironing is a chore. It’s a necessary evil, something that has to be done in order to look smart. But to a small and dedicated band of enthusiasts, the challenge lies in finding new places to undertake this household task, as well as still producing a neatly ironed collared shirt at the end of the challenge.
Participants, known as Ironists, have ironed whilst cycling around a velodrome, on surfboards, underwater, on a closed English motorway and at the top of Everest. It surely must make the task more interesting, but raises the difficulty by an order of magnitude unheard of by most. But is it a sport? A craze? A fad? A hobby?
Those in favour would suggest an extreme sport, as it combines a known dangerous pursuit with the normality of a standard household chore. Detractors might say otherwise, stating that it is tongue-in-cheek or worse.
Some Think It's a Sport
Certainly according to sites such as The Fact Site and Moolf, Extreme Ironing (also called EI) is a sport. Moolf provides many pictures of innovative places to iron to support this assertion.
Or is it a Hobby?
Equally vociferous in its description of EI as a hobby is the Squidoo page Humorous Hobbies by quippingqueen. Backing this viewpoint up is Calm Your Beans where EI is mentioned as a ‘stalwart of weird hobby lists’.
A Craze, Perhaps?
Meantime an advertising campaign by the ferry operator Stena Line in 2007 inspired talk of EI as a craze. PR Log provides the story behind the advertisement, which saw the company offering free travel to those submitting the most outlandish photographs. A more recent Canadian viewpoint on this British occupation comes from Jacey Gibb in the post 'Extreme Irony' on the Canadian University Press Newswire site. She too is of the opinion that it is a craze.
Some Think it's a Fad
Slices of Life website suggests that those who consider EI as a fad should take a look at the large number of pictures displayed on the Largest Extreme Ironing Gallery in the World and make up their own minds whether it constitutes a fad or not. Many of the comments on blogs and articles about EI suggest that observers do think it’s a fad. Many have likened it to ‘planking’ (aka The Lying Down Game), which has recently been in the news itself.
Further Information
Videos are available on the World News.com site. The IMDb provides information on a 2001 programme called ‘Extreme Ironing to Mount Everest’ which follows two competitors in the World Extreme Ironing Championships. Unsurprisingly, Russell Hobbs, the iron manufacturer, has something to say about EI on their blog. Meantime Studentbeans.com provides stills of the famous ‘Man Irons on the M1’ stunt.
Facts About Extreme Ironing
- Founded in 1997 by a factory worker in England.
- Participants are called Ironists.
- They use battery powered irons these days.
Whatever your view on Extreme Ironing, it looks like it is here to stay, if only, as mentioned by Calm Your Beans, as a ‘stalwart of weird hobby lists’.
Paula Thomas - Paula is, among other things, an editor & proofreader. She also enjoys technology - retro or modern - travel, music, motorsport and ...
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