Crochet, Knitting, and Feminism
July 18, 2010 at 4:36 pm 20 comments
I have been thinking about this issue a lot – the impact of the women’s lib movement on the needle arts. Before I continue, I want to clarify – I am not in support of returning to the pre-feminism days. I do believe that women have the right to work in any profession they so choose as well as the right to fair and equal pay. With that being said, I do not believe that we can “have it all.” Something always has to give – whether it is our career or our family lives. It is impossible to give 100% at both. The pie can only be cut so many ways.
Anyway, I was just about to explore the impact the 60′s had on the needle arts when I read the latest issue of the Crochet Insider which features an article, Reclaiming Crochet, and its American History, by Denise J. Lavoie.
In my opinion, there seems to be a generation-gap amongst crafters. For example, I have noticed that many women of my mom’s age (late 50′s and early 60′s) do not know how to knit or crochet or embroider, etc….Many women of my generation, who weren’t lucky enough to have a mom, granny or auntie around to teach them one or all of these skills, now rely heavily on organized classes to learn. Before, we learned as children….we grew up surround by beautiful things created at the hands of our female role models and it was a natural extension of our upbringing to want to be able to do the same. Then came the 60′s and the popularity of the needle arts seemed to begin to wane as women turned away from “traditional” female tasks. By the early 80′s, I clearly remember a stigma associated with such crafts. “Why are you doing that?” folks would ask – do you remember the 80′s? Money and power were king.
In addition to the push away from the “domestic,” I think that women no longer have time for crafting while climbing the corporate ladder. They are busy working all day and then, for many, juggling kids once they finally make it home. Who can find time to pick up a pair of needles or a hook for even 15 minutes when your day is so jammed-packed? I work part-time and have three kiddos and I still struggle to dedicate as much time as I would like to my crochet. With that being said, it is a shame that so many women miss out on this wonderful form of stress relief. There is nothing better than the end of a long, difficult day when I finally get to pull out my latest project and lose my worries in the stitches.
Lastly, I don’t think we can underestimate the impact of cheap, mass-produced clothing on the decline in the needle arts. Why spend hours knitting baby sweaters for your newborn when you can buy an entire wardrobe at a bargain price? Prior to the industrial revolution, the needle arts were a necessity to clothe our loved-ones and to decorate our homes. These crafty endeavours were much more that just hobbies but function, as well.
Today, I am delighted to see that women are reclaiming the needle arts. This generation seems to get it….I am thrilled to see the rebirth of crocheting and knitting EVERYWHERE. A quick glance through Ravelry and other internet sites is proof enough. I think we still have a way to go to figure out the perfect balance – but we moving step-by-step closer, with needles and hooks in hand!
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Please take a moment to vote in my poll and/or leave a comment.
Entry filed under: Crochet in History. Tags: .
1.
glenda | July 18, 2010 at 5:07 pm
I fit into the category of your Mother’s age – 58. My mother taught me simple hand sewing and embroidery starting when I was around 4. She taught me to crochet a few years later and then found a friend to teach me to knit as she didn’t know how then (she does now, I taught her). I took off from there. By me early teens, in the 60s, I had surpassed anything she could do, adding quilting, beading, rug hooking, needlepoint, etc. In my 30s I added tatting and looked at bobbin lace.
It might be the area I grew up, SE Michigan, but I never had a negative word about my fiber crafting and I took my knitting or crocheting everywhere I went. I even crocheted or knitting during class in high school. This started a mini-trend with some of the other girls until one teacher couldn’t take looking out over the class while lecturing and seeing all the needles and hooks flying and asked us to stop. His was the only class I didn’t knit in.
I never got looked down on for crafting, I have never heard any of the comments that others report while stitching in public. I have only gotten positive comments and admiring of the work in progress.
2.
handsindelight | July 18, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Thank you for sharing……I can’t imagine crocheting in class! That must have been wonderful
. I am a bit jealous that your area was so supportive of your craftiness….I guess it does depend on your area.
Now, I do get tons of positive comments about my crochet, but I do remember as a girl that the reception was not so nice.
3.
Coggie | July 18, 2010 at 5:47 pm
I know pleanty of 50-70 year old women who do needle work. I also think feminism is not a choice of one thing or another, but the ability to choose whether to do something or not.
4.
handsindelight | July 18, 2010 at 7:26 pm
I agree with you. It is a choice….however, choices have consequences and I don’t think you can choose it all.
5.
Judy Stein | July 18, 2010 at 7:13 pm
I am 65 years old. I was taught most of the needle arts as a child. My grandmother was a feminist before there was a name for it. We were told to do whatever we wanted and to do it well. My sister and I played all sports and competed against the boys to win ( and often did). At the same time, I played with dolls, knitted, embroidered and designed clothes for my paper dolls. My daughter was raised the same way. My sons can cook and iron.They can operate a sewing machine and their wives are very thankful that they do the grocery shopping and are so handy around the house. No one can do all things, but you should be free to do the things you enjoy.
6.
handsindelight | July 18, 2010 at 7:27 pm
“you should be free to do the things you enjoy”
I agree 100%!
7.
Jean | July 18, 2010 at 7:28 pm
I agree with all of your comments regarding the changing place of knitting and crocheting in our lives. However, I do think that there was in the 70s and 80s a real reaction against the world of crafts, and for two quite different reasons. As we know, each generation seems to rebel against the previous generation, their fashions, music and attitudes. So those young people born in the mid 50s and 60s grew up during an era when craft meant “hippie” (and some of it WAS truly awful); the only alternative was the craft of our grandmothers and it might have been better, but it was done by OLD people. These factors meant that many of us grew up without an appreciation for these arts. I was an avid knitter even in my school years in the late 60s and early 70s, but it was a novelty to my friends. My friends who didn’t knit or crochet couldn’t teach their daughters, so as you say, when young women want to add craft to their lives they have to go to classes.
8.
handsindelight | July 18, 2010 at 7:40 pm
That’s interesting….I never thought of it as a rebellion movement. More food for thought……
I agree that there was a lack of appreciation. After my grandmother died, I saw my mom throwing out a huge pile of hand embroidered towelettes with crocheted borders, crocheted placements and tableclothes. I literally picked them all out of the trashbag and salvaged each one. Now, they are proudly displayed throughout my home and my mom is so jealous. She has even tried to “reclaim” them all.
Interestingly, my mom sews and designs beautifully. She has always loved smocking too. But, crocheting never stuck. That was my grandmother’s choice of crafts.
9.
Sara | July 18, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Great post! I think interest it knitting and crocheting are enjoying a resurgence. I agree with Jean that the anti craft feeling in the 80′s probably had much to do with a rebellion against granny squares and ponchos. I think the biggest thing working against craft right now is mass production and the speed of life. A lot of people *say* they want to slow down, but don’t really have the patience or desire to sit down and craft something. Knitting and crochet aren’t the only crafts suffering. Think about building model cars or airplanes or railroads. All things boys used to do, but not so much any more.
10.
Sandy | July 19, 2010 at 5:56 am
I was born in the 50′s and my mom taught me to crochet. We would sit and I would crochet and she would, at that time, more than likely knit. However, I was considered and “odd ball” during those times. My friends thought it was “ridculous” that I wanted to learn how to “play” with yarn. I got a chuckle out of the post that said they crocheted in class in high school. I would have been laughed out of the county had I done that.
I am very thankful that my mom taught me and to this day we sit and crochet together when we can (at least once a week). I am one who loves the needle arts of the past, such as crocheting, knitting, and even quilting. All of which have had a purpose in the past, but not so much now. It thrills me to see celebraties knitting and crocheting and I think this has helped with the resurgence (Vanna White, Debbie McComber, Deborah Norville, etc.) I think those of us that knokw how to knit or crochet need to be diligent in teaching our sons and daugters how so that they can know the joy of creating something very special.
Thanks for a thought provoking post!
11.
LaurenS | July 20, 2010 at 8:10 am
I’ve knit through many Feminist meetings and conferences (I’m roughly your mom’s age). While not everyone understood my activity, most viewed it as my form of self-expression, and appreciated gifts of hand knits.
There usually were a few of us, scattered through a room, needling away on something.
Time certainly has something to do with it, if you’re totally consumed with work/family/housework there is little time left. I’ve always tried to have some time for knitting, and I’m also not in a relationship where all family/home responsibilities fall on me.
I think now especially we need some connection with making things. There a few jobs left where at the end of the day you can say I made “X” and feel that accomplishment.
12.
handsindelight | July 20, 2010 at 2:04 pm
I think that sense of accomplishment at the end of the day is a big deal…..at least, for me, it is. After typing and producing words all day, I want something concrete in my hands that I did.
13.
Kristina | July 21, 2010 at 10:35 am
I was once aproached on a bus where I was knitting and told that by knitting I was supporting the further subjugation of women everywhere, and that if I had no desire to hold a job I should stay at home and not hurt the feminist movment. I was 16 when this happened and was on my way to the library where I worked, I had no idea what to say.
14.
handsindelight | July 21, 2010 at 6:20 pm
That is terrible! It is crazy how women treat EACH OTHER!
15.
BootyGrandma | July 22, 2010 at 7:13 pm
I am 56, learned to knit from my Mom but was never very good at it; tried my hand at it again when I had children in the late 70′s / early 80′s and made a dress for my daughter and a sweater for my son. I went back to work full time when my youngest was 5 and with that, there was never any ‘me’ time for many years. My daughter who I could never teach to knit because she is left handed taught herself 5 – 10 yrs ago and got me interested again. That and the birth of 2 (step) grandkids and probably the extra time got me back at it. I have carpal tunnel pretty bad in one wrist and found that holding the needles was pretty painful so tried crocheting! I think it might even help the CT ;-}. Not only was this type of hand work affected by the movement of working Moms, but I feel it has created a generation of disrespectful (of others and themselves) youth. Thank you.
16.
Asinknits | July 22, 2010 at 10:24 pm
I think time is a big factor, not just uncoolness. We live in a world where women have been increasingly entered the workforce, some of their own free will, some conscripted by economic circumstances.
The working world is not constructed in such a manner to allow much of a life outside of it. It is still assumed that there is someone in the background at home full time holding everything together, but increasingly there’s not. What that means is too often women are being pulled every which way, working full time then housekeeping and mothering, and then certain things stop happening. Many men contribute in the home, but the housekeeping and childminding hours done by men are on average lower than those done by women, even if a woman works full time.
I love making my own clothes (knitting/sewing), but it is time consuming, and I have no idea how I’d do it if I had childminding duties in addition to my full time job and housekeeping duties (lazy flatmates! Arggh!)
17.
Wendy | July 23, 2010 at 8:56 am
I’m 52, just a little to young to officially be a “hippie” but I remember my mother teaching me to knit, sew, crochet and tried to teach me to embroider, but I wasn’t too interested at the time. I also identified as a feminist, and was a charter subscriber to Ms magazine in High School. My mother also was one of the few women who had a career and a family at the same time in the 1950′s and early 60′s, when it was frowned upon.
Remember also, that both HER parents worked full time when she was a child in the 1920′s and 1930′s – my grandmother had a store in the Bronx, and my grandfather worked for the city of NY as a low-level bureaucrat. My grandmother also did some intense fiber crafts (and it may be that she did them for sale to others – we are unclear about that).
I think the advent of cheap, mass-produced textiles from the US and then, later, overseas, did more to kill the home fiber arts than anything else.
As I said, I self-identified as a feminist and also as a hippie or hippie-wannabe – and handcrafts were a mainstay of the “hippie” movement. There may not have been much in the way of knitting – but I remember everyone wearing granny-square vests, and tying macrame. And remember that the SCA started in 1975 and by the 80′s had grown into an international organization where hand crafts, especially embroidery and spinning and weaving were placed in high regard, not to mention garment construction skills.
Most of the quilters I know in person are of my age or older. It’s the gen-Xers and younger people that have less interest in creating things themselves from where I sit. They are too busy playing games on their game consoles. I know that doesn’t apply to everyone – just the stepkids I watched grow up and their social group. Although I can’t seem to get my own child interested in learning anything from me – I’ve noticed that in younger people I’m surrounded by if it’s something that’s difficult to master, they give up too fast.
Don’t blame feminism for determining what the current cultural fads are. (and actually, we are in the middle of a home-crafting explosion if you haven’t noticed)
18.
Dez Crawford | July 23, 2010 at 1:21 pm
I clicked on “positive” because I feel as though the rebound effect (after most of a generation “skipped out” on needle arts) actually created a greater interest in handcrafts. Women (and men) now are choosing to knit because they WANT to, not because they HAVE to sew,knit etc. as part of the daily domestic chores to provide clothing for the family, and I think that’s where the big difference lies: what used to be a domestic CHORE has become a creative PASTIME.
Instead of learning at the hands of Mother and Grandma as something a girl NEEDS to do, new knitters usually learn from friends or classes because they WANT to knit. The Internet has been very liberating in promoting the creative process of knitting and changing the profile of “what sort of woman knits.”
I think the ’60s wave of feminism threw out the baby with the bathwater with regard to “traditional” women’s activities. I am a hard-core feminist and I also knit, crochet, spin and weave. I do these things because I enjoy them and because I am a “whole process” person. I am a tail-end baby boomer and learned to spin, knit, weave and garden in the “back to nature”
days of the late 60s and early 1970s.
The whole point of feminism is for women to be able to do anything they wish — not to become men with breasts. A critical theme of feminism is not to make assumptions about who people ARE based on what they DO.
I know many women in high-pressure business-world jobs who knit, who take their knitting to work, etc. Knitting or crochet doesn’t require vast amounts of leisure time. You can sneak in a few rows on a sock while waiting for a meeting to start, for example, or on your lunch break.
May I offer the constructive criticism that I think your poll is too simple for such a complex topic? Otherwise this is a great idea to discuss.
19.
kenocarie | July 23, 2010 at 10:01 pm
I’m 33 and when I was young – say 5-7, my mom taught me how to knit. She was left handed, so I know I knit “weird” but it works for me! I remember watching her do a lot of embroidery when I was very young, and cross-stitch.
I consider myself a feminist, although that doesn’t necessarily mean we get everything in life. I’ve personally found that striving to live what I think is a “feminist inspired” life proves to be more work, physically and every other way, for me. It certainly has been to my lazy husband’s advantage!
Back to knitting. I love to express my creativity through knitting and find it a satisfying way to show people how much they mean to me at the same time.
20.
crazy Knitter | July 24, 2010 at 5:07 pm
It seems to me all crafts, those traditionally practiced by women, as well as those practiced mostly by men, have declined since the 1970′s. I suspect it has more to do with a relative lack of free time, and the increasing popularity of video tape (and dvd) movies, computers, video games, and the internet since then.