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Topic: getting crafty

Lima Bean
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3000

posted 23 June 2003 03:30 PM

quote:
Being crafty is not about what you don't do — it's about all of the things that you do do. It's about playing soccer with a bunch of your girlfriends every Sunday, even though you (all of you) suck. It's about having cupcake picnics, and making soaps with plastic cats in the center, and playing bingo. It's crafty to think about what it means to be a woman.

From this article at www.getcrafty.com.

What do you think of this trend in feminism? Would you really call it feminist? Is it productive? Is it just for fun? Are you into it? Does it really represent "what it means to be a woman"??

From: s | Registered: Aug 2002 | IP: Logged

Lima Bean
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3000

posted 23 June 2003 03:34 PM

Another tidbit from the getcrafty girls--this time, advice on creating a Ladies Day:

quote:
You can enjoy a Ladies Day alone or with other ladies, but no more than three. Three ladies keep the conversation stimulating but cozy. Also, more than three ladies can make trips to your favorite junk or vintage store dangerous: "Who saw that fabulous Statue of Liberty lamp first?" Need I say more.

Say what?

From: s | Registered: Aug 2002 | IP: Logged

clersal
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 370

posted 23 June 2003 03:41 PM

I dunno if it is feminist or not. A bunch of us used to get together a few years ago, once a year.
We had a lot of fun. Laughed a hell of a lot.
Things happened and we don't do it anymore.

From: Canton Marchand, Québec | Registered: Apr 2001 | IP: Logged

vickyinottawa
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 350

posted 23 June 2003 03:48 PM

I must admit I do enjoy getting together with friends for what I like to call a "crafternoon".

Haven't done it for a while, though...

From: lost in the supermarket | Registered: Apr 2001 | IP: Logged

Lima Bean
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3000

posted 23 June 2003 03:54 PM

I kinda balked at the assertion that more than three girls would make for a "dangerous" Ladies Day...I'm having a party in July to which I'm inviting only women, and we're gonna have a clothes swap, potluck, stitch'n'bitch, knitting, drinking, pedicuring, gossiping, rock-on party. But I assure you, there will be way more than three girls there--if I get my invitations out soon enough!

From: s | Registered: Aug 2002 | IP: Logged

paxamillion
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2836

posted 23 June 2003 04:11 PM

My wife heads out with girlfriends to work on a project or two, and I think it's great.

From: the process of recovery | Registered: Jul 2002 | IP: Logged

Timebandit
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 1448

posted 23 June 2003 06:22 PM

I'd never describe myself as crafty, but I do a lot of the things they describe. Thrift shops, garage sales, fixit stuff on old furniture.

I generally think of crafts as having something to do with felt, macaroni and white glue...

I don't think there's anything feminist about it, anyway. I do most of the stuff they talk about with the blond guy.

From: Urban prairie. | Registered: Sep 2001 | IP: Logged

Lima Bean
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3000

posted 24 June 2003 11:09 AM

I think the problem I have with the movement is the way they champion all these activities (knitting, crafting, sewing, thriftshopping etc.) as essentially female things to do and care about. They seem to be trying to spin it as a reclamation and re-ordering of traditional roles, but I just can't get past how domesticating it all is. It's all about staying home and working on "projects" with "the Ladies", but even then, only three at a time, at most, or it gets catty?

I dunno, maybe I'm taking it too seriously, but it just seems a little stunted or something...Still just a little too Cosmo, not enough Bitch for my liking, maybe.

From: s | Registered: Aug 2002 | IP: Logged

Smith
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3192

posted 24 June 2003 11:37 AM

I like getcrafty.com, but mostly because the vast majority of craft sites on the web are of the "crochet your own Old Glory Support Our Troops Injun Chief Thanksgiving Centerpiece and then découpage it with macaroni" variety.

I don't see craft stuff as feminist, although the DIY notion has some value in other political ways. Certainly, I think the notion of fixing up what you have, or what you've acquired second- or third-hand, rather than buying new stuff, has value.

Most of the people doing these crafts are female, so most of the sites are pretty female-oriented. But it is definitely more Cosmo than Bitch.

[ 24 June 2003: Message edited by: Smith ]

From: Muddy York | Registered: Oct 2002 | IP: Logged

Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 24 June 2003 01:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Smith:
the vast majority of craft sites on the web are of the "crochet your own Old Glory Support Our Troops Injun Chief Thanksgiving Centerpiece and then découpage it with macaroni" variety.

Hahaha! I think the neighbours heard me laughing at that one! It's so true.

Man, we should have a contest to see who can come up with the most grotesque patriotic craft or craft site. Back when I was perusing a couple of the "mommy boards", I checked out a couple of craft forums on them, and while some of the stuff posted was neat, so much of it was so obnoxious I almost tossed my cookies.

From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001 | IP: Logged

Lima Bean
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3000

posted 24 June 2003 02:14 PM

I like the idea of refurbishing something useful that happens to be unfortunately ugly, or making something useful out of something that's otherwise not, or making useful things cool enough to give as gifts...The key for me is practicality, I guess.

From: s | Registered: Aug 2002 | IP: Logged

skadie
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2072

posted 24 June 2003 05:22 PM

The femenist sense of "craftiness" to me is the notion that women can accomplish stuff on thier own.

I prefer to get crafty with my vehicle - oil changes and tune ups and such - or with hammer and nails. (I just hung a shelf over my computer.)

These are tasks I grew up thinking of as men's tasks. It took a while to even believe I could take them on but a few years back I started to dry-wall my apartment and realized that it ain't rocket science. The mystique of mens work went down the drain with a rude gurgle.

From: near the ocean | Registered: Jan 2002 | IP: Logged

Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 24 June 2003 05:36 PM

I wonder if some men who don't do child care or housework have that same kind of fear of it - whether there's some sort of "mystique" to it that is comparable to how women often feel about doing home and car repairs?

Of course, then there are men and women who find both housework AND home and car repair bewildering.

From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001 | IP: Logged

skadie
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2072

posted 24 June 2003 05:59 PM

quote:
Of course, then there are men and women who find both housework AND home and car repair bewildering.

You can add me to that group, Michelle. But us single people can't afford to stay bewildered, can we?.

From: near the ocean | Registered: Jan 2002 | IP: Logged

lagatta
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2534

posted 24 June 2003 06:48 PM

Yes, it is rather odd, because I have a background in visual arts as well as "letters", but I'm not crafty or handy at all. My mum was great at both sewing - she made things like beautifully tailored suits - and home repairs. I never could be bothered.

Yes, if I owned a house or even if I join a co-op I'd probably have to develop some more home repairs skills.

The other funny thing about this site is that it takes female poverty pretty much as a given. Realistic and practical, I suppose, but in Québec we'd say that it has a bit of that "nés pour un petit pain" mentality about it.

From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002 | IP: Logged

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