BBC News published an article this morning about knitting’s rebirth. Which, way to be late to the party Beebs. The article goes on to talk about knitting as mathematical expression (think true mobius cowls), knitting with wire and knitting as feminist expression via Stitch ‘n Bitch.
While I think the first two items are pretty cool, I’m not sure if I’m entirely sold on the last point. I knit because it saved my life, because I love the act of creating and transforming raw materials into a thing, and because it gives me something to do. I don’t necessarily see it having anything to do with my gender or with feminism.
My old dorm
I’ve shied away from talking about feminism and what it means to me mostly because it’s such a personal and slippery thing to talk about. I did go to a (now defunct) woman’s college, Marymount College of Fordham University. Feminism was part of nearly every subject taught there and rightly so. However, now that I’m out of school (I was part of the last graduating class in 2007) I don’t view everything through that lens. I really have no idea what feminism means to me any more, much less how my knitting fits into it.
So, I am bravely baring my ignorance on this subject as well as a lack of an inform opinion! On the internets none the less! Where it seems everyone has a terribly informed and very loud opinion on just about everything! Blasphemy, I know. But I turn to you, dearest readers, what does your knitting help you to express?
Is it your love of polygons? Perhaps trying new and different materials like wire or plarn? Or is it your way of making a stance on a hot button issue?
6 Responses to “Knitting as Feminist Theory?”
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I don’t consider my own knitting to be a feminist act, but I do think it’s easy to run into a lot of feminist issues when you’re a knitter (not that knitting is unique in this way; I ran into a lot of feminist issues when I worked at Wal-Mart, too). Because it went from being a man’s profession to being a woman’s hobby, because the DIY movement can be linked with a particular kind of feminist or socially progressive attitude, because of the concept of The Boyfriend Sweater, because Debbie Stoller has been so influential in both feminism and knitting, etc., etc., I think it’s very easy to view knitting through a feminist lens if you want to. But, then, because yarn is pretty and fun to squish, because it’s nice to have warm hats, because some people need to do something with their hands at all times, because sometimes it’s the only way to get a sweater or pair of socks that actually fits, etc., etc., I don’t personally see the need to view knitting through a feminist lens. I find the history of knitting and women to be interesting, and I consider it important to know at least a bit about the historical contexts my hobbies have existed in, but it’s not something that’s on my mind every time I pick up my needles. And I can’t really imagine anyone wanting to pick up knitting as a long-term hobby simply to make some sort of feminist point.
I can, however, very easily fall into Endless Discussions of Feminist Viewpoints regarding the whole Stitch & Bitch thing in general and Debbie Stoller’s brand of feminism in particular. (Short version: both annoy the hell out of me.)
Knitting is just one more thing I can do to have a creative outlet. I could not care less about whether people think of me as falling into a stereotypical gender role for doing it. Feminism has given me the choice to do it or not. It also works my brain and since I’m doing something productive on the train or at the doctor’s office – when it were not for knitting, I’d be an fidgety mess. The industrial revolution took away the need for knitters, but mass production will never have the amount of love I am able to pour into each item.
The BBCarticle neglets to mention that Debbie Stroller is a bonafide genius. She has a Ph.D from Yale University, the founder of a feminist magazine called Bust and is a business woman.
Creativity pure and simple. And like you, being able to create something. Later, and I didn’t know this when I started knitting, it became a way to connect with people and make new friends and peer groups. No feminist stance here. Though I do get cranky when people say that. There was a time when knitting was a very manly profession and it was an honour to be a male knitter.
I chose knitting as my preferred way of keeping my hands busy because it was something I could do anywhere, even laying on a bed. I love the colours and the textures of the materials we use and the incredible things that can be made from those materials with imagination and determination. Imagination and determination are not purely female traits, they are human traits. Before the Victorian middle classes took up knitting as a hobby, it was a way of making money for men, women and children. There was no gender assigned to the skill of knitting. So once again we have the Victorians to blame for giving us gender stereotypes that still resound today. I think it is sad that so many men miss out on the pleasures of knitting because they believe a stereotype that applied over a hundred years ago. They would enjoy the benefits of knitting that I do because knitting really isn’t gender specific. I refuse to give it up because society has applied the label “woman’s work” and there partaking in it, as a woman, reinforces the stereotype. I’m just going to work on my young nephews to get them excited about knitting to help destroy the stereotype in the next generation!
i initially took up knitting as a therapy to pull myself out of a depression, but i have noticed the types of responses i’ve had from people who learned about the hobby. one main one involves knitting being such a girly or old housewife activity, and that they were surprised that i of all people would take to such a thing.
i usually reply with something along the lines of, hey, knitting’s actually pretty badass and not just a feminine thing at all to do! how dare you relate me to a housewives or to being girly!
it took some meditating while knitting[who knew] to wonder why i or anyone would take such surprise or offense to being called out for doing something that may be feminine. eventually after some thought and discussion with some close friends i grew to realize for myself that there’s nothing wrong with doing anything feminine at all. the neutralizing[or, possibly masculizing..if that's even a word] of something to make it be seen as legitimate or worthy of praise or admiration might be doing a lot of harm to things i endeavor to mend.
…to make a long drawn out musing shorter, i guess i love knitting because it’s led me to shed light on habits of thinking i never knew i had, in this case learning that femininity is not anti-feminist at all, and that ‘that’s for girls’ shouldn’t be a negative thing to say or receive.
Crocheting and, now knitting, are the way I express my creativity. I don’t draw or paint, sing or play a musical instrument, I don’t enjoy cooking….but I can make a mean amigurami from scratch…..I, occasionally bead, too, but it is mostly playing with yarn that allows me to be creative…and feel like I can make beautiful things, too…