Can feminists be feminine?
Saturday, July 25, 2009 - FEATURES
[SEE. THINK. TALK.]
This is a mood board. And it's just so ... crafty. Turns out crafting is no longer a girly-girl pastime. It's a hot trend right now. And Web sites like the craftaganza known as etsy.com prove that women seem to enjoy baking and sewing and crafting more than ever before—not because they're supposed to but because they like to.
I was a tomboy growing up, and I never liked princesses or unicorns or the color pink. But I do love baking. I won't cook you dinner, but I’ll gladly whip up cookies or a homemade carrot cake. Does doing something so clasically “feminine” (and enjoying it) make me less of a feminist?
Ellie Snow, designer and mastermind behind Mint Design, doesn’t think so. As a feminista and a fan of the crafts and recipes on her Mint blog, I had to ask her if it’s possible to be a feminine feminist.
SP: What inspired you to start up Mint?
ES: In college, I was an art major, and I took for granted the collaborative atmosphere, the never-ending assigned projects, and the encouragement and feedback that came with it. Once I graduated, I really missed it! Many of my artist friends scattered across the country, and my first job had nothing to do with my love for design. But I found I could get my art and design “fix” from design blogs and the online design community. It was a whole new world! After reading design blogs for about a year, I decided I wanted to start my own. I was surprised at how quickly Mint gained a readership, and knowing that people are being inspired daily by my finds keeps me going. The amount of time I spend on arts, crafts, and design has shot through the roof, and I’m a much happier person as a result. It’s been very empowering and opened a lot of doors.
SP: What inspires you to create and where do you find ideas?
ES: If something is posted on Mint, it’s because I’ve found it to be personally inspiring. I scour the Internet, correspond with artists and designers, visit museums and shops, and read books and magazines to find the content for Mint. A recent example is an interview I did with someone who is an expert at photo styling—I was struggling with my own styling and thought others designers and shop owners probably were, too. My main criteria for posting something is whether it inspires me to be creative on my own. For example, I may post on an expensive ceramic planter, but at the end of the day, what I like about that planter is not that it’s something I might be able to purchase but that it inspires me to take a class on ceramics and learn to make my own beautiful planters!
SP: What do you say to people who say baking and crafting are too "traditional"?
ES: It definitely has been the traditional role of women, but today, most women are able to choose their own path. Most of the crafters I know pursue it in their spare time and have careers that are also very important to them. Other crafters may have jobs that pay the bills and may make a little money with their art on the side. To me, it’s empowering to know that I can make something that otherwise would have to be bought in a store. The bottom line is that I do it because I love it.
SP: How do you reconcile being a feminist and enjoying crafting?
ES: In many ways, the DIY movement is resistance against mass production and the unethical labor practices that often follow, which is something feminists have fought against for ages. When I purchase handmade goods by others, I’m promoting small businesses that are often women-owned, and Mint has made an entrepreneur out of me, too. There’s a ‘green’ aspect to it as well because I love to use vintage or recycled materials in my work. But, like I said, the bottom line is that I just enjoy doing things with my hands, and I have the luxury of being able to spend my time that way. I do think it’s important to use the word luxury because not everyone has the time or the money for this kind of hobby.
SP: Where do men fit into this homemade crafts trend?
ES: There aren’t too many men selling goods on etsy—that's true. But I don’t think it’s as stigmatized as it used to be. At every craft show I attend, there are always tons of guys with booths—screenprinting, soldering, all very manly stuff.
SP: How would you define feminism today?
ES: I think the most important thing to know about feminism is that its not a one-size-fits-all doctrine; feminists disagree with one another as often as Democrats and Republicans. Defining it is tricky because today’s feminism is so individualized. Overall, it’s about being socially and politically conscious, a desire for equality, and a desire to find solutions to the problems that affect all women, whether political, social, economic, or individual.
Is feminism one-size-fits-all? Or can you bake and sew and still call yourself a feminist?
:: by feminine feminist Lindsay McComb
I am definitely a feminist. I have the guys who expect you to be the housewife and belong in the kitchen or behind a vacuum cleaner. I hate cleaning, but love cooking and am a girly girl with loving pink and make-up and stuff. But I believe in a world where women are treated the same in the workforce and men can stay home and take care of the household.
I am a proud feminist in that I believe that women are capable. I believe they are fully capable to be who they were created to be. They were created to be the supporters, the helpers. They were not created to be any LESS than men, but they were created for a DIFFERENT purpose.
As a woman myself, I am an empowered leader who loves to take charge and have strong opinions, but I am to be the supporter and helper of my husband. It's all a balance! So yes, I love to be strong and individualistic, but I'm definitely still a cookie-baker and PTA mom at heart.
@alanagkelly "Usually the issue is more about being called “Misses” instead of their title (which can be a deliberate form of disrespect in many cases)"
Oh, well that's understandable. I hate it when people talk about marriage and such as if it's a requisite to ~life.
@Mollyyy
In all actuality, I really don’t think there are many cisgender women who are choosing to be called by male pronouns. Usually the issue is more about being called “Misses” instead of their title (which can be a deliberate form of disrespect in many cases).
But, if you’re for gender equality then you’re a feminist. All the other stuff is just filler (similar to how you can be liberal or conservative but not have all the same views as other people within those groups).
@alanagkelly We're actually on the same page then, thanks for clarifying for me.
Playing devil's advocate can be tricky.
@alanagkelly Sometimes even I don't understand my point of view. I guess I just feel like people can take the whole thing too far. I'm not saying I think people shouldn't have the right to be called by whatever pronoun they want, just that it's a little bit too much, in my humble opinion. I think feminism should be about owning what you are (a "she") and being proud of it, not disposing of it because you feel like being called that somehow makes you inferior.
You are perhaps right about the profession thing. I guess I just couldn't see myself doing a job in question.
I am a feminist in the sense that I do believe in gender equality. I guess I'm just a "moderate" feminist, if that's possible, so it's hard for me to look at the more "liberal" on the other side objectively (I am sorry, I really don't know a term to describe the two sides).
i feel like I'm running in circles here. Forgive me. Just know that I'm definitely not a "women should sit around at home and clean the house and pop out babies" kind of person, but I'm not so far to the other side to give up my pronoun. Somewhere in the middle, I'd say, in the sense that I'm going to have a job and it's going to pay equally, damn it. Oh, and if it doesn't I'm leaving. I don't think there's anything abnormal in this though.
@Mollyyy I don’t really understand your point of view to be honest.
Yes, it might be silly to want to be called by male pro-nouns, but ultimately shouldn’t a person - any person - have the freedom to decide what they want to be called? I also don’t buy into your idea that there are some professions women shouldn’t be in because they may not have as much upper body strength as men. (Should male doctors be allowed to be gynecologists even though they don’t have vaginas?) Though there may be professions where one sex may have an easier time doing the work overall, I think that sort of thinking can be inadvertently hurtful to both sexes because it can re-enforce gender stereotypes.
I also don’t agree with the idea that feminists don’t want to be seen as feminine. The fact the question, "Can feminists be feminine," was even asked shows a great deal of misunderstanding of what feminism is. There is a great quote that says organizing atheists is like trying to heard cats (or something along those lines) and the same thing can be said about feminism. Yes there may be feminists who have decided to live outside their gender norm, but that doesn’t mean all feminists feel that way. All feminists don’t feel any way in fact. We’re just individual people who happen to believe in gender equality. How to achieve that equality, or anything else, differs person to person.
@schadenfreude Thinking feminism is dumb is part of your male privilege and no one ever said having equal opportunities in the workplace equated with turning women into men.
I can’t possible imagine why you brought equal pay into this. I mean, why should a woman make less money than a man for doing the same work simply because she’s a woman? No one is saying an under-qualified woman should make the same amount as a qualified man. The problem is when two equally qualified coworkers are paid different salaries for the same work because one of them has a vagina. It just doesn’t make much sense.
- LIFE's BIG QUESTIONS
- ATTACK A CHALLENGE
what is feminine exactly?? How are women supposed to behave???