Feminism meets domesticity
Chicago Tribune - December 14 2005
"Women who embrace what I call the new domesticity are not traditional women," says Jean Railla, 35, founder of GetCrafty.com, a Web site she designed to "explore the place where feminism and domesticity could meet."
"Most of them, I think, consider themselves third wave feminists," says Railla, a New Yorker. "They're independent, earn their own living, but they also have come to appreciate doing things by hand, taking care of their home, knitting, embroidery as a way to find meaning and create a haven."
... The Grandma stigma and aesthetics create a sort of tension between traditional and new wave crafters.
"Country crafts are definitely not my aesthetic," says Cooper, who always is working on one craft project or another, including making the one-of-a-kind purses she sells online.
Mutual feelings of distaste
"Urban hip crafters would find all country crafts in bad taste," Cooper says. "The country crafters would probably look at a lot of their reconstructed T-shirts or pebbly crocheting and just consider them horrible as well."
Nina Rubin, who owns a trendy knit shop, Nina, in Wicker Park, has noticed that "mature customers want to follow a pattern to the word, want guidance, want to do the right thing. The younger knitters are much more experimental."
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