What is the influence of gender and identity on crafts?
Gender and craft are rooted together in the history of traditional design practices. With gender being defined as constructed social roles that fit society, this, in turn, has an effect on the ways that craft pieces are constructed. In the beginning, the decorative arts created by women were identified as lesser art and could not be held in the same category as fine art, which was a male-dominated area. This was because decorative arts were identified as feminine and had no place in the higher market, which meant that women’s work went unrecognized due to gender discourse. However, the turning of events at the beginning of the twentieth century such as The Arts and Craft Movement and the Feminist art movement marked a great change that challenged the stereotypical views that labeled crafts as feminine. In this essay I will discuss the influence of gender on craft practices created by women, the idea of femininity as well as how movements such as the Arts and Crafts Movement and the Feminist art movement of the 1970s helped shift domesticated crafts to a public contemporary sphere viewed by spectators of the present.
The subject of Arts and crafts can be described as feminine as research and studies illustrate that more girls within education choose to study crafts than boys. This can be identified in a study by Sippar Koko, the study establishes the link between crafts and gender based on female primary school teachers in Finland and their experience teaching crafts to girls. It was apparent that the schoolgirls favored practicing crafts such as textiles whereas the boys focused more on technical work such as wood and metal. As textile crafts have been a part of the women’s culture for centuries, learning techniques such as sewing and knitting was important in their upbringing and in their informal education. Thus suggesting that the students found it important to carry on the tradition because they were likely to be from handicraft families that practice this tradition. Educating girls to create textile crafts further promotes the ideology that femininity, craft, and gender are linked, creating a gender division.
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The gender division between women and men in design has been significant throughout the centuries. The ideology of the separate spheres relied heavily on what characteristics were natural for men and women. As women were considered weaker they were better suited to the domestic sphere, whereas men considered stronger were better suited to the public sphere and labor work. This social division produced an idea of femininity. Rozsika and Parker’s edition The Subversive Stitch, discuss the historical influence and impact that femininity has on women’s craft and provides context to the shifting notions of women’s role in society.
‘Needlework is the favorite hobby of two percent of British males, about equal to the number who go to church regularly. Nearly one man in three fill in football coupons in an average month or has a bet' (p.1). This suggests that based on our specific division women are “inscribed” to practice traditional sewing, however, if a man were to practice this technique it would be seen as a threat to their sexual identity (p.2). Within the home sewing and embroidery was a women’s leisurely activity taught by mothers to their daughters (205) this craft practice was seen entirely as feminine. Embroidery helped to promote women’s opportunities in household crafts as well as their self-esteem and social influence in society. This shifted female crafts from the private sphere into the public sphere. However, the opposition between Arts and Crafts meant that embroidery was considered to have 'less artistic value. Rozsika and Parker examine the disadvantages of women’s craft practices such as embroidery and how it suggests 'the stereotype of the virgin in opposition to the whore, is an infantilizing representation of women’s sexuality (P.2). This is supported by the surface patterns created (fig.1) for garments and home furnishing, as they were embellished with pastel florals, nature, and birds. The designs are symbolic of purity, fertility, and creation, these are qualities that are stereotypes that are naturally attributed to women. The relationship between women and craft embroidery became overlooked because of these stereotypes, this form of practice was characterized as mindless, decorative, and too delicate for the higher art market. This impacted female crafts as women desired to be taken seriously in a patriarchal society and wanted ‘detach themselves from the feminine ideal' (p.6), as embroidery symbolized the intrinsic values and obedience of the home that classified women to their biological functions.
During this period women sought to challenge their gender roles and seek opportunities for themselves. The introduction of educational institutions allowed women to gain knowledge of how to make and create art, and the publishing of artistic how-to books became available to women. These copies taught women how to paint flowers, shells, still life, landscape views, and practice needlework. Although they were gaining more knowledge to encourage their artistic creativity, it is evident that women were still subjected to the feminine ideal . The manuals created by men were considered patronizing as they taught women how to apply and create art in the confines of their homes. As well as that, the artistic mediums such as watercolors and sketching further promotes the idea that art for women was meant to 'instill a knowledge of what was beautiful in the world, which increased their social skills and refrained them from seeking opportunities in the public sphere. Their creative practice was greatly affected by the expulsion of women from art classes in 1850, however, petitions and the foundation of female artists brought change to the Victorian society between 1856 and 1857. Women practiced and trained the same as men in design schools but we’re still being emasculated by men and not treated as equals and not as serious students. As the design profession was heavily dominated by men it meant that women relied on male critics such as John Ruskin, the male criticisms of the nineteenth century discouraged female artisans from competing against men for competition and social recognition for their work.
Although women were overshadowed by their male authority figures it cannot be denied that the techniques and handicraft knowledge and skill they obtained were crucial to the realms of design. The Arts and Craft movement emerged in the late nineteenth century to reform design and decor and change the taste of the Victorian era. The movement pioneered by William Morris wanted to change the status of decorative arts such as textiles, jewelry, ceramics, metalwork and furniture design and fought for it to be held in higher regard similar to the fine arts. The movements focused on creating homemade goods in domesticated environments which allowed for greater involvement for female artisans as the skills that were required were considered feminine. This meant that the craft practiced by women extended beyond their traditional roles, they began to be paid for their practice which allowed them to expand their artistic creativity further in the public sphere.
The movement involved many talented female artisans who exceeded their limitations to create bespoke crafted pieces, an example of this would be the work of the jeweler Georgie Gaskin. Born in December 1866- 1934 Gaskin was an English jewelry and metalwork designer in Great Britain, by adopting the aesthetics of the Craft movement she transformed her botanical illustrations to create unique and elegant bespoke pieces. Figure 2 illustrates the execution of high skilled craftsmanship and how this can be achieved not just by men but women also. Her designs were inspired by nature and use motifs of leaves and flowers in her designs, this was a common theme throughout the movement and particularly within William Morris's decorative designs. The pendant necklaces were set with colorful gemstones and embellished with enamel work, with the help of her husband Arthur Gaskin (1862-1928) also a jeweler both embraced the tradition of craft metal work and exhibited their jewelry under joint names. The Arts and Craft movement marked a period of change for women as female students were able to study design, and as a consequence, there was an outpour of talented female artisans. Craft designers like Georgie Gaskin were able to exhibit their work in galleries and pass on their creative knowledge to a younger generation by teaching in schools. This marked a great step forward in equality within the realms of design.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a new women’s movement emerged to declare the support of equal rights that allowing a new generation of female artists to emerge to fight against male oppression, one of the many influential female artists to emerge was Helen Saunders. Born in 1885 Saunders were a British painter and a member of the Vorticists movement, this was a modernist movement in British arts and poetry. Saunders was one of many female artists whose designs were in fact overlooked, the painting of The Vorticists at the Restaurant de la Tor Effiel, Spring (fig 5) was produced by the English artist and the Pioneer of The Vorticists movement William Roberts ( 1895-1980) shows Saunders exclusion from the group. Although Saunders was a thoroughly trained artist and was heavily involved in the movement, the painting clearly signifies her contribution as insignificant. Being deliberately placed on the outskirts of the dinner table, ignored by everyone shows her to be a less important member of The Vorticists group.
These historical influences and figures further impacted political movements and female artists to fight for equal opportunities and rights for women, as well as establishing themselves as influential designers in the canon of the history of art. At the beginning of the 1960s, the 'second-wave of feminism emerged across the United States, Great Britain, and Germany in order to fight for the women’s liberation movement for legal and social rights. This second wave helped to change the way women were viewed as professional artists and confront their gender roles in society and influenced cultural attitudes to transform their gender stereotypes. As a result, it allowed a new generation of female artisans to question and change the tradition that their predecessors had practiced centuries beforehand. From this, they were able to embrace alternative craft materials that were used little by men, such as textiles, performance, and video installations, and merging together personal and political views. Now becoming influential makers this led to the subject of Crafts to be re-defined. One of the many heavily influenced feminist artists to arise was Judy Chicago. Chicago born on the 20th of July in 1939 is an artist, author, and feminist educator whose career spanned over five decades. Chicago began teaching at Fresno state university in 1970, where her first feminist art program was created. Chicago became aware of the history of men and examined the history of women to expose the truth of their experiences in both the past and present. As most women’s accomplishments have been written out of history, Chicago sought to create pieces that exposed the cultural injustice forced upon women and created art that is authentic and empowering. By examining her philosophies and the context of her work, it is evident during the time of her career she challenged sexism on a larger scale. One of her most iconic pieces was The Dinner Party (figure 3) and it was regarded as the first grand piece of feminist art. The monumental installation piece is made of a 39-place setting, arranged in a triangular table symbolizing the historical achievements of women in Western culture. As Chicago explored the realm of decorative arts this led her to the discovery of China painting, this decorative medium appears to be symbolic 'since plates are associated with eating, I thought the images on the plates would convey the fact that the women I plan to represent had been swallowed up and obscured by history' (p.228). As the concept of The Dinner Party evolved Chicago began to think of the pieces as ‘reinterpretation of the last supper (p.228), this is shown through various components of the installation such as the embroidered runners, sculpted ceramic plates, and napkins, and cloths. More importantly Chicago re-asses and celebrates the power of crafts by challenging the historical link between the practice of embroidery and femininity, this brought the craft techniques that were once considered lesser art to the fore. However the abstract piece was met with great criticism and was described as ‘embarrassment’ and ‘grotesque' (p228), this was due to the metaphoric imagery of a butterfly and a female vagina design. Hilton Krammer an art critic of The New York Times labeled The Dinner Party as a piece of 'failed art' and was no more than an ‘outrageous libel of the female imagination'. Nonetheless, it was the manufacturing process that 'served as a model for another mode of art making for female artists' (p.228), due to the commitment of volunteers Chicago’s studio became a place in which fellow artists can engage and practice the principles of feminism and acquire new skills and develop a new sense of self.
To conclude, the involvement of important movements and historical art figures succeeded to recognise female crafts as a higher art form within society. The revival of the craft has helped redefine the gender roles and encouraged further collaborations amongst other female artists and encouraged a sense of empowerment in design,
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