A sneek peak II.

Behold the second sneak peak into my new Etsy shop. I am still not ready to debut the project in its entirety, but I have been working on it diligently and I can't resist showing off my work just a bit, even if it is obscure and mysterious.

I learned recently that interestingly enough, most Etsy sellers are college educated women in their twenties and thirties. They are not the usual older women you imagine crafting while wearing a sweatshirt with a cat applique. Upon further research, it turns out Etsy crafters fall largely into the category of Third-wave feminists. Unlike our mothers’ generation of Second-wave feminists, who rejected all things associated with the home, Third-wave feminists are reclaiming knitting, sewing, and other crafting activities traditionally feminized and associated with the private sphere. The theory goes that through this reclamation, contemporary women want to reconnect with the female-dominated arts in order to legitimatize the importance of previously undervalued crafting. The idea is to show that 21st century women have the privilege to express themselves through craft, thanks to the hard work of the Second-Wave feminists.

I guess the idea is that by embracing domestic arts while identifying as feminists, Third-wave feminists are making the choice to embrace domesticity. Choice is the key word there. As long as it is a choice, not a social mandate, its totally cool to cook and knit and darn socks and have a bunch-o-babies. The cultural movement is proving that women want to be women again, and many of us enjoy the privilege of baking pie and sewing dresses and housekeeping and child rearing. It was not until today that I really thought about my crafting from a social and political point of view, but it does raise some interesting thoughts, doesn't it? I will ponder as I finish up these sneak peak projects and hope to return with additional insight, as well as a finished project and open storefront, sometime soon.

In the meantime, enjoy the peak.