stereotype hype

I believe that crafters and artists hold a crucial role in society. Not only is this role necessary, but it is beautiful and respectable. My classmate Eric blogged about his hesitancy to knit in public as a male. I don't feel that a handcrafting hobby of any sort should be looked down upon in any context, whether the creator is male or female. Class topics such as craftivism reinforces my thoughts on crafting. It is important for society to consider that men might perform stereotypically feminine tasks to prove a point or to stand up for something that they believe in a way that might not be easily understood. Art and crafting gives us an outlet by which we may express ourselves in a productive, non-violent way.



Coming from an environment that embraced creativity and crafting, until this point I don't feel that I have ever considered any stereotypes that I might have toward people who craft and create. However, after entertaining this question, I have concluded that I lump artists and crafters into one category in my mind. I believe these people to mold the world that we live in.

Consider what the world would be like with no one that created. We would not have snazzy looking iPhones. We might possibly possess the concept, but with no designers these handy inventions would not be nearly as attractive as they are in our society. Consider jewelry and clothing without the weavers, knitters, crocheters, or jewelers, we would have neither of these goods. In fact, if we examine how most of today's goods are made, we would see that there is still some human element required in most of production.


If we search back in our history books to when people had to be self sufficient, we will see that it was crucial for people to create with their hands to survive the elements. If we were to lose machines and cheap foreign labor, we would be forced to once again return to creating for ourselves. Many people who craft for themselves today do so as a form of protest against the machines and unfairly treated laborers. I cannot find a reason to cast negative judgment upon these people.