craft

[keryx]

There is a lot of "folk art" in Amish country that I think of as akin to simple life porn. Like, look at the cute leetle girl in her bonnet with her fuzzy animal! How quaint that she won't go to school beyond 8th grade! It just feels exploitative.

So, I think of all cultural fixation on things Mennonite and Shaker and whatnot as sort of a pornography of simplicity. But there may be more to it - that there's something in this other culture that appeals to our idea of ourselves as living more shallow, technical lives than we want. And maybe we'd like a little more slowness, a little more craft. To be able to spend months with our family sewing a quilt or something.

Cause as a culture we don't really allow for much craft. There's very little interpretation of our own work (not just our jobs, but all work we do) or others' as the work of craftsfolk. Can you even imagine a culture where table bussers and cashiers and computer programmers were all expected to think of their jobs as a meaningful craft - something they could perfect and control? I think that'd be swell.

Comments

[vaspider]

Having lived in Lancaster for the better part of a decade, seeing the way that the Amish are dealt with in that part of the world makes me want to claw out my own eyes.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think you've probably seen the same thing. I mean, I love kitsch, but...

[bookgrrrl.livejournal.com]

Absolutely right on.

Sometimes when I explain some of the best moments of my childhood (going out to the henhouse to gather eggs for my breakfast, bailing hay with my cousins, helping my mom with her woodworking) I get this look of "aww, how quaint, country folk!"

I'd give a lot to go back to a more simple life. A lot.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

That seems cool, although probably not what I'd want for my life. Did doing that sort of work as a kid filter into your adult life? That is, did it make you think of your work now in the same light?

[crafting-change.livejournal.com]

what a fabulous point.

[arovd.livejournal.com]

think of their jobs as a meaningful craft - something they could perfect and control?

What a novel idea! Control over your own work!? It's madness.
Can you talk to my boss for me?

/end snark

[keryx.livejournal.com]

I would happily talk to your boss about it. I've talked to my boss about it, too (well, actually more about the other things that would comprise a project management "craft"), though I suspect she's more open to the idea.

[peregrin8.livejournal.com]

Can you even imagine a culture where table bussers and cashiers and computer programmers were all expected to think of their jobs as a meaningful craft - something they could perfect and control?

I'm not sure how that would work with the first two (I do know some computer programmers who take pleasure in having efficient code) -- I had pretty much perfected both bussing and cashiering by the end of the first week. After that, it's just a lot of dull labor. Trading tasks with the boss after a couple of hours, that would have kept it fresh!

[keryx.livejournal.com]

But that was bussing and cashiering in a work world not big on craft, you know? The whole structure of most work would have to be different, more self-determinable and more creative to really foster a sense of craft. I think.

[peregrin8.livejournal.com]

I love the way you think. It still seems to me that there will continue to be tasks that are simple drudgery, but at least they could be broken up, shared around, and made as unmiserable as possible...

[ivyblogs.livejournal.com]

I think that's a point some feminists miss when they wonder how other feminists could quit working to stay at home with their kids (I don't hear this as much as I did when I first quit working- but it still comes up now and then). There's this idea that somehow you're giving up part of your person-hood- your identity. I usually assume women who feel that way have meaningful and rewarding work and they cannot understand what it's like for those of us who see our jobs as mainly a way to pay the bills and provide our families with health insurance. Most of my jobs were blue and white collar jobs in which I had almost no control or even input. Employees were not treated as adults who might have a meaningful contribution to make to their work. In my experience, work was in many ways a dehumanizing experience. And I always knew if I left- no matter how much my boss or co-workers might claim to love me- I'd be replaced in no time. In a year or less, my name wouldn't even come-up anymore. I thought the privilege of quitting work was getting to be with my kids and not having to work a job I didn't like while paying for child care. But it's turned out that it's also being able to free myself of seeing myself through the eyes of those who saw me, for the most part, as just another cog in the wheel.

Google craft blogs and you'll find tons of them- usually by women. They make things and write about the process. They post pics of swaps and post links to other crafters sites. Some of them are artists but many are women working your average, boring job or staying home with their kids. I wondered about it at first because it's so expensive. You can almost always buy something cheaper than to make it yourself. And so many of these women have made small businesses of their work at the same time that they're homeschooling their four kids or working a full-time job or going to school. But if you've ever worked on any crafts yourself, you know it's very much about what you said- making something you can perfect and control and also- it's yours.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

I think feminists make that assumption out of privilege. Some paid work is structured to be meaningful and rewarding, and I think the battle to include women in the workforce was meant to include us in that happy workforce (one reserved mostly for women with a degree of privilege), not the actual drudgery that work becomes for a lot of folks.

I love craft blogs and DIY bloggers in general (zinesters' websites are often brilliant little zine creations themselves). But all work could be like that with the right structure for it.

[libskrat]

True, but there's another aspect to it also. A few of us find the work involved in childrearing to be astounding drudgery. Only we're not allowed to admit it, 'cuz then we're eeeeEEEEEEeeeeeeevil.

I'm evil, by the way. :)

[keryx.livejournal.com]

Valid point. I guess I should say all work could be meaningful and rewarding for someone who wants and freely chooses it. That's a key part of the childrearing discussion that gets left out a lot.

[peregrin8.livejournal.com]

You can almost always buy something cheaper than to make it yourself.

Definitely depends on the type of craft, and the supplies needed. I've seen DIY-ers with a lot of ingenuity who can make things for almost no money, but it does take more time and labor. But if it's soothing, rewarding labor, then it is worthwhile.

[ivyblogs.livejournal.com]

You're right. I've made some things from old stuff I had around the house and it didn't cost a thing. I was mainly thinking of the crafts I've done-knitting, weaving and spinning. Knitting an adult sized sweater with nice yarn can be really expensive- even one with a simple design. And though buying hand spun yarn is probably more expensive than spinning your own, it is possible to buy very nice quality mass produced yarn pretty cheap. Knitpicks sells Peruvian wool for $1.79 a ball! Unfortunately for me, most of the crafts I've chosen don't save me money if I want to use good supplies. I spent $40.00 on fiber plus the pattern and shipping to weave my mother a beautiful scarf. She loved it and loved that it was made by me- but I'm sure I could've found her a beautiful scarf on sale somewhere for half that or less. But it wouldn't be the same- and that's what I meant when I wrote that. Making your own doesn't mean you will automatically save money or even make something that looks better than something you could buy- but people do it anyway. I think because of what keryx was saying in her post- people want to be able to be able to create- to have something they can perfect and control.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

Done! :)

[keryx.livejournal.com]

Northern Indiana to southeastern Michigan - it includes the Amish area of Indiana, and small towns in both states.