I’ve wondered whether to write this post or not. I don’t want to alienate my male readers by any stretch of the imagination. I want to encourage them in their embroidery pursuits. However, I hope that this post might be helpful and/or thought-provoking for women embroiderers.
Today is International Women’s Day (or it will be soon, if it isn’t already, where you are). You’ve probably seen posts on social media and articles in the press about it (and if you haven’t yet, you probably will soon!).
International Women’s Day makes me think about embroidery. Partly because I’m pretty much always thinking about embroidery, but partly because embroidery is so often associated with women.
In contemporary life in most of the cultures that we belong to, women and girls are the ones doing embroidery. Of course, boys and men can do embroidery too. Some of them do, and some of them are very good at it.
However, I do wonder why it is that when men do good embroidery or teach embroidery, so often women fawn over them so much. Why do we do that?
Perhaps it’s because we want to encourage them in a pursuit that is so often seen as being outside of the realms of what men do. We know how valuable it is to us, and we want others to experience that value too. It certainly isn’t a bad thing if men can also experience some of the things that are culturally regarded as feminine.
Perhaps it’s just because they’re quite unusual in an environment that is usually so heavily populated with women. They can be a bit of a novelty, after all.
Perhaps it is because somehow we feel that if men do embroidery, it legitimises embroidery as a pastime for us women. You probably recoiled a bit at that. But is it even a little bit true? Maybe? Personally, I don’t need a man to do embroidery for me to know that it is a worthwhile and enjoyable thing to do.
Have you noticed this adulation of male teachers and embroiderers, or is it just me? Am I way off beam? (You can tell me I’m wrong if you wish!) If you have noticed it, why do you think it happens?
In some cultures, men are very adept with needles and thread. The tentmakers of Cairo are an excellent example of this. There are some excellent male embroidery teachers. I can think of Gary Clarke, Owen Davies and Mike Parr amongst others. In all my years teaching embroidery, I’ve only ever had one male student in my classes, and I do wish I’d had more. I know that there are many men who enjoy my embroidery books, though, and I’m very happy for them to. I do know of men who do beautiful embroidery.
So yes, let’s celebrate and encourage the men who do embroidery. But let us also encourage and celebrate all our wonderful women friends who do embroidery. Let’s proclaim their achievements from the mountaintops, and not just within the embroidery world. Let’s quietly encourage them as we sit alongside them in a class or stitching group. Let’s comment on their embroidery posts on social media, to let them know we’ve seen and value their work. Let’s build each other up and celebrate our embroidery together. The more of us we have along for the ride (and yes, that includes men too), the more fun the ride will be!
Great post, thank you. And thank you for the research and publishing you do that honours the legacy of so many women around the world.
Thank you Lyndle. That’s very kind of you to say that.
What a wonderful blog post Yvette! I agree 100% with your observations. In my humble opinion, it has something to do with validation. When a man does something, he must be extraordinarily knowledgeable. Whereas my embroidery skill and knowledge are, in the eyes of many women, nothing special as I am a woman. Men are often far more appreciative of my work. So yes, let us support women as much as we can!
Absolutely. It’s particularly strange when you consider that the Opus Anglicanum Exhibition at the V&A listed the very few professional embroiderers we know of from the medieval period, and my recollection is that there were as many men as women. Once upon a time, it wasn’t a gendered occupation…
I’ve noticed this in the quilting world as well. A guy quilter can get to be a celebrity with, I think, relatively little effort. That doesn’t mean the guy quilters I’ve met have been less talented, but I do feel like the mostly-feminine audience gives them more enthusiasm and, in your word, fawning. I feel weird about that. I don’t know *why* it happens, though; I hope because of the novelty and not a feeling of validation. I wonder if we tend to see them as brave?
Thanks for your thoughts Jessica and Rachel. I’m really enjoying reading what others think about this.
Jean, over on my FB page, someone has suggested that the men that they know who do needlecrafts tend to do it exceptionally well. I think that could be an excellent reason for the enthusiasm of others for their work. And I like your suggestion of “being brave”. That’s a good thought.
I totally agree with Jean about male quilters. Many of them have average skills, but some have loud personalities and soon attract many followers. If a man joins a few hexagons together with English Paper Piecing, everyone raves, even though he’s used white thread and his stitches are quite visible. Perhaps people are trying to be encouraging because he’s a man, but I also think that in quilting a lot of the men put on a jovial persona and loudly lap up the praise.
I haven’t encountered any many in embroidery, but I do know a few who love tapestry.
Thanks for your thoughts Wendy. Perhaps some aspects of the quilting world are more about personality and less about skill?
Hi Yvette,
Thanks very much for this post – i just finished listening to the book ‘Threads of Life’ by Claire Hunter (great book by the way and highly recommend it). What struck me when listening is that at some point, when needlework and embroidery moved from the workshop (public sphere) to the home (private sphere), it became associated with ‘women’s work’ and to a large degree, became devalued, by both men and women!
Needlework is art! We often don’t see it as this – often accepting its characterisation as a ‘craft’ or ‘hobby’ (just look on Ebay or Amazon!). International Women’s Day is the perfect time for women to reflect on and celebrate the art of needlework (embroidery, quilting, tapestry, etc) and how the amazing talents of, and creations by women are so frequently undervalued or minimised, often by women themselves.
Thanks Leslye, I think I’ll have to find a copy of that book to read! Thanks for your thoughts.