So… feminists don’t sew?
Quote from female coworker who stepped into my office just now:
I’m going to ask you a question, and don’t get all feminist on me — do you have a sewing kit?
Unfortunately, I didn’t have one. But I would have loved to have been able to say I’m still a feminist even if I have a damn sewing kit.
14 Responses to “So… feminists don’t sew?”
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 10:20 am
WTF? What does that even *mean*?
-J
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 10:27 am
I’m assuming she thought I’d get huffy at the suggestion that I might have a sewing kit, as perhaps she thinks most feminists would reject sewing as too gendered an activity? That’s the best I can guess as to what she was thinking.
The funny thing is, most of the people I’ve ever worked with who were likely to have a sewing kit in their desks are men. Men who like to appear well-groomed and professional, and don’t want to walk around with a missing button or tear in their clothes all day. And actually, I’ve kept sewing kits in my desk at various jobs but just haven’t gotten around to bringing one in here. I really should have one here as I do try to look professional.
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 10:54 am
I think she just didn’t want you to take offense that she was asking *you* and not a man. It’s not that feminists don’t sew, in her view, it’s that men have no reason to even think about sewing kits.
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 11:04 am
i’m a feminist with a sewing kit. heck, i used to be a lesbian feminist with a sewing kit.
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 11:24 am
You rebel, you.
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 11:47 am
I wonder if boys have sewing kits in her world? Or if boys cook, even?
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
I have a sewing kit, but I don’t keep it at work so I would have handed her a stapler.
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
Yeah, I was going to say! Sewing kit=stapler and Scotch tape!
(I have a bazillion of those tiny sewing kits from all the hotel rooms I’ve stayed in.)
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Yeah, the hotel kits are the ones I’ve always kept in my desk.
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
Truly, she may be unprepared for the likes of you and other fine men on my friends list.
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
So it might have been appropriate if she’d asked “Excuse me, but do you have a roll of duct tape?”
Posted: Aug 15th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
wow. that is so pathetic. that you would have a sewing kit. KIDDING! i mean the ignoramus.
i wish i could sew. but i’m too lazy to learn. i did make a bunch of pillows out of old vintage clothing a few years ago - i sew the stuff together by hand. it was fun, but took FOREVER. sewing machines intimidate me for some reason. anywho!
Posted: Aug 16th, 2006 at 8:50 am
*eyes coworker*
Well, right. Of course feminists don’t sew. It’s much more enlightened to hire a tailor or seamstress to get your buttons put back on. Why didn’t we think of that?
Posted: Aug 16th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
Wild…I often get sort of the other side of that. Other than liking to wear shirts that say something I think is clever or cool, I don’t generally give a shit about my clothing. In fact, I often wear clothes until long after most people would have thrown them away. So everybody assumes that not only don’t I own anything resembling sewing equipment of any kind, I certainly wouldn’t know how to use it if I had it.
Quite the contrary, I used to make my own clothing. I probably couldn’t do that these days, other than very simple patterns like Tshirts and harem pants, but I did used to have the skill.
(When the cheapest tshirt you can find that fits costs $20 on sale, and the cheapest pants are $40 on sale, you quickly learn it’s worth wearing anything that fits until its literally unwearable in public.)