Did you know that this 'resurgence' of knitting (and canning, and quilting and cooking at home) is called the 'new domesticity.' This term seems to have been coined by women more than a decade my junior. As always, I'm either ahead of my time or the last to find out.
As with any 'phase' in which massive amounts of people join in - this is newsworthy. I read a piece in The Washington Post's Sunday Outlook on this topic.
Weird.
What's weird is that people find this desire to care for our bodies and our homes a social phenomena. Aren't we all here to live healthy lives? Don't we hear the call to cherish the body we've been given? To tread lightly on Mother Earth and give her respect?
Is it "new age" or anti-feminist to want to be the healthiest and most compassionate person we can be?
What about the creativity factor? Is it anti-feminist to be creative? Or is it highly feminist to place creativity in our own lives above all else (including an income?)
Isn't our place to find balance? Isn't that the best use of our time, energy and creativity? Ultimately a creative life is one in which we create the life that makes our heart sing. At least that's the way I see it.
My mother, who will never be accused of being a hippie-liberal-bra-waving-feminist insisted we eat whole, natural foods at every meal. In the 70s all I wanted was Skippy peanut butter but she was buying the fresh ground stuff from Abma's farm. Our meat was fresh from the local butcher, our eggs from the farm and the milk was delivered from the local dairy. That's the way our life was in suburban New Jersey. Sure, we got the occasional quarter for ice cream from the "ice cream man" in the summer and we ate our share of pizza and diner food, but all in all, we had a household where the food was homemade from the real ingredients.
I'm grateful for that now. (Back then I felt like the biggest nerd on the planet).
My grandmother was a great cook. My other grandmother was a stellar knitter and crocheter. I still snuggle in a blanket she made for me when I headed off to college.
Of course times were different when my grandparents were kids and young parents. There weren't scientifically altered foods on the shelves at the chain grocery store. You had several stops to go to put together the ingredients for a family meal - the farmer, the butcher, the bakery, the dairy...
I'm certain the advent of convenience made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. The convenience was supposed to help us spend more time with our families and with those we loved. What we might have missed is the fact that all the shopping, and prepping and cooking was time with those we loved. So we've found ways to spend our time.
Don't mistake me here -- i LOVE the internet. I'm tremendously thankful that I have running water, (hot and cold!), a heated home and access to food and movies and - really - anything my heart desires. This is progress.
At the same time, I'm vigilant about where my food comes from and how it's been altered or enhanced to encourage my repeat purchase. I'm a fan of commerce and capitalism. To the companies that make their dollars putting chemicals in food to encourage eating and purchasing, I say rock on. They're doing their business and they're making money. Because we're buying.
If we stop buying they'll change their business practices. Right?
Because they're in business.
So is this knitting thing I do an anti-feminist stance? Does my desire to carefully tend to my body and make my own meals mean that all the work Gloria Steinam and the sisters who came before me is for naught?
Nope. I just love knitting. It gives my hands something to do. It provides a meditative state for me to work out challenges and frustrations. And it's sooo fun to see the look in a gift receiver's eye when they open a hand-made gift for me.
Does that make me old-fashioned? There's a first time for everything? Does that make me a hippie? Maybe.
No comments:
Post a Comment