“Join the Knitting Revolution”: Third-Wave Feminist Magazines and the Politics of Domesticity

Abstract

The mid-1990s saw the rise of a new sub-genre of political magazine in the United States: the “third-wave” feminist periodical. A key feature of these publications is that they promote reclaiming and repoliticizing activities traditionally associated with the domestic sphere, particularly knitting. This paper critically examines and historically contextualizes the discourses on the “new” knitting in the letters to the editor, editorials, articles, and advertisements of third-wave feminist periodicals and argues that contemporary feminist craft cultures sit at a politically ambiguous nexus of privilege, complicity, and resistance. By historicizing third-wave periodicals' promotion of knitting, this paper sheds light on changing ways in which the domestic sphere has figured within the broader history of US feminism and suggests that, despite their appeals to the “new,” these periodicals are very much in conversation with what is, to some extent, an imagined feminist “past.”

Consumption of Raw Materials by Crafters

“…The finding that respondents purchased cheap yarn was in direct opposition to the conclusions made by numerous researchers that modern crafting involves purchasing luxurious supplies (Pentney, 2008; Shinn & Ha, 2011; Turney, 2009). Groeneveld (2010) supported these previous findings by stating, “Knitting is now far more expensive than purchasing a sweatshop-produced garment. Thus, the primary reasons for knitting in the first place have shifted from economy to luxury” (p. 264).…”

“…There were also intangible aspects considered in choosing yarn. The respondents occasionally splurged on luxurious fibers, a method of indulging the self, according to other researchers (Groenveld, 2010; Pentney, 2008; Shinn & Ha, 2011; Turney, 2009). Other respondents were interested in supporting local businesses or buying ethically produced items; both concerns align with principles of slow fashion (Fletcher, 2010; Trejo & Lewis, 2017).…”

“Grandma never knit like this”: reclaiming older women’s knitting practices from discourses of new craft in Britain

“…Such language stereotypes and denigrates older female practitioners (who may or may not identify as grandmothers) who may be lifelong adherents to knitting. As Groeneveld (2010) observes, "The construction of knitting as new and hip seems to come at the expense of older women, who are here constructed as the antithesis of 'cool'" (p. 272). We add to this younger female knitters who do not knit in the required 'cool' ways.…”

“…Concomitantly, contemporary media discourse represents knitting as youthful, edgy, authentic, social, entrepreneurial, feminist and empowered. Groeneveld (2010) has called this "the 'new' knitting" (p. 259). But only some knitters are accorded these qualities; those who do not conform to the "hip and edgy aesthetics" of new knitting (Bratich & Brush, 2011, p. 241) or situate themselves within hipster capitalism's neo-artisanal cultural economies are marginalised and their experiences overlooked.…”

Knitting and the City

“…To conclude this section on making, connecting and communities in the city, I wish to argue that the popularity of knitting illustrates a specific movement towards making, crafting, growing and skill that exemplifies some wider issues about consumption and the city (Jayne ). On the one hand, we need to recognise that such craft practices may reflect luxuries of time, space and capital (Adams and Hardman ; Groeneveld ); especially since in most advanced consumer societies, it is easier and less expensive to buy a new jumper than to knit one. We might also reflect critically on how knitting gets caught up in discourses of nostalgic thriftiness, repackaged for privileged consumers, their tastes and desires for social distinction – which may not always reflect a long term or ethical commitment to craft, skill and hand‐making (Dirix ; Podkalicka and Potts ).…”