The Quilters Trilogy of readings was
really amazing. I feel very fortunate to have read it. What I keep
coming back to upon ruminating on the texts is that women produced
the quilts and men consumed them. I cannot get this role reversal out
of my mind because it is simply wonderful. There was a vital need for
warmth and women took care of that need for their families, including
their husbands. They were put in a position where work had to be done
and they showed themselves to be strong, creative, thrifty, smart,
artists.
Another thing about the readings that
keeps tugging at my mind is that we are always talking about gender
scripts. Here we see the quilting was for whatever reason, woman's
work. Well, what if you were a male who could not perform the
functions expected of you? You were supposed to be a rancher, or a
cowboy, but, your body would not let you be that. You had polio for
example. Or as the reading suggested, the measles and through no
fault of your own simply could not perform the tasks a man was
expected to be able to perform. What then? Were there males who
turned to quilting? We know one man in the reading quilted for short
time and liked to do so privately (because, in his mind he was not
supposed to be quilting so he did it in secret. I was fascinated by
this). So, is there a culture out there of male quilters? I would
assume some males with various disabilities had to contribute in some
kind of way and therefore picked up quilting for the same reasons the
women quilted.
I haven't heard of many male quilters, but I know men were mostly the tailors, haberdashers, and upholsterers while women could be dressmakers and milliners. Gender roles were assigned to stitching occupations.
ReplyDeleteGood point.
DeleteI love your perspective on the readings for this course, Thomas. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteThese readings have me thinking about the TV show Treme. It's set in post-Katrina New Orleans and one of the big themes is the importance of the Indian culture (of African decent) in New Orleans. The men are the only participants in the culture - at least its performance - and a key to performing it is sewing. The men craft amazing suits with bead work and feathers and such (akin to Native American costumes). It seems pretty similar to quilting really - it communicates and serves a purpose - but is clearly framed as being more artful than quilting. Another interesting thing is that the men who produce the suits also consume them by wearing them.