Page 244 - Constructing Craft

Chapter Thirteen: Craft for Women

Before the 1970s a distinguishing feature of the growing interest in craft was the

large numbers of women involved. However, it was often men who were recognised

as the ‘leading’ craftspeople. To some extent, this reflected the nature of New
Zealand society at the time. Women were traditionally more likely to practise a

handcraft but men received more recognition. In addition, because women usually
practised their craft at home and men went to ‘work’, even if it was only to a studio

at the bottom of the garden, their craft seemed more important. In the 1970s
however, the influence of the feminist movement encouraged some women to

question why they appeared to hold an inferior position in the craft world.

Craftswomen began to insist that their formative roles in the studio craft movement
be acknowledged and their ideas given equal standing with those of their fellow

craftsmen.

The role of women has been an important part of the narrative throughout this book,

but here we look more closely at the period from the early 1970s through to 1992,
as this was when feminist concepts began to have a greater impact on the studio

craft movement. The issues that women advanced during this time resonated
across the Western world and also had a strong influence on craft in New Zealand.

Many women felt they were not only seeking recognition of their role within the craft

community but they also wanted the role of craft in society lifted to a higher level. In
the middle of this period one writer summed up the way that many women felt about

their position and that of craft: ‘[A]s craft has come to mean the antithesis of art,
female has become the antithesis of male, with both craft and women assuming

1
negative connotations’.

Women in New Zealand Society

For many women who practised some form of craft the feminist revolution validated

their demands for a ‘place in the sun’ alongside craftsmen. The ‘second-wave’ of

feminism had its beginnings in the early 1970s, particularly after the first women’s

Constructing Craft