Aoibhín O’Raw

Project 2: Talking Points - ‘Masculine Stereotypes? That’s Sew Last Year’ (Group Project)

The representation of men in the textiles industry

There is an evident gap of a male presence in the textiles industry. Both men and women have been recorded as embroiderers from medieval times through to the Renaissance and onwards, but the emergence of the sewing machine and the industrialisation of clothing production in the 19th century saw the women move into the role of making garments, from inside the home, while the men moved into the office. Women and the subject of femininity, and their relation to textiles, tend to be more studied and discussed about than men and masculinities, and it was only in the 1970s that scholars began to consider masculinities as of a social construction. The 1970s and 80s were incredibly productive decades for men working in textiles and there was an upsurge in men using embroidery to transgress away from acceptable social conduct and representations of masculinity. Today holds a lot of hope for the craft of sewing to be seen as a gender-neutral art form. The term ‘sewist’ has emerged as a gender-neutral word and is a community of artists aiming to shake the old-fashioned housewife image often associated with the craft. There is evidence that the next generation is one where masculinity has many different meanings, and where sewing and crafting can have a place equally among both genders.

Keywords: masculinity, sewing, craft, social movement, representation of masculinity