[EDITED] I have a few things to say this morning that I need to get off my chest. I have used some strong words here, [edited, ok God and I had a little talk, I AM angry, but its be angry and Sin not and I can't fight the devil's works using devil's tactics so I will remove some of the uh, bad words, not the strong ones but the bad ones] that I don't often use, but this issue is just to important and I don't believe that being nice, nice cuts it...not when there are real human lives at stake. Love to me, doesn't sit idly by in religious pretense and pretty silences while doing nothing in the face of evil, so forgive me for a few strong words, I wrote this from the heart, for many, who are not allowed to voice their anger nor rage, read on and I pray, you will understand. In the world of embroidery, quilting, sewing and textiles there is one thing that stands out to me more than anything, well no, two things:
CLASS AND PERSPECTIVE LENS.
And often times, its those two things that irk me to no end. Try as hard as I may to do all in my power to not think about them or give in to certain prejudices I find that eventually I have to face the reality of the world of textiles as well as the world of Women.
For example, just the other day I was browsing through one blog which I do like, a lot, and they were discussing what they liked and disliked in textile blogs. The one thing the women complained about the most was blogs that had politics and religion. The first couple of times this was mentioned it didn't bother me that much, but after about 50 comments to this regard, I found I was getting rather PISSED. After all People, Politics and Religion are just two of the BIGGEST FORCES THAT DICTATE OUR LIVES. Like, Wake the hell Up, you know...
Women, we do not have the Luxury to play Dumb Dumb and not take Heed to the world of Politics and Religion because if we do, one day, that playing Dumb Dumb WILL BITE US IN THE ASS. MEN are the Majority of policy makers and influential power forces in Both politics and religion, World wide, and don't give me this Bunk about gender parity, because while there may be a few 'token' women in politics OR in some countries maybe there are more women, the fact of the matter is, Worldwide, Women hold less Power in both areas and the world is Still dominated BY M.E.N. That's right, and that world includes TEXTILES, i.e. the world that by far exploits More women second to the Sex Industry.
I found myself getting more PISSED as the day went by and I thought on what many of the women had to say and I thought, you know, how petty and SELFISH really that so many women in textiles simply DO NOT CARE about anyone outside their little cottage vintage world UNLESS it can be displayed to the world about their 'compassion' on certain uh, world disasters. And I will DARE say it Sisters because in this world we have Women dying Horrible deaths every single day and many in our OWN BACKYARDS, RIGHT NEXT DOOR but we don't want to Hear about Politics or Religion?!!!
No, we'd rather HIDE in our worlds of art and comfort and sink our feet into the plush carpets and soak up that warm cocoa, with our needles and thread and to Hell with the rest of the World's Women. But boy oh boy, as SOON as a Law is passed that says we have to pay $$$ to get our items Tested for Lead and that is then a Threat to our uh, Profit margin [if we ever decide to sell at an bazaar sale or what have you] then its the CAT [not in a Nice way but I removed the original word I used] Claws are OUT. HOW dare they, women scream?
Well, how DARE they? Easy, while you were knitting and quilting and chatting and showing off pictures and turning a DEAF ear to Politics and Religion those who Do make policies and who ARE running the SHOW made those decisions FOR YOU, without one before hand complaint or protest from YOU. So then, who are you to Moan, Whine, and Gripe when the male and patriarchal Decision makers decide that YOU can no longer Sew at Home [and it Has been done, read your history] or when YOU can no longer Sell your items or when YOU find that your fabric has gone up through the roof because the demand has gone up...because the Sweatshop-Slave workers went on strike or attempt to, are tortured and then they join forces with more violent revolutionaries, it is Happening right now in parts of Mexico as we speak, drug cartels utilize, arms sales, and workers get in despair and they have NOTHING TO LOSE SO BLOODSHED IS THEIR ONLY OPTION where They sit and the country is unstable therefore that market is in a standstill???
FACT is Ladies and I'm going to give it to you Blunt. Thousands of Women with children who Love their children as Much as YOU love yours, are working in slave mills for 18 CENTS, do you get that, 18 CENTS OR LESS an hour IF even that, around the clock, filling Quotas sewing and Children stirring Dyes for those pretty fabrics you buy with their feet, in Toxic Banned Chemicals and dying at early ages. Those women when they Do get the Chance to Fight back, don't give a Rats ass about your Privilege, Your comforting homes, nor your BLOGS. They will side in with some of the most Militant and often Violent groups out there to SURVIVE AND WORK FOR A DECENT 'LIVING' WAGE, that means a WAGE that pays them so they can FEED their children BEANS.
BUT you don't want to Hear about Politics nor Religion.
Right now there are MEN and some women who are Fighting to make SURE that one day, there will be Laws, that are theocratic and Extremely oppressive to ALL women, including YOUR LITTLE GIRLS, and IF they succeed, your daughters won't Have the FREEDOM to sit around all day sewing and doing needlework because they will be Living in systems that throw them back into the DARK AGES and I'm not just talking about Islam either, though Islam [Sharia Law] is yes, The biggest threat we have, UK women are YOU PAYING ATTENTION? IF you think that Sharia will not effect you, may I suggest you Put down the Beer, Latte, etc., long enough to do some reading and Thinking and Listening to Those women, many who are ex-Muslims Fighting for their very LIVES in YOUR COUNTRY. These women KNOW the realities and the DANGER in ignoring the demands for Sharia Law. Same for many fundamentalist sects of Christianity, you may not Think they'll succeed, but we see just how close they've been thus far in nearly taking away our access to Birth Control in many states--forget abortion, they are working on seeing that YOU don't even have a choice to CHOOSE if you will get pregnant or not. Many would like to see it to where YOU couldn't even get Divorced if your husband Beats you or your kids.
Women, I'm sorry, but when you are burying your heads in the sand because the world is just Too ugly and in your art and leaving the Politics and Religion up to others, YOU are helping really to dig your OWN grave, and if not your OWN most Surely, the grave for your Daughters and Granddaughters,
and if YOU think, all those quilts and pretty pictures and vintage vases will Soothe their Tears if they lose their freedom, autonomy, room to create Themselves, THINK AGAIN.
When our Daughters and Granddaughters are forced to work in Sweatshops HERE [and never say never] sewing or other work not for Enjoyment but for Survival, or when there is no Work because labor has been driven So far down due to the Globalization Slave Industry and why would any company Need to pay YOU a living wage, when all they have to do is shift production OVERSEAS [and little clue for you, THIS is happening to High Tech industry, not just manual labor] don't think for a minute that your Daughters and Granddaughters aren't going to be asking, Why in the Hell didn't someone Stop this?
When there is no Work and your daughters like many Thousands of women in Other countries are seeing their children sold to Debt Bondage or their daughters trafficked into Sex Slavery or like women in Russia who have NO OTHER OPTIONS but to Sell their Bodies, to EAT, do not come crying, saying,
How oh How did this happen?
But you Don't want a Textile blog mixed with Politics and Religion.
ARE you BLIND? Do you not See what is going ON in the World IN Textiles? The Textile industry is one of the top Five largest Global industries in the World. Land is utilized for Cotton production, farmed by SLAVES, MOSTLY CHILDREN. That land, Could be utilized to grow Food. We have Tons of WASTE in clothes in The West [or did the mass of vintage and thrift shops pass you somehow and the accumulation of Clutter pass you somehow]. Waste that is Sent to Developing [can we say third world please because screw PC, that is what it Is, Haiti isn't Dubai folks], countries and Poor Women and Children are Living in those dumps, scrapping for Food and anything they can sell for a morsel of BREAD.
AT a not too long ago WTO in Hong Kong Textiles was one if not THE biggest Contention between countries, between the Rich and the Poor, Haves and Have Nots. In some countries thousands of women are BUTCHERED OVER LAND AND RESOURCES. IT takes Water to grow crops, including Cotton. There is So much more than the oh Nike doesn't pay well, to the Exploitation in Textiles, So much more.
Militant Groups form Guerrilla WARFARE Groups using those Poor women and children who have Worked doing piece meal and even worse over these Issues--political religious zealots Also manipulate these issues to further Their causes and they DO join Forces. And guess who they are going to AX first at the Chopping Block if they get a chance?
YOU, that's who.
And all those women who have lived for years sewing your tee shirts for nothing, many of them Raped by management or by men to and from work [e.g. Juarez ladies, over 1000 Women raped a YEAR,youngest victim 9 years old, tortured and dumped who Work in maquiladoras /Sweatshops to and from work and their bodies Dumped on US lands right on OUR BORDERS, as if they were nothing but Trash] and being forced to endure sleeping in filthy quarters and menstruation checks and every Other degradable thing imaginable--do you Think they are going to CARE if your precious little cottage is under attack?
NO.
They won't, and you know Why? Because when YOU could have done Something, TO CARE, you said, We don't want to Hear about religion or politics on a textile blog.
No, of course not, many would rather Pretend these things don't exist and they'll just go away if we Hide, right? But sisters, these things Don't just go away...they Grow and they Grow until one day, its RIGHT THERE KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR.
Women in Textiles, Especially sewing, selling should really Know better, we just Had one bad law, CPSIA, hit hard and that Still isn't over. So maybe it doesn't effect YOU, because you're married and its just a hobby on the side, but you see, these laws have a domino effect, they Do effect more of the Working Class women and especially women Overseas who may have formed Coops to sell items so they AREN'T having to SELL THEIR BODIES, BODIES THAT GOD DIDN'T CREATE TO BE USED AND ABUSED NOR DID GOD CREATE THEM TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN PENIS ASHTRAYS, SOLD AND RAPED [PROSTITUTION/TRAFFICKING] TO HUNDREDS OF MEN.
Sorry if that is too Crass for you, actually, NO, I am not sorry. You Need to be told, TRUTH. And your little recycle here and there don't cut it...Look, its really simple ladies,
You're either Part of the Problem or you are Part of the Solution. IF you do not care now, fine...but Rest Assured, your Indifference, your Apathy, will one day, be in the face of your Daughters and Granddaughters. Maybe you Don't care about the Woman next door or across the Globe, but DO you care for Them? Your future Generations?
Women in the days of Vintage, [antiquity] Did care, Textiles in many a period of time was not just a 'hobby' but it was a means of Political Expression, the ONLY one women had, the ONLY room women had to actually Get together and Where do you think the Solidarity Formed to Fight for
Voting Rights?
In women's groups where MEN did not have the upper hand of domination---quilting, sewing, poetry readings and church, Yes,Religion. In many countries today, where there is WAR and Mass RAPES women are Fighting for the Room to form groups with other women to sew, to do Anything, to be able to REBUILD broken communities, or to preserve their culture, e.g. women in Palestine are doing this NOW, with the FEW resources they have. BUT YOU don't want to hear about religion and politics.
In Argentina, when the Corrupt Governments [both far left and far right] Sold the people out---and there were NO jobs, and many Textile companies went under leaving countless Women who had 10 children to support [because birth control is NOT an option] were left with NO source of Income. IT was those WOMEN, who formed Solidarity and Took over a plant that had been closed down and they began to sew and sell and be a Political Voice--they did what they call TAKE BACK,
and the Revolution Began. [this didn't happen in 1500 sisters but in the 90s] Next thing MEN started doing the same---these people took the empty factories and they took BACK production and sold items and became Competitors and they SAVED JOBS, FOR HUNDREDS, they FORMED UNIONS, and they Fought the Corrupt Leftists and the Corrupt Rightists who did All in their power to put these people in jail, where they would be Tortured, they fought the Police [also corrupt] and they put their Lives on the LINE---so that people could LIVE, SURVIVE,
AND THIS WAS STARTED BY WOMEN WHO SEW.
But YOU don't want to hear about Religion or Politics.
The Reason we have So many bad laws and court biases and women in horrible circumstances ISN'T because of the Liberals or the Republicans, oh no, its Because Too many women, PRIVILEGED AND WHOM GOD HAS BEEN MERCIFUL TO, simply do NOT care about Anyone other than Themselves.
Does that sting?
GOOD, maybe it will make you Think, and maybe it will make you See outside your Cottage door. And see, that the World is a much bigger place with Real People and Real Women who are right now, Bleeding, Crying out, Suffering, Hell you couldn't even Imagine, even After seeing the worst horror flick,
and waiting for YOU, to CARE. To just at least, CARE and NOT just because its a big to do on Public Airwaves and everyone else is doing something--of Course many are helping Haiti [and that's a good thing], Funny thing is though, it takes a Natural Disaster for many WOMEN to Give a Hoot, Care, Concern,
Haiti has been suffering for Years, with the help of OUR TAX DOLLARS, oh yea Sister, they KNOW what Oppression is, and those Women KNOW what it is to be working for nothing, having to sell their bodies, having to earn cents for Piecemeal work and their kids in street gangs and police terror,
WHERE THE HELL WAS YOUR COMPASSION THEN?
Did you even KNOW about Haiti? For many, I doubt it.
I'm sorry but This just needs to be Said...I Expect indifference from Men when it comes to the Plight of Women overseas and here at home, but NOT from Women.
You may say, oh I do a little here, hey, that's Great. I commend you for that, I am not saying you have to put your life down and join the Peace Corp, but at Least, Give a Damn about someone other than yourself to Educate yourself, in your line of work, to See that maybe, maybe you might be able to Do somethings, to Make a Small Difference. And to Do that, you need to know a little about, yes, what is Going on in Religion and in Politics.
And you can count on it, the Next time, you say, you don't want to Hear about Religion or Politics on a Textile Blog---you will be hearing from me...because for Thousands of Women,
THEY NEED US, TO HEAR, TO ACT, THEIR LIVES, DEPEND ON IT.
and THE LIVES OF OUR DAUGHTERS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS DEPEND ON IT AS WELL...DON'T FORGET IT.
In solidarity,
Jane
Needle Workers and Sewers Union
Yes, I do moderate comments, spam, yet I've not needed to much. I am, however, closing comments on This topic, I will not argue, nor debate, this simply needs to be said and I wrote it, to encourage Thinking...its the Least, many women, can do. Maybe then, they'll do more to Act, and reflect, that we do NOT live in a bubble, every choice we make Does touch others, the Good Samaritan did NOT wait for the beggar to crawl to him, he rather, went Over to the beggar. There are MILLIONS of WOMEN and CHILDREN in our world that are Just like that beggar Jesus talked about--and too many Women, aren't just passing by, Hell they Don't even want to Look. Well, I'm here to say, I Won't make that easy for you. Thank you.
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