Its hard to keep track of whats in style these days among the hipster crowd: tight pants, stupid shirts, unkempt beards, the list goes on. Finally a development is emerging in the hipster scene that we can all cheer on, the hipster women are embracing old fashioned values and getting their asses back into the kitchen, where they belong. According to this article, " “The New Domestics” — people who are knitting, keeping chickens in their backyards, diapering their babies in cloth not because they have to but because they want to. And, of course, they’re documenting all of it on their blogs and Pinterest boards.
Here's the interview with journalist Emily Matchar, its an interesting trend:
Q: Our parents have spent decades rejecting the domesticity of their parents — the ideal woman in the 1990s was a Sex and the City-style careerist, you write, who stored extra copies of Vogue in her stove. So what gives? Why is this shift happening now?
A: Those of us in our 20s and 30s now are far enough removed from the enforced domesticity of the 1950s — the desperate housewives of Betty Friedan — that we’re able to look at these things in a new light. Some of us are going “Hey, these things are cool and fun and interesting, and maybe they’ll even save us some money or help the environment.”
Q: And a lot of these blogs have exploded since the 2008 recession. But weren’t we seeing urban knitting circles before that?
A: All these things have been building for years. Riot Grrrls — a punk subculture of the 1990s — started reclaiming “girly” skills under the feminist banner. That opened the gate for things like knitting circles to be considered hip and fun among a younger demographic. Those skills began to take on a new urgency for many people as the recession made people more concerned with self-sufficiency.
Q: How closely is the New Domesticity tied to class?
A: Things that were once the necessities of the poor are now hobbies of the educated middle-class. A handmade sweater used to signify that you didn’t have enough money to buy a “nice” store-bought one, while today a handmade sweater means you have enough leisure time (a real luxury these days) to knit. That said, I don’t think most people involved in New Domesticity are some kind of elite — most are middle-class, concerned with the fact that their standard of living will likely be lower than their parents’, and interested in new ways of balancing work and life.
Q: It’s interesting that both liberals and conservatives are embracing the New Domesticity. Could it be that this new “movement” is, in some ways, unifying?
A: New Domesticity is definitely unifying in some odd and unexpected ways. In areas like homeschooling and home birth, you see people coming at things from both sides of the political spectrum — ultra crunchy liberal types who want to homeschool their kids because they don’t want public school to destroy their creativity, and ultra-conservative Christians who don’t want their kids to learn about evolution. And these parents are meeting in homeschooling groups and sharing the same online homeschooling resources.
Q: A piece in New York magazine earlier this year presented the domestic “hipster housewife” as a feminist choice. How is this seen as a feminist choice now when it appears to embrace the unpaid labour that is still such a feminist battle?
A: The claim that New Domesticity is “feminist” — something many of the women in my book say — is really interesting and complex. It’s certainly true that New Domesticity types are bringing respect to the kind of work that was once de-valued because it was “women’s work” — baking, sewing, etc. — and that’s awesome. And it’s also true that raising children is real and valuable work. What bothers me is when some of the women I talked to said things like “I feel that this is a feminist choice because it gets me in touch with my essential, natural female self, which is all about nurturing.” Any time anyone says “natural” or “essential” I get very suspicious, and I do worry that we’re buying into a lot of dubious claims about the “inherent” differences between men and women.”
Q: You interviewed some New Domestics who are lesbians. Why does domesticity feel radical to them?
A: Gay people have historically had to choose between their love life and domestic family life — it’s only recently that gays and lesbians have been widely adopting and using reproductive technology to have children. As one woman told me, the idea that she could have both a partner and be part of a (neo) traditional family felt radical.
Q: Radical, how?
A: By radical, she simply meant that she was living the kind of life that would have been impossible for a lesbian for the entire course of human history. She didn’t have to choose between living with her lover, and having a traditional home and children. She could have both. That was new.
Q: Why do you think there is such a polarizing reaction to the New Domestics? People find them annoying?
A: I think whenever you discuss women, domesticity and the workplace, it’s always going to be contentious. But, generally, I think a lot of people have the sense that New Domestic types are smug or insular or holier-than-thou (like, is THAT baby food organic???). And while it’s true, you do get some smugness, it’s much more complex than that. What I tried to do is understand WHY people feel compelled to do these things.
Q: Are you a New Domestic? A closet crocheter, perhaps? Make your own pickles?
I’m a huge baker, though that’s hardly a secret! My husband has been making his own pickles lately, and I think I might try as well. My grandmother was an amazing seamstress, but I can’t sew a straight line on a pillowcase. That’s what IKEA’s for.
Soup: have any hipster chicks in NYC baked you a cake lately?
Here's the interview with journalist Emily Matchar, its an interesting trend:
Q: Our parents have spent decades rejecting the domesticity of their parents — the ideal woman in the 1990s was a Sex and the City-style careerist, you write, who stored extra copies of Vogue in her stove. So what gives? Why is this shift happening now?
A: Those of us in our 20s and 30s now are far enough removed from the enforced domesticity of the 1950s — the desperate housewives of Betty Friedan — that we’re able to look at these things in a new light. Some of us are going “Hey, these things are cool and fun and interesting, and maybe they’ll even save us some money or help the environment.”
Q: And a lot of these blogs have exploded since the 2008 recession. But weren’t we seeing urban knitting circles before that?
A: All these things have been building for years. Riot Grrrls — a punk subculture of the 1990s — started reclaiming “girly” skills under the feminist banner. That opened the gate for things like knitting circles to be considered hip and fun among a younger demographic. Those skills began to take on a new urgency for many people as the recession made people more concerned with self-sufficiency.
Q: How closely is the New Domesticity tied to class?
A: Things that were once the necessities of the poor are now hobbies of the educated middle-class. A handmade sweater used to signify that you didn’t have enough money to buy a “nice” store-bought one, while today a handmade sweater means you have enough leisure time (a real luxury these days) to knit. That said, I don’t think most people involved in New Domesticity are some kind of elite — most are middle-class, concerned with the fact that their standard of living will likely be lower than their parents’, and interested in new ways of balancing work and life.
Q: It’s interesting that both liberals and conservatives are embracing the New Domesticity. Could it be that this new “movement” is, in some ways, unifying?
A: New Domesticity is definitely unifying in some odd and unexpected ways. In areas like homeschooling and home birth, you see people coming at things from both sides of the political spectrum — ultra crunchy liberal types who want to homeschool their kids because they don’t want public school to destroy their creativity, and ultra-conservative Christians who don’t want their kids to learn about evolution. And these parents are meeting in homeschooling groups and sharing the same online homeschooling resources.
Q: A piece in New York magazine earlier this year presented the domestic “hipster housewife” as a feminist choice. How is this seen as a feminist choice now when it appears to embrace the unpaid labour that is still such a feminist battle?
A: The claim that New Domesticity is “feminist” — something many of the women in my book say — is really interesting and complex. It’s certainly true that New Domesticity types are bringing respect to the kind of work that was once de-valued because it was “women’s work” — baking, sewing, etc. — and that’s awesome. And it’s also true that raising children is real and valuable work. What bothers me is when some of the women I talked to said things like “I feel that this is a feminist choice because it gets me in touch with my essential, natural female self, which is all about nurturing.” Any time anyone says “natural” or “essential” I get very suspicious, and I do worry that we’re buying into a lot of dubious claims about the “inherent” differences between men and women.”
Q: You interviewed some New Domestics who are lesbians. Why does domesticity feel radical to them?
A: Gay people have historically had to choose between their love life and domestic family life — it’s only recently that gays and lesbians have been widely adopting and using reproductive technology to have children. As one woman told me, the idea that she could have both a partner and be part of a (neo) traditional family felt radical.
Q: Radical, how?
A: By radical, she simply meant that she was living the kind of life that would have been impossible for a lesbian for the entire course of human history. She didn’t have to choose between living with her lover, and having a traditional home and children. She could have both. That was new.
Q: Why do you think there is such a polarizing reaction to the New Domestics? People find them annoying?
A: I think whenever you discuss women, domesticity and the workplace, it’s always going to be contentious. But, generally, I think a lot of people have the sense that New Domestic types are smug or insular or holier-than-thou (like, is THAT baby food organic???). And while it’s true, you do get some smugness, it’s much more complex than that. What I tried to do is understand WHY people feel compelled to do these things.
Q: Are you a New Domestic? A closet crocheter, perhaps? Make your own pickles?
I’m a huge baker, though that’s hardly a secret! My husband has been making his own pickles lately, and I think I might try as well. My grandmother was an amazing seamstress, but I can’t sew a straight line on a pillowcase. That’s what IKEA’s for.
Soup: have any hipster chicks in NYC baked you a cake lately?
![[Image: womanhamster.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/womanhamster.gif)
