Politics and Textiles - Laura Fry Weaving Studio

There has been a great deal of ruckus the past couple of days at the popular social platform Ravelry due to it’s stance against white supremacy. (8 million some users justifies the word popular, I think.)

Some people are furious that they should be ‘censored’ and can no longer post patterns or comments in support of Mr. Trump and white supremacist viewpoints. They rail against the suppression of ‘free’ speech (without understanding what the term actually means, assuming that they get to say whatever they please without any push back.)

The comments from some of these people on the more ‘liberal’ groups has been rude and in some cases downright vile. And yet we liberals are supposed to roll over and let them say such things without objection. Because something something free speech. On the other hand, they object to my using my free speech to tell them what they are espousing is not acceptable to me.

Another segment insists that politics and textiles should be kept entirely separate, that they knit for enjoyment not to be made uncomfortable by politics.

Thing is, textiles have been political pretty much from the beginning of human beings working with fibre.

In the very early stages of human development string or cordage was used for a variety of things, including string skirts depicted on the paleothitic goddess figurines. Since string/cordage was very time consuming to make (still is, by hand) the fact that these skirts were made most likely had some sort of religious or political significance.

As human beings evolved, textiles continued to play increasingly political roles in culture, from the ceremonial robes worn by ‘royalty’ or religious leaders, to funeral uses such as mummy wrappings.

Textiles were used as trade goods as were chemicals for dyeing such as alum. Nothing more political than trade goods between nations. (Dorothy Dunnett wrote historical fiction and includes this in a couple of her books – the Niccolo Rising series stars ‘Claes’ as a dyer’s apprentice in Bruges, who rises to become a wealthy merchant (Niccolo) in the 1400s, Francis of Lymond series has one book using cloth as a trade good with Russia during the 1500s. Recently republished they are also now available as audio books.)

Textile workers were a large and important part of any work force of all the cultures. Fibres had to be harvested, processed, spun, dyed, woven, turned into garments or for other uses. This all meant enormous numbers of people to grow the crops, harvest them, break the fibre out of the flax or hemp or which ever crop was being used. In colder climates, shepherds had to tend their flocks, shear the sheep, and then the fibre needed to be spun/dyed/woven.

As cultures evolved even further, restrictions were placed upon the populace about who could have access to certain textiles. The royal purple dye, silk damasks, gold and silver threads, to list just a few. You could tell at a glance what level of society a person was by the clothing they wore. Look up sumptuary laws.

Again the most expensive textiles were reserved for royalty and religious/ceremonial use.

Come the 1700s and the development of the flying shuttle which immediately put half of the broad cloth weavers out of work. Only one was needed to throw the shuttle once the fly shuttle was developed.

Luddites were sworn to destroy the latest textile equipment to preserve jobs in textile manufacture.

It is said that the word ‘sabotage’ comes from the French weavers tossing their wooden clogs, called sabots, into the factories to damage the looms. This is in dispute, although it makes a great story.

The US slave trade was largely developed to produce cotton for export.

During wars, textiles become war materials, for example WWII, silk for parachutes, wool for soldiers uniforms, etc.

Knitting was used as a way to code. In the series of books by Susan Elia McNeal, one of the books uses knitting as a way to pass information between resistance groups. Maps were printed on silk and were folded up into small packets for concealment.

Even today, textiles are fraught with politics. Groups of people in society wear certain styles of clothing and we know exactly where they are in the social strata.

To admonish people to keep politics out of textiles is futile – it’s all around us. White people can easily say they don’t see it – it is part of the ‘bubble’ of white privilege that they (I) live in. However, I have become aware of my privilege and I now make every effort to educate myself.

The first step is to listen. Hear the stories of the people who have been oppressed. Acknowledge the injustice of what has been done to them. Give them the mic. As I learn more I will understand better how I can leverage my white-ness to be a better ally than I have been previously.

Ensuring that all people have human rights is not diminishing mine. Jane Elliott did a famous experiment on attitudes and has a powerful video clip on You Tube. I highly recommend listening/watching it and think carefully about what she has to say.

Textiles are political. My father fought against Nazis not all that long ago. I do not want to see white supremacy become so normalized that it takes over. My father is most likely spinning in his grave.

Taken from the website of the United States Courts:

“Freedom of speech does not include the right:

To incite actions that would harm others (e.g., â€œ[S]hout[ing] â€˜fireâ€™ in a crowded theater.â€).
Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919). “

Freedom of speech does not include inciting actions that would harm others.

To those who, on Ravelry, issued death threats over not being able to publish patterns, who stalked someone who objected to such things happening? This is not acceptable. To those who popped up on a group I belong to calling us ‘libtards’ vile and horrible and awful? This is not acceptable. To those who caused Ravelry to shut down their Facebook page due to rude, vile posts? This is not acceptable.

Ravelry has told their users that they will not tolerate hate speech or posts that incite harm to others. If white supremacists desire a lily white environment, they can go build their own social platform. This is not acceptable, not on Ravelry, not anywhere.