Separate Spheres?

Stitching masculinities, stitching stories: Men’s quiltmaking experiences 1970-2020

“…This creates another layer of inquiry into gendered objects and provides a further challenge to the separation of spheres that has influenced needlework for the majority American history (Parker, 1984;McBrinn, 2021;Rotman, 2006).…”

“…Women were expected to stay at home and to manage domestic affairs in the private sphere while men worked to provide for the family financially through employment in the public sphere (Fehlbaum, 2016). While the separation of spheres was a phenomenon situated primarily in White, urban, middle-and upper-class life (Rotman, 2006;Fehlbaum, 2016), its ramifications in reinforcing the feminine and masculine stereotypes for later generations, especially regarding needlework, were significant. Men as needleworkers became a situation that occurred out of necessity and existed only in spaces where there were not women to complete the tasks, such as when sailors were away at sea (McBrinn, 2021).…”

“…Crothers (1993) found that women who made quilts between 1850 and 1890 defied separate spheres by striving for artistic achievements, cultivating quiltmaking reputations, and participating in political activism. Rotman (2006) demonstrated that in the village of Deerfield, Massachusetts, "men and women used space for public and private tasks in ways that were fluid and transcended the dichotomies of domesticity" (p. 673), such as through the Blue and White Needlework Society. In her research on men's work and male intimacy, Hansen (1989) argued against separate spheres because of the diary entries of Brigham Nims of Roxbury, New Hampshire.…”