Comments on: Friday Fun Thread: Simple Deeds Make a Difference

By: yep

yep — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:38:46 +0000

My only real crafty skill is cross stitching. It’s great to keep my hands busy while I watch tv or hang out with friends, but I haven’t figured out how to make it charitable. I could sell my work, but I don’t have time to finish things fast enough to make that worth it. I think I’m going to learn to knit soon so I have a craft that’s more useful. Right now the most handy thing I can do is patch up my friends’ clothes for them so they don’t have to buy new ones.

By: ellabrit

ellabrit — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:13:08 +0000

My sister lives in Australia and years ago she and I knitted little sweaters for penguins affected by oil spills. The sweaters keep them from preening the oil off their feathers and swallowing it. Now I just knit mittens and scarves for the homeless (I live near York–the original one!–and it can get pretty cold up here).

And radfemdisco can kiss my needles. Since when does having a useful skill = patriarchial practice? You know what makes the Patriarchy happy? Women with no skills at all.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:07:37 +0000

@Joe. Nah, not hard, even for a guy

Yeah Besharp, I can’t let fat fingers slow me down!

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:40:37 +0000

@Joe. Nah, not hard, even for a guy . I mean, if you want to make fancy clothes, that will take some training. But a simple pillow like this nice lady makes takes 5 minutes on a machine or about 20 minutes by hand. I read a different article about her that says she cranks out about six pillows a day on her Singer (and she uses an old-fashioned one that’s powered entirely by a foot-operated treadle. That takes more physical stamina and know-how compared to an electric sewing machine).

I’m with you about military families. And while I hate the war, I also think crapping on wounded soldiers and the people who want to help them is a total compassion FAIL.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:08:49 +0000

I don’t sew blankets but I sure nuff donated a couple to Haiti relief efforts through my church, our pastor was down there and it was hell on earth, more so now that the ravenous spotlight has moved on. I volunteer at the local Cares org in my little southern town too. I’m near Fort Campbell KY and those service families go through their own hell and really deserve our support. Maybe I WILL take up sewing, is it hard? lol

By: Carlita

Carlita — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:22:50 +0000

@radfemdisco: if by “patriarchial practice” you mean “highly marketable job skill” then yes, that’s what sewing is. My mother is a union-card carrying garment worker who supported a family of five with her sewing. She may have been a patriarchial dupe to you, but I think you sound like a snide elitist for dissing her profession.

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:48:05 +0000

@RadFemDisco: Um…you’re missing the point entirely. You may not like the military industrial complex–it doesn’t have any fans at Harpyness, either–but wounded soldiers deserve compassion. They are victims of imperialist war-mongering too. If someone is kind enough to make pillow to lessen their pain, why the fuck would you bitch about that? You apparently prefer ideology over human decency.

As for whether sewing makes women tools of the Patriarchy, if you are a regular reader of this site, you will have read what I (and many of our commenters) think about sewing/knitting/cooking and other traditionally female skills, so I’m not going to rehash that here.

Instead of criticizing and then storming off in a huff, why don’t you tell us what form of compassionate activism is inspiring to you?

By: Angelia Sparrow

Angelia Sparrow — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:45:37 +0000

I used to make blankets for Project Linus. They provide security blankets for children who are traumatized or are undergoing painful medical procedures. As someone with a highly medicalized childhood, I know the difference a little something special (even a paperback) makes for a kid having surgery.

When I can, I donate to the Bears for Bears project, which puts teddy bears into police cars. These are given to children in need.

By: RadFemDisco

RadFemDisco — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:38:03 +0000

Um, since when is sewing not a patriarchal practice? And sewing in support of the military-industrial complex? WTF? Friday Fun = supporting Amerikan imperialism and patriarchy. Good to know.

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:20:13 +0000

The bravest, most inspiring people I ever met are the people who set up a needle exchange here. This was in the late 90′s, when it was becoming clear that HIV was moving from gay men to IV drug users and their sex partners. But education and harm reduction methods weren’t going where they needed to go; gay men tended to be a lot easier to educate and reach than junkies. So two people here decided to find them and get them what they needed.

They set up with a card table and some syringes, alcohol wipes and cookers one Sunday in a fairly iffy part of town. When they showed up, the people in the neighborhood were pretty suspicious-not many white people hang out there for any length of time. The first week they got one guy. Then next week they got a few more, and soon it was a success. Now our exchange is a funded, county-sanctioned organization, reaching the very hardest people to reach and succeeding because they give users what they need with no red tape and no judgments. They are my heroes.