DIY [Craft]ivism

As suggested by the title of the 2019 FemRhet Conference, DIY crafts promoting feminist rhetoric or feminist “craftivism” was a foundational activity for much of the conference. As a form of activism, the process of creating something to bring your voice to raise attention, to contribute to a larger movement, and to advocate for change makes the process of activism intensely personal because it is also creative and an expression of self. Betsy Greer fleshes out the idea of craftivism on craftivism.com by defining it as “a way of looking at life where voicing opinions through creativity makes your voice stronger, your compassion deeper, and your quest for justice more infinite” The following events described here are a sampler of the craftivism that took place at FemRhet 2019.

Close up shot of partially filled in design on canvas tote that reads "Fuck the Patriarchy."

The Swag Swap tables offered a fundamental practice of craftivism, giving attendees the freedom to express themselves by the stock of supplies available to them. Located in Hotel Madison and Carrier Library, the Swag Swap was available throughout the entire conference. Participants could customize T-shirts, bags, water bottles, and more from the collection of art supplies provided. The creation of a tangible manifestation of thoughts and feelings during the conference offered empowerment, validation, and support. The lack of structure and supervision facilitated the freedom for creativity and for each craftivist’s voice to be acknowledged.

The empowering concept of craftivism was also present in the Makerspace in the basement of Carrier Library on Thursday and Friday during the conference. The technology available, including a 3D printer, took the crafting a step further to create items that are more difficult to produce by hand, such as embroidered patches and keychains.

Conference goers attending the Zero to Zine Workshop each collaborated to create a zine representing their experiences at the conference. Led by Mary Thompson, Lauren Alleyne, and Elizabeth Chenevey of James Madison University, this workshop emphasized the idea of allowing the process to be more important than the product. This concept is true to a zine’s function of spreading ideas and fostering free expression to a specific audience rather than to the general public. Focusing on the process was to allow participants to attempt to truly represent their conference experiences rather than focusing on perfection or merely the aesthetic value of the zine.

As a warm-up exercise, participants engaged in a free-write session in response to the following prompts:

“I came from…”

“I brought with me…”

“I left behind…”

“Along the way, I picked up…”

“I had to let go of…”

“I discovered…”

“I’m taking back with me…”

From there, participants were given twenty minutes to decorate a half a sheet of paper at a station. Stations included collaging in which participants would cut pictures out of books and glue them onto their sheet while embellishing the pages with other craft supplies such as stickers and yarn, black out poetry where participants would color over sentences in a text in order to focus on specific words to create a new text with a new meaning, and finally drawing.

Participants were then given another twenty minutes to either complete the other half of their paper or to complete the other half of a sheet that someone else had worked on in the previous twenty minutes.

Copies of the zine were then distributed on Saturday in Madison Hotel for those attending the conference and a PDF of the zine can be downloaded here.

This is the cover of the zine featuring a woman at the bottom, center of thepage with thought bubble above her reading "From Zero to Zine." In the thought bubble there is an open magazine and five stars. Four smaller thought bubbles surround the woman containing craft supplies, people seated at a table talking, three women walking through a door and a train.

The intersection of activism with DIY activities does not have to be aggressive and can instead be centered on inclusion and positivity. Attempting Crafty Kindness: A How-To Session on Crafting and Activism was held on Thursday and enabled participants to make a statement and spread a message through a variety of activities including knitting, bullet journaling, cross stitch and tiny protest posters. Tiny posters seem to speak especially well to the concept of inclusion in craftivism because of their accessibility as they can be hung anywhere and use of less paper than a typical poster. “Cats against catcalling.” “Born to resist.” “Viva la vulva.” Phrases like these were declared through the crafting session to assert the importance of the messages and the importance of the individuals behind them.

Two people sit and one person stands at a table with craft supplies and watch as another person standing folds a piece of paper.

Crafts donated by conference organizers, attendees and students were up for sale for the entire conference both in the form of a silent auction and for sale at the DIY Sale Shop. The variety of items available for purchase included hats, dolls, embroidery, and artwork. Sponsored by the JMU undergraduate chapter of HerCampus, the sale served as an example of how craftivism can directly impact an issue with $200 raised for the HerCampus chapter and $1423 raised for the local nonprofit First Step: A Response to Domestic Violence.

DIY [Craft]ivism

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