crochet meets math meets the ocean.

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

feminine handcrafts go where the finest mathematical minds can not.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/m...oral_reef.html

[salty]

thank you so much for posting that link! that's so incredibly cool. i love it! now i want to learn more about the professor who first thought of crocheting hyperbolic spaces.

[Samhain Hunter]

Originally Posted by Rhiannon Feimorgan

feminine handcrafts go where the finest mathematical minds can not.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/m...oral_reef.html

So untrue!

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

Originally Posted by Samhain Hunter

So untrue!

How so?

Of course men can (and do) crochet and women can (and do) do other things but needle crafts have traditionally been woman's work.

Our culture has used terms like "woman's work" or "feminine handicraft" to devalue things. I love when someone like the woman in the video shows that no, actually these things are quite valuable after all.

[flapjack]

Feminine handicraft is a middle class conceit, though. Historically, at least over here, knitting and weaving were done by men as well as women (though often you hear of a husband weaving whilst his wife spun), the Durham quilt designers were male though the sewing was done by women, and so on. If you look at the Elizabethan tapestries, it's rare that they were actually stitched by women, and rarer still that they were designed by such, though there are notable exceptions like Bess of Hardwick.
The Victorian idea that the proper work for women is to sit on their backsides all day creates the devaluation: it was not inherent, IMO.

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

OK, point taken. It was a poor choice of words.

It's still a really cool project though. Did you actually watch the video?

[salty]

hmmm. this is an interesting discussion. i can't address the cultural history in england, but i sort of like the way she refers to feminine handicraft in this video.

like rhiannon says, that term is used to denigrate activities that (at least in the US in the current time for sure) are largely seen as being things that women do and "real men" don't. but i say bring it on. of course men can and do participate in these activities, and i know historically the situation has been different. just like pink used to be considered a masculine color. it sure isn't today.

but as she shows in this video, this is women doing yarn crafts and demonstrating important scientific and mathematical principles. it's bringing respect to a field that has largely lost it (in mainstream thinking). in a way, emphasizing that historically this has been a male dominated field, especially in this context, is taking away some of the power of this project, i think.

[boricuaqueen327]

That is such a cool video! Those reefs are gorgeous!

[Samhain Hunter]

Originally Posted by Rhiannon Feimorgan

How so?

Of course men can (and do) crochet and women can (and do) do other things but needle crafts have traditionally been woman's work.

Our culture has used terms like "woman's work" or "feminine handicraft" to devalue things. I love when someone like the woman in the video shows that no, actually these things are quite valuable after all.

Originally Posted by flapjack

Feminine handicraft is a middle class conceit, though. Historically, at least over here, knitting and weaving were done by men as well as women (though often you hear of a husband weaving whilst his wife spun), the Durham quilt designers were male though the sewing was done by women, and so on. If you look at the Elizabethan tapestries, it's rare that they were actually stitched by women, and rarer still that they were designed by such, though there are notable exceptions like Bess of Hardwick.
The Victorian idea that the proper work for women is to sit on their backsides all day creates the devaluation: it was not inherent, IMO.

And in South America the men do the crocheting, and the women the spinning.

[A Mom's Love]

Originally Posted by boricuaqueen327

That is such a cool video! Those reefs are gorgeous!

They are beautiful! What a neat project!