Pad (Jun 2020)
Women Crafting Today: a Literature Review
Abstract
There is a vast body of research exploring the roles women can contribute to de- sign creation and crafting. In the past, historical studies have paid attention to the role of women in the applied and decorative arts, more than the role of women in design and technologies, giving men a more significant role in the manufacturing technological dimension. In recent years, the consumers, as well as the design- ers’ interest in handcrafting has grown in popularity in Europe, USA, and finally also in Asia, for many different reasons worldwide showing a rich phenomenol- ogy. Craft exhibitions, fairs, shows, and web platforms (like Etsy.com) have been making echo to the century Arts and Crafts movement. This new craft movement, characterized by a growing community of young women, has also been seen as a political phenomenon with some aspects related to a third wave feminist do-it- yourself. Beyond the political aspects, women crafting has been acquired more and more considerable cultural, social, and commercial values. In this article, we present a systematic analysis of the rich phenomenology of contemporary women crafting with the support of available evidence-based liter- ature concerning the role of women in today’s and future design and production. We organize our findings into clusters describing the key roles that women play in the design creation and crafting. We also put light in the future design connecting women thinking and craft sensibility to new technologies (like 3D or 4D printing ).
