My Take: DIY, Pintrest, and the Rise of the New Domesticity
Over the last couple of weeks, my husband and I have been remodeling our basement. When we bought the house, it was “finished” in that classic combination of wood-grained paneling and burnt orange carpet. And while we really do appreciate vintage, we also accept the reality that we’re simply not cool enough to pull it off. On a hipster scale of 1-10, we’re an ironic 3.1415…. So a bit of rewiring, several gallons of paint, and twenty-eight boxes of laminate later, we’re close to having a space that’s hopefully more Pottery Barn and less Brady Bunch. Part of it will be a den and the other half will be devoted to, what I like to call, the creative urge.
In the past when we dreamed of our ideal (then non-existent) house, we always envisioned a room devoted to creating—whether it be crafting, sewing, drawing, writing, or simply playing with play-dough—we wanted a room that invites you to find your inner creative muse and let lose. Instead of fussing at my daughter for yet again cluttering up her room with odd bits of construction paper and glue, I want to be able to point her to cupboard of paints and glitter and chalk and say, “Go for it.”
I don’t know if other people dream of rooms like this, but I have noticed a trend among my generation. More and more of us are devoting our time and energy to things like crafting, cooking, and frugal living. You only have to hop on etsy, pintrest, or any number of DIY blogs to know that this phenomena is larger than any one subset and isn’t contained to the SAHMs among us. Women everywhere—from university-educated vegans to crunchy conservative homeschooling moms—are embracing the domestic.
In this Washington Post piece, Julia Rothman worries that this “new domesticity” will lead to obligation and foster a whole batch of June Cleavers trying to one up each other, not necessarily with our meatloaves and kitten heels, but with knit scarves and cheese making. And while this is definitely a possibility, I think the new domesticity can actually teach us something deeper about ourselves, if we let it.
Because whether it’s being motivated by a case of burn-out in the boardroom, a commitment to staying home with young children, or simply trying to make ends meet in these difficult economic times, this renewed interest in the creative process is really about reclaiming something very fundamental to our humanity. Whether you realize it or not, it’s about reclaiming the image of God in us.
In the case of my peers, generally young Christian women, the return to crafting and baking and decorating has accompanied a renewed emphasis on the importance of family life. We see marriages crumbling around us, children struggling through cookie-cutter schools, and so for many, the solution comes by devoting themselves full-time to their families. They’re educated women with more than a heaping of gifts, but they choose to become SAHMs because they really believe that, at least in the early years, they can best care for their families there.
But the truth that many are learning the hard way is that staying at home isn’t without sacrifice. In the eight years that I’ve been at home, I’ve discovered that little ones don’t often want to discuss French existentialism or world events, and major life accomplishments have been reduced to having everyone clean and fed at the same time. It doesn’t take very long to realize that staying at home can be less than stimulating.
In her breathtaking essay “Are Women Human?,” Dorothy L. Sayers argues that this is one reason why so many women pursue professional careers in the first place (a novelty in 1938 when she first gave the speech that would eventually be published as an essay). She says:
It is all very well to say that woman’s place is the home—but modern civilization has taken all the pleasant and profitable activities out of the home, where the women looked after them, and handed them over to big industry, to be directed and organized by men at the head of large factories…
It is a formidable list of jobs: the whole of the spinning industry, the whole of the dyeing industry, the whole of the weaving industry. The whole catering industry…the whole of the nation’s brewing and distilling. All the preserving, pickling and bottling industry, all the bacon-curing. And (since in those days a man was often absent from home for months together on war or business) a very large share in the management of landed estates…
Now it is very likely that men in big industries do these jobs better than women did them at home. The fact remains that the home contains much less interesting activity than it used to contain… It is perfectly idiotic to take away woman’s traditional occupations and then complain because she looks for new ones. Every woman is a human being—one cannot repeat too often—and a human being must have occupation, if he or she is not to become a nuisance to the world.
Sayers concern was not really to define what constitutes a “woman’s” job or a “man’s” job but to emphasize that every human being—of which half the species are women—must be engaged in creative, productive work because they are made in the image of a creative, productive God.
So I’m wondering, especially in the case of my peers, how much of the return to domestic creativity has less to do with our need to care for our families and more to do with caring for our own souls? How many of us craft and sew not primarily because we can do it better or cheaper, but because we simply love to do it? And for women who don’t stay at home, how much of your drive toward the new domesticity comes from the fact that the modern workplace has forced us to become mechanistic, unimaginative robots, spending most of our days processing bureaucracy and paperwork, without ever seeing tangible progress for our labor?
This is why we’re seeing the resurgence of creativity, especially in the home. Ultimately, we create because He did. We love beauty because He does. And when those things are less and less present in our lives, we are driven to find a way to recover them—whether we realize that’s what we’re doing or not.
This is not a problem. Domestic arts do often allow us to better care for our families. And creative pursuits do fill a need and enable you to return refreshed to the humdrum of work on Monday. It’s also not a problem if your creativity doesn’t take the form of traditional domesticity—feel free to go rebuild the engine of that ‘57 Chevy this weekend—because ultimately what’s at stake isn’t that we all become June Cleavers; it’s that we all become like our God.
In the end, we must recognize that we pin and we plant and we bake and we knit, not simply because we are women or mothers, but because we are human beings made in His image. And all the mechanization, all the industrialization, all the assembly lines in the world can’t remove that part of us that needs first to create, and then to step back with satisfaction and declare, “That’s good.” Just like He once did so very long ago, just like He continues to do every day.
handerson Bio
Hannah R. Anderson lives in Roanoke, VA where she spends her days mothering three small children, loving her husband, and scratching out odd moments to write. She blogs at Sometimes a Light and has recently published Made For More.
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I know this article is aimed more at women, but I wanted to add my “Amen” and “Thank You” as a man.
I have taught Doctrine for years in various settings ranging from VBS to Bible College and in my discussion of man being created in the image of God have always included creativity among the attributes. You might be surprised to know that many face such a statement with disbelief (“Never heard that one before”) and, at times, with out and out hostility (“NO…it’s intellect, emotion, and will…NO MORE!). I say, “No, there are many ways we are ‘image bearers.’ To limit it to just intellect, emotion, and will is, IMHO, to shortchange the creativity and wisdom of God in making us.”
Thanks for stepping out and so beautifully describing this part of the image of God in man.
Shawn Haynie
Great article, and very insightful. Society tends to pendulum from one extreme to the other, and there was a time when new tech was so fascinating, and the idea of being able to ‘do more’ in less time seemed like a dream come true. Of course, the reality didn’t live up to the fantasy, and we know that more tech doesn’t really mean less work. Like money, when we have more, we seem to find a way to spend it.
I agree that when we don’t have something productive to do, humans will find something to do. Idle hands and all that. There is a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when we’ve made something with our own hands. I read a study, I think it was in the AMA, where they took crafty women and put monitors on them, and had them do different tasks, like sewing, painting, playing cards, and playing a video game. The crafty projects showed a significant decrease in stress levels- blood pressure, perspiration… We are truly designed to be creative.
On the other hand, I think Pinterest and HGTV have spawned the armchair DIYer in much the same way that exercise shows/videos and dieting cookbooks have resulted in people who know all about healthy eating and exercise, but have never actually done either. So they pin and watch and talk about sewing and crafting, but they don’t even own a hot glue gun. ;)
I grew up in a DIY household, and thank goodness I managed to marry a guy who loves to build and putter in the garage. We always make a space in our home for creative chaos. :D
Hannah- I read a couple of books last year with my dd that you might enjoy- Perfection Salad and Something from the Oven, both by Laura Shapiro. Rather unconventional ‘histories’, but a real hoot IMO.
“Hospitality became showmanship. It didn’t become about sharing, or the interaction.” Alton Brown (a Southern Baptist, btw) has a pretty good take on modern hospitality.
Great article. My wife loves to sew and has recently started to knit and is really finding fulfillment from it. I do not know much about the pintrest thing, but she talks a lot about here pintrest board with here friends.
You brought out a great point about the creativity and the image of God. This is true for both men and women. I find great fulfillment out of planning and building things. For my wife it might be a knit sweater or a new pair of pants that she sewed for the boys. For me it might be the remodeled bedroom or the sandbox I built.
Maybe your article will be what finally gets my wife to register on SI so she can comment.
There is definitely a danger when creativity (whether it be hospitality or studio arts or technological development) becomes fueled primarily by showmanship or competition rather than service and worship. (Yes, I firmly believe that baking and knitting can be acts of worship.) But this a problem intrinsic to humans and not simply women or domesticity.
What’s more telling to me is the surprise that people express when women fall into this pattern. They are shocked (shocked I tell you!) that domesticity and motherhood would have any overtones of competition or ambition. This shock reveals a lot about their initial presuppositions about domestic women—that they are somehow NOT human and thus immune to the rivalry that flourishes in the business world. To me, this in and of itself is a remnant of a certain idealism that put women on pedestals as somehow more spiritual or more pure and essentially less human.
[JD Miller]Great article. My wife loves to sew and has recently started to knit and is really finding fulfillment from it. I do not know much about the pintrest thing, but she talks a lot about here pintrest board with here friends.
You brought out a great point about the creativity and the image of God. This is true for both men and women. I find great fulfillment out of planning and building things. For my wife it might be a knit sweater or a new pair of pants that she sewed for the boys. For me it might be the remodeled bedroom or the sandbox I built.
Maybe your article will be what finally gets my wife to register on SI so she can comment.
Gentle hint taken. ;) (he has been encouraging me to register for some time)
As to the article.
Burnt orange carpet. My parents kitchen had that burnt orange, gold, green stuff in it. Add to that a restaurant booth, a coke chandeleir, veggie wallpaper, round pebbles backsplash and geometric linoleum when they purchased it. Talk about a visual mess!
Congratulations on your new “crafty” space! That sounds like so much fun! I have a corner of the dining room currently. It is a mess of different projects in various stages of completion. Creating various knitted or sewn items is FUN. It is nice to see something “completed” That reminds me of when God finished creation- “He saw everything he had made it behold it was very good” My husband and I had a conversation recently. I waltzed into his office with a newly completed project and was so excited to show it to him. (I get like a little kid sometimes when I get excited. LOL) In telling him about the project I suddenly realized that it sounded as if I was bragging as I pointed out different features and improvements on the design that I had made. I quickly calmed myself down just a tad and clarified that I wasn’t intending to brag-I was just so excited and happy that my changes had worked out the way I had hoped. We chatted for a while about the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing a “job” be it a crafty project, a woodworking or home improvement project or even just a full days physical labor. God created us to work. He even gave Adam a job to do in the garden.
It was interesting to me that you noted Sayers in why so many women go back to work. I see on a forum I am part of that so many times women just cant wait for their kids to enter school so they can “get back to REAL work” They ache for something to do that can be completed even when they do get back to “real” work. They feel like at home there is nothing to do that is “stimulating”. Boring old dishes and laundry and dishes and laundry and maybe some dusting. They wish that their boss in the workplace would just unleash them on some new project and let them complete it instead of handing it off to another worker. Some complain about the “dehumanization” of processes because it makes them just another “cog in the wheel”
You ask what our reasons might be to return to some of these different pursuits of the more crafty type? I have found that “doing it cheaper” is actually kind of laughable. I can purchase many of the items that I make for a better price than I can make it if I “charge” myself minimum wage for my time. You hit it when you suggested that it is because of a love for the process…a love for the completion of it. A sense that the process is something that God intended for us to do. A sense that it was God who gave me the ability to do these many things and that he gives (and gets) enjoyment while participating in the process. You noticed that I suggested that God GETS enjoyment. If everything we do is to be to the glory of God I think that he can be glorified in our work. I think even He watches our project unfold and receives pleasure that we are doing something that he made us able to do.
We ALL need to pay attention that our various pursuits, jobs and activities don’t become idols. Hospitality, craftiness, being a grease monkey, woodworker, techie… No matter what it is we need to be careful that God gets the glory through the process-not ourselves.
[Sour note warning…] I hear this “God created so we are to create” quite a bit. God did create, and it’s certainly not wrong to reflect that ourselves. However, I think it’s easy to jump on this bandwagon when the Bible doesn’t seem to emphasize this aspect to the level suggested.
There are plenty of passages that encourage us to be holy, but none that I can recall to be creative. We are told to immerse ourselves in the Word, minister to others, etc. but not directed to craft our way into the likeness of Christ.
It is telling, I think, that key NT passages focus on ministry rather than creativity:
1 Tim 5:9-10 (which is a resume of sorts of a godly woman):
Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, [and not unless] she has been the wife of one man, well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.
Her focus her is on her husband, her children, her hospitality, her service to others. If creativity exists, it seems to need to be applied within those contexts (and I would argue that we can and should).
Titus 2:3-5 gives direction as well, and does not point out creativity (as an end) either:
the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.
You do not see a focus on creativity here either. I do not argue that it doesn’t exist, but it is not something that is to occupy us or distract us as an end in and of itself. It is to be applied in the realms of our God-assigned focuses.
Proverbs 31 reflects some of the same things, showing that the virtuous woman “creates” clothing for her family, items to sell, a vineyard to produce, organization, etc. in the context of her family duties that in turn assist them and her husband. And the underlying issue is not her creativity but that she “fears the Lord.”
Creativity, then, seems to be a tool for other things, and not an end in and of itself.
For the Shepherd and His sheep, Kevin Grateful husband of a Proverbs 31 wife, and the father of 15 blessings. http://captive-thinker.blogspot.com
I’m not so sure the dichotomy is necessary or helpful. Did God create the world for a greater purpose or did He create because He enjoyed creating? I think the answer is yes. (Rev 4:11)
It’s important to remember that our personal fulfillment is not in opposition to serving God and others. I agree with you that it is dangerous when we focus on creativity as the ONLY aspect of our fulfillment—but it is equally dangerous to deny the intersection of serving others and finding personal satisfaction in the process. Ultimately when we exist as we were meant to, when we engage in the very things that make us like our God (service and creativity), those around us are blessed and we discover what we were always intended to be.
[handerson]I’m not so sure the dichotomy is necessary or helpful. Did God create the world for a greater purpose or did He create because He enjoyed creating? I think the answer is yes. (Rev 4:11)
It’s important to remember that our personal fulfillment is not in opposition to serving God and others. I agree with you that it is dangerous when we focus on creativity as the ONLY aspect of our fulfillment—but it is equally dangerous to deny the intersection of serving others and finding personal satisfaction in the process. Ultimately when we exist as we were meant to, when we engage in the very things that make us like our God (service and creativity), those around us are blessed and we discover what we were always intended to be.
I think this article does make creativity stand on its own. That is my point. The Bible doesn’t present it that way.
The context of Rev 4:11 is that God is due worship because He created everything. The context of this passage doesn’t comment on or even imply our pursuit of being creative. It also doesn’t tell us why He created the world, but simply acknowledges that He did. (Col 1:18 says He created all things for Himself, which seems to go against why we should create). It also affirms that because He created God is worthy of glory, honor and power. Our creativity should bring glory to Him, not to us (1 Cor 10:31). It is even possible in our pursuit of our own fulfillment to end up worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator if our focus is on what rather than Who (Romans 1:25) .
I do think that our personal fulfillment IS contrary to our serving God, unless it is defined by God and directed by God and pointed to God. We are to take up our cross and follow Him. That really doesn’t hint at personal fulfillment (in this life), but a rejection of it.
I believe that our life view should be built on the clear teachings of the Word, not inferences and implications, as this topic seems to be built upon. Our life is to be focused on God. In that, creativity can help us do that.
For the Shepherd and His sheep, Kevin Grateful husband of a Proverbs 31 wife, and the father of 15 blessings. http://captive-thinker.blogspot.com
but again, I’d suggest that when we recognize the creative process as a direct reflection of God’s nature, we are glorifying and bringing praise to Him. Humanism glorifies and elevates man’s creativity and intellect as an end in itself. A Christian understanding of creativity doesn’t deny creativity—it simply directs the glory and honor back to God Who is the ultimate source of all we do. This was the distinction I was trying to make—we don’t craft and bake simply from a humanistic or mechanistic paradigm. As Christians, the very act of creating is an act of worship when we recognize and acknowledge God as the source—in this way, we are doing all things, including creative arts, to His glory.
And as far as the dichotomy between personal satisfaction and service, yes, we are called to deny ourselves, but we are denying ourselves those paltry, minor, satisfactions like selfishness and pride in order to achieve ultimate personal fulfillment by pursuing love and service. And these are ultimately fulfilling because they reflect the nature of the God in whose image we are made.
As a stay at home homeschooling mom of 25 years, I found that crafting ( knitting, sewing) gave me a tangible sense of accomplishment. When almost every thing else I did had to be done again every day - or hour - it was nice to have something that showed progress. Consider how many dishes are washed, dirtied, and washed again. Food is lovingly prepared, and disappears! Diapers are changed, washed, changed….. I knew that being a loving, consistent parent had eternal consequences, but it could easily feel like I was on a treadmill. When I knitted 2 inches in the evening after the children were in bed, I saw progress. Eventually I had a sweater for my son to wear. I admit I also enjoyed the mental challenge of learning new stitches or techniques.
I guess, like God, we like to finish a task and see that it is good.
Kevin,
Are you the only one who is capable of being creative and focusing on God? That’s what it seems you are suggesting. I don’t recall the article declaring that we ought to pursue creativity to the exclusion of our service to and worship of God, and yet you argue against the straw man.
I too struggle with the day to day work of keeping a family and house running smoothly—the laundry, the meals, the cleaning all seem to start over again as soon as they are finished. But even in this, I think we have a chance to reflect a different aspect of God’s nature. We are imitating His continued care and maintenance of His creation. From Colossians 1 that says that Christ holds all things together to Lamentations comfort that His mercies are new every morning, God Himself works to provide for the continual well-being of His creation.
I think we get ourselves into trouble when we minimize or isolate any particular aspect of His image and fashion ourselves exclusively after that. He is a holistic, multi-layered God and He has created us to be holistic, multi-layered image bearers.
[handerson]I would just challenge you to find, as a direct premise from Scripture, that pursuing creativity is a reflection of God’s image, or as you put it, “the creative process as a direct reflection of God’s nature” as a means to bring praise and glory to Him. From what I see from Scripture, that emphasis is not there.but again, I’d suggest that when we recognize the creative process as a direct reflection of God’s nature, we are glorifying and bringing praise to Him. Humanism glorifies and elevates man’s creativity and intellect as an end in itself. A Christian understanding of creativity doesn’t deny creativity—it simply directs the glory and honor back to God Who is the ultimate source of all we do. This was the distinction I was trying to make—we don’t craft and bake simply from a humanistic or mechanistic paradigm. As Christians, the very act of creating is an act of worship when we recognize and acknowledge God as the source—in this way, we are doing all things, including creative arts, to His glory.
And as far as the dichotomy between personal satisfaction and service, yes, we are called to deny ourselves, but we are denying ourselves those paltry, minor, satisfactions like selfishness and pride in order to achieve ultimate personal fulfillment by pursuing love and service. And these are ultimately fulfilling because they reflect the nature of the God in whose image we are made.
I would say the exact same thing about personal fulfillment. I do not find anywhere in Scripture where our personal fulfillment is encouraged or mandated. We are here to glorify God, following Christ by dying to ourselves. I don’t see where personal fulfillment can exist while following Christ. Does He give fulfillment? Yes. But it is not from the pursuit of our own fulfillment. You do not see that as an emphasis whatsoever for the godly Christian woman. Therefore, it must be subordinate to what God does emphasize.
For the Shepherd and His sheep, Kevin Grateful husband of a Proverbs 31 wife, and the father of 15 blessings. http://captive-thinker.blogspot.com
[pvawter]Your question is accusatory and misses what I have written in every way. I would encourage you to reread the article, and then read what I have written.Kevin,
Are you the only one who is capable of being creative and focusing on God? That’s what it seems you are suggesting. I don’t recall the article declaring that we ought to pursue creativity to the exclusion of our service to and worship of God, and yet you argue against the straw man.
For the Shepherd and His sheep, Kevin Grateful husband of a Proverbs 31 wife, and the father of 15 blessings. http://captive-thinker.blogspot.com
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