The Subversive Stitch

The Cover page

The Subversive Stitch by Rozsika Parker was first published in 1984.  Another edition was published in 2010 that had been rewritten as a more up to date evaluation embroidery and its relationship with the status of women throughout history.

Rozsika Parker uses many sources to back up her assessment of the history of embroidery and role that its separation from being considered an art form had on women.

Below are two reviews of the book which I found helpful in understanding the context of the book.

"It isn’t often that a book changes your life, much less so a book which isn’t a novel or a self-help guide!
The Subversive Stitch, however, genuinely did change mine. This seemingly dry anthropological study of the history of women embroidering helped me place myself in context as a contemporary needlework artist.
I already knew that I came from a long lineage of women who stitched, and indeed I learned to embroider from both my grandmothers. Sharing this craft and skill with them was an important bonding experience during my transition from childhood to womanhood.
However, as a feminist it was sometimes difficult to align myself with a craft which over the course of its history has arguably been used to subdue women, keeping them docile and obedient.Rozsika Parker doesn’t shy away from exploring this side of embroidery’s history, drawing on the writing of proto-feminists such as Mary Woollstonecraft and Mary Lamb, who were vehement detractors of the craft.
However, even as early as the 17th Century women were subverting the medium in samplers which proclaimed their freedom, individuality and refusal to bow to the status quo. Learning this from The Subversive Stitch really appealed to me as a writer and conceptual artist who employs embroidery as a means of self-expression (and sometimes dissent)."

Sampler

"From my reading of this book, I came to understand the reasons the disparity in status between embroidery and painting. The division between women's work and men's work seems to be at the core of this deep seeded antipathy towards embroidery. This particular quote from the eighteenth century sums it up:  "Sir, she's an Artist with her needle....Could anything be more laughable than a woman claiming artistic status for her sewing?" (page 172).  Luckily, today's definitions of art and femininity are somewhat more fluid, allowing me flexibility to chose the medium best suited for a particular message"

Original and revised editions

Examples of Subversive Stitch

References

Rolison, K. (2013) 'Book Review: The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine by Rozsika Parker', Significant Seams 02 January [Online]. Available at: http://www.significantseams.org.uk/2013/01/02/book-review-the-subversive-stitch-embroidery-and-the-making-of-the-feminine-by-rozsika-parker/ (Accessed 04 February 2015).

Mida, I. (2010) 'Book Review: The Subversive Stitch, Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine', Fashion is MyMuse 29 July [Online]. Available at: http://fashionismymuse.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/book-review-subversive-stitch.html (Accessed 04 February 2015).