Poem: "Sticky Little Fingers and Dishes in the Sink"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This is today's freebie, inspired by alexseanchai. It also fills the "Imposter Syndrome" square in my 3-1-22 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo Fest.


"Sticky Little Fingers and Dishes in the Sink"


Women artists are
ignored and devalued.

Women's art is often
misclassified as merely
"folk crafts" instead of
respectable "fine arts."

Weaving is seen as
a chore instead of
painting with fibers.

Quilting is condemned
as the poor making do
with what they have,
rather than respected
as part of history.

Cooking is seen as
mere fuel instead of
as edible sculpture ...
even though garnishes
can be carved and
chocolate can be
turned on a lathe.

Lack of respect and
recognition is withering.

Constant condemnation
and indifference leads
to imposter syndrome.

So many women give up
their creative pursuits
because they don't have
enough faith in themselves
to take the time that they
need to be transformed
by a creative vision.

Even more are forced
away from their art.

The ceiling isn't
made of glass.

It's made of
sticky little fingers
and dishes in the sink.

* * *

Notes:

"Still, I wonder if more women artists, musicians, and writers aren't household names because we don't have enough faith in our own pursuits to give ourselves the time we desperately need to be transformed by a creative vision. Maybe that glass ceiling isn't really made of glass at all, but of sticky little fingers, dishes piled in the sink, and mortgages that demand two incomes."
-- Holly Robinson Peete

Women, their art, and even their materials are consistently denigrated. It's not that there are no great women artists; it's that men are too afraid of them to talk about it.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

exactly!

[readera]

💖💖💗💗👍👍

[zeeth_kyrah]

Just so

[wyld_dandelyon]

This is way too true.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

... and it applies to all fields. Women have to waste time on housework while men get to do things that matter. Fuck it, I'd rather be writing.

Re: Yes ...

[(Anonymous)]

Reminds me of when I was doing language lessons at someone's house because kids/kid stuff.

We go so much mileage out of just describing whatever (often noisy/disruprive) thing the kids were doing.

Use your surroundings! (Mad laughter.)

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Very astute.

Hence why one of my favorite exercises for learning a new language is to set up 20 or so words in a specific topic, then bring in or go visit that topic and talk about it using the new vocabulary. Frex, for building, you could open a bucket of Legos. For art, you could go to an art museum.

It's important to consider what you'd like to do with a foreign language. Only in recent decades have I seen formal classes emerge on "Business Spanish" or "French for Doctors," etc. For household use, talking about what the kids are doing is important.

You are so awesome. The world needs more people like you.

Re: Yes ...

[(Anonymous)]

The oldest form of language learning is 'point at the thing and talk about it.'

>>...is to set up 20 or so words in a specific topic...<<

We've done 'conversations about' and 'talk about pictures of' versions.

This can be common interests like cooking, or specialty things like car parts.

Incidentally, a how things work picture dictionary is a fairly good way to explain engine innards.

>>It's important to consider what you'd like to do with a foreign language.<<

My stuff that I am teaching is usually in the 'How to navigate life' category. How do you know when to clock back in from break, go shopping, talk politely to people, communicate with your kid's teacher or your boss, etc?

Learning...I mostly use other languagues to communicate/bond with people, though I have used them at work .

I did at one point sit down with a student (who also had kids) and start running through jargon in a first aid book, so she could take a first aid class, which led to this gem: "Oh, that's the word for [symptom]!"