When you hear the word "sewing", what do you think of? Simple, repetitive manual labor? Your closet? Your grandmother?

Sewing is often perceived as a traditional, domestic skill that is practiced by women in the home. Consequently, it has been subject to misogynistic stereotypes.

Some misogynistic perceptions associated with sewing include:

• Sewing as "women's work": There is a deeply ingrained perception that sewing is inherently a feminine activity, tied to traditional gender roles and domestic duties historically assigned to women.
• Lack of value or importance: Sewing and other textile crafts have often been dismissed as trivial or unimportant, reflecting a broader devaluation of traditionally female-dominated activities and skills.
• Lack of complexity or skill: There is a misconception that sewing is a simple, mindless task that requires little skill or intelligence, undermining the expertise and artistry involved in many sewing and textile techniques.
• Domestic confinement: Sewing has been viewed as an activity that confines women to the domestic sphere, reinforcing patriarchal notions of a woman's "proper place" being in the home.
• Lack of economic value: The products of sewing, especially those made for personal or household use, have often been undervalued or seen as having little economic worth, contributing to the perception of sewing as a non-productive or non-profitable pursuit. This is exacerbated by modern "fast fashion".

However, sewing and textile engineering has revolutionized human history and is not only essential, but also highly technical.

Engineering applications include:

• Materials science and engineering: Understanding the properties, behavior, and performance of different materials is crucial. This involves principles of polymer science, materials chemistry, and material testing.
• Mechanical engineering: Sewing machines and textile machinery involve principles of mechanical design, kinematics, dynamics, and vibration analysis. The interaction between needle, thread, and fabric is a complex mechanical process.
• Structural engineering: The construction of textile products, such as clothing or technical textiles, involves principles of structural design, stress analysis, and load distribution to ensure durability and performance.
• Fluid mechanics: Principles of fluid dynamics and aerodynamics are applied in the design of textile machinery, such as air-jet looms and air-laid nonwoven production processes.
• Tribology: The study of friction, wear, and lubrication is crucial in understanding the interaction between sewing needles, threads, and fabrics, as well as the performance of textile machinery components.
• Control systems: Modern sewing and textile machinery incorporates advanced control systems, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs), computer numerical control (CNC), and robotics, which require principles of control theory and systems engineering.
• Computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM): These tools are widely used in pattern design, grading, marker making, and automated cutting processes, involving principles of computer science, geometric modeling, and optimization algorithms.
• Textile testing and quality control: Principles of metrology, nondestructive testing, and statistical process control are applied to ensure the quality and performance of textile products and processes.
• Ergonomics and human factors: The design of sewing workstations, machinery interfaces, and textile production environments involves principles of ergonomics, anthropometrics, and human-machine interaction to ensure operator safety and productivity.
• Bioengineering applications: Textiles are highly flexible and conform to our bodies. Textile science is used in varied applications from skin grafting and surgical meshes to nano-scale protein engineering of fibrous polymers.

Textiles and sewing have also played a pivotal role in political movements and ideological debates throughout history, often serving as symbols of power, resistance, and economic systems.

Prominent examples include:

• Marxist theory: In Das Kapital, Marx used the textile industry, particularly the cotton trade and factories in England, as a prime illustration of the exploitation of workers under capitalism. He analyzed in detail the harsh working conditions, long hours, and meager wages endured by textile workers, arguing that these conditions were a direct result of the capitalist system's drive for profit maximization at the expense of labor.
  Marx's vivid descriptions of the "dark satanic mills" and the suffering of women and children employed in textile factories served as a powerful indictment of the industrial capitalist model. He portrayed the textile industry as a microcosm of the broader class struggle between the bourgeoisie and proletariat.
• The Indian Independence movement Mahatma Gandhi's promotion of Khadi (hand-spun and hand-woven cloth) became a symbol of self-reliance and a rejection of British-imposed textile imports. The act of spinning one's own cloth with colorful Indian patterns was a form of peaceful cultural resistance against colonial rule and economic subjugation.
• American Suffrage movement: Embroidered banners were a common sight at the early 20th century Women's Suffrage movement. The colors, patterns, and imagery used can all carry specific meanings. Think of a protest group using a certain colored bandana or piece of clothing to signify their affiliation.
• Recent times: the global textile and apparel industry has been a focal point for debates around fair labor practices, worker rights, and environmental sustainability. Movements advocating for ethical and eco-friendly textiles have emerged as a response to concerns over exploitative labor conditions, pollution, and the industry's carbon footprint.

Ultimately, there is no reason sewing should be seen as lesser than its traditionally masculine analogue disciplines such as woodworking or metalworking, which I think is a bias that is underacknowledged.

If you're interested, some good books on this topic include:

• The Fabric of Civilization by Virginia Postrel
• The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St. Clair
• Worn: A People's History of Clothing by Sofi Thanhauser.

Personal connection

When she was younger, my grandmother worked as a seamstress earning very low wages in Korea. While Korea is now an economic powerhouse due to influence from the US and adoption of capitalism, in the not so distant past, it was wrought with poverty and greater class inequality as well as traditional patriarchic beliefs. My grandmother stopped going to school around her 4th grade.

When I was younger, my grandmother made sure I knew how to sew. She knew it as one of the only ways women could make income, and did not have much faith in my education. As I grew up and my mother and aunt began to become more successful in their careers, my grandmother realized the potential of education. She now encourages me to study and tells me not to waste my time sewing.

While a sewing/fashion career isn't really attractive to me, I think it is such a valuable skill and I enjoy it for its utilitarian purposes as well as its potential for experimental creative expression.