Craft

[poliphilo]

I'm not very good at housework. Housework is a craft. I can push a duster along a flat surface or a vac across a carpet, but the results don't sing- not as they would if a proper crafts(wo)man were wielding the tools.

Talking about craft, I was watching a documentary about British pottery last night. I already knew I loved 17th century slipware, but now I love John Dwight's 17th century stoneware too.  

I'd love to be a potter, but only if I could skip the apprenticeship. I'm too impatient to be a good craftsman. I want the finished masterpiece in my hands, now.

Comments

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I think dusting is a bad example, because it's quite simple (still, I have some lamp shades that require the right technique when dusting them if you want to do them in 5 seconds, rather than 5 minutes!), but something like mopping a floor is actually a skilled craft. I once took a 2-week course, 8-16 each day, in cleaning, and I learned so much that I would never have worked out myself.

The chauvanism only comes into play if one believes it's a certain gender's responsibility - and ability - to clean, which is clearly not true. We can all clean well, though some have a natural knack for it and some - like myself - need to be taught. I imagine that's quite similar to pottery, really.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Cleaning skills have nothing to do with gender. The two most chaotic homes I've ever been in both belonged to women.