“The cultural primacy of making, especially in tech culture—that it is intrinsically superior to not-making, to repair, analysis, and especially caregiving—is informed by the gendered history of who made things, and in particular, who made things that were shared with the world, not merely for hearth and home.”
Debbie Chachra, Why I Am Not a Maker (The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 23 Jan. 2015
Before reading this article, I never thought too deeply about the label “maker,” much less the idea that the value we place on makers is based off of old gendered ideas. Chachra’s assertion left me surprised at first, but I quickly realized how right she was. These ideas made me wonder how much of what we find valuable is based off of old ideas of gender.
Growing up, both of my parents worked, and I didn’t understand why other kids’ moms just stayed at home. It seemed like a waste to me- what was the use of having them home when they could be working? Even from a young age, I had developed the idea that labor in the home was not worth as much as having a job that paid money. I thought the work that was traditionally done by women was easy and certainly not as important as having a job, a role that was traditionally filled by men. These ideas were fueled by both the sexism ingrained in our society and capitalism. Working to make money is very important in a capitalist society, and that supported the gendered ideas I had about the worth of stay at home parents. I’ve since grown up a bit and realized the worth of these women (and men), but it wasn’t easy to overcome the ideas pushing them down.
As for the future of this course, I’m excited to become familiar with different kinds of software, especially the one for 3D printing! 3D printing has always been interesting to me, and this is the first time I’ll actually be able to do something about it. I also want to explore the different ways that people utilize 3D printing, and perhaps come up with new ideas myself.
