The Significance of Women and Textiles: A Cultural Framework

Throughout history, clothing and the textile arts have primarily been linked to women. Textiles of the past were often constructed using natural materials like cotton, flax, and hemp, all of which are easily degradable in long term environmental exposure. Due to this, textile ‘fossils’ from the past that contain knowledge of traditions, occupations, and style are lost to time. With women being the main constructors behind these materials, the resulting phenomenon is a gendered gap in human history. With this knowledge, one can understand why women are in such proximity to textile work and how this work was immensely important to her community. 

The Introduction of Textiles

Often linked with the Stone Age is imagery of cavemen, stone spears, and a time of less complex inventions. While accurate in some aspects, this age was the birthplace of one of humanity's most useful tools. By mechanically binding fibers and filaments to form a long continuous string, the ability to bind, cover, and carry was unlocked. This discovery is referred to as the string revolution. String has the unique characteristic of being flexible while retaining strength. This characteristic resulted in the creation of nets, handles, and bindings for sturdier material. The string is also a necessary prerequisite to advanced fabric constructions needed for warmth, protection, and communication. This one discovery was a major technological leap that pushed human ingenuity to new limits.

The Circle of Textiles and Women

Since the Industrial Revolution, the textile industry has shifted dramatically toward rapid mass production. As a result, the majority of modern day women are disconnected from the process of taking fiber to fabric. Historically, however, women have dominated fabric production. It is due to this new disconnect that there is not a strong cultural knowledge of how this framework was established. In her studies on the division of labor due to sex, anthropologist Judith Brown articulates a theory on the connection of women to textiles. She explains that this connection is due to the compatibility of textile work with child care. Child care was and is often seen as the main responsibility of the mother, so her tasks must not interfere with her children. The four core principles of said tasks are such that  “they do not require rapt concentration and are relatively dull and repetitive; they are easily interruptible and easily resumed once interrupted; they do not place the child in potential danger; and they do not require the participant to range very far from home.” Thus crafts such as knitting, crocheting, sewing, spinning, weaving, alongside food production are all associated with women. It is important to note the cultural significance of textiles beyond basic protection as a woman is much more than her ability to create and care for a family. Textiles are used for communication, cultural preservation, and expression. Think about the significance of only the bride wearing white, bringing out expensive silks for a special occasion, or the usage of a hijab. Women tend to invite meaning to daily objects which is the invention of culture. 

Maya Women and Textiles

Maya women in particular are great examples of the power of textiles. Fabric production is still popular within their communities as the art of backstrap weaving is regularly practiced. Maya textiles are a living visual language, a guide, shaped by history, beliefs, and region. Symbols and motifs can vary in meaning according to the individual weaver. For instance, the popular diamond motif in some interpretations, represents the four directions of the universe and the movement of the sun. In other interpretations, the diamond represents a ‘pop’, the mam word for the rug in which the weaver sits upon. Similarly, the flower motif can represent beauty, nature, fertility, and growth. Even food has its place on the loom. The corn motif represents not only cultivation but the creation of humanity. Creation, the cosmos, are a large identity pillar in Maya culture. In Maya mythology, Ix Chel, the moon goddess, represents fertility, medicine, and textile work. She is said to be the one to have taught the sacred skill of weaving. With a woman's daily proximity to the privacy of a household, she has the unique ability to work as a cultural mouthpiece. Numerous symbols, stories, and deities exist in Maya textiles yet themes of motherhood, creation, and food are often reoccurring giving insight to what is important to a Maya woman. 

                            A Table runner created in Quetzaltenango

More Than Just Fiber

These days backstrap weaving is no longer limited to the essential need to clothe a family. Generationally, colonial violence seeks to wipe out tradition, language, and dress. Maya weavers have used textile art as an act of expression, political resistance, and a gateway to economic independence. The iconic huipil (blouse) and corte (skirt) are often still worn by indigenous women across Guatemala serving as a strong representation of their heritage. The former can express the region in which the wearer originates in addition to working as a functioning map of the land. When a voice is smothered vocally, it only grows into a new manifestation. In this way, the modern day Maya woman is much more than just a mother; she is an artisan, a cultural protector, a knowledge keeper, and community backbone. Through textile history learned is not only what is important to a Maya woman but who Maya women are important to. Textiles and women are forever intertwined and globally, a culture can be read by what is woven.

 

                                         A Huipil created in Sololá

Interested in learning more? Check out these resources:

On the History of Women in Textiles:

”Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times” by Elizabeth Barber

On the Significance of Maya Women and Textiles:

“Dinámicas sagradas y comunitarias alrededor del textil y su delegación” by Jeff Cán Xicay

Written by Kennedi Hosey, Textile Technology Graduate and Volunteer