I started FemHack because I was frustrated with my dichotomous life of home and work. I felt like the things I did at home had no merit outside of my home and the things I did at work had no bearing on the world outside of my work. I don’t think I’m alone in this feeling.
My frustrations come from a place where what you do is who you are, and the simple contrast of homemaker (i.e. housewife) or professional (i.e. businessman) are no longer viable options. I cannot use these terms to maintain a fulfilling life because I do not fit into either of them.
You could argue that this frustration is simple due to my current situation in life, as a (relatively) new mother. Yes, I have a two year old son and the novelty of being his mom is starting to wear off. But, I have been a stepmother for 5 years (officially) and for 4 years (unofficially) before that. And, I was working 10 days before my baby was born and again 5 days after he was born, so I don’t think this frustration is simple signaled by my return to work now that he is in “preschool.”
So, when I say that FemHack is about DIY strategies for females with a hacker attitude, I mean that it’s about hacking the condition of being female. It’s about subverting traditional notions of what it means to be female while at the same time trying to reclaim those notions. What it means to be female, to be a feminist, to be a housewife, to be a business woman…is all very complicated and I hope to explore it more in this blog as I share with you the real, physical hacks I produce.
And – I’m sorry if it disappoints you – but FemHack is not really about female hackers, women who code or computer scientist girls. It is however, about female engineers, women who build and maker girls, because I think these latter terms are often only prescribed to females who do specifically perform the former functions – hacking, coding, computer science. FemHack is about elevating the domestic work of women onto the same level as the professional work of men, and (especially) celebrating the DIY ethics of women’s work.
I don’t just want FemHack to be a place where I say, “Hey! We’re all equals! Men can sew dance costumes and women can build cabinets!” I want FemHack to be a place where a wife’s sewing project gets the same recognition as a skilled task as a husband’s carpentry project. I want women to feel more empowered by their creativity and less stuck in it as a traditional gender role.
We already live in a world where women can (for the most part, without legal or severe societal restrictions) take up any profession, but we still don’t value the work of women especially when it’s not labeled as a profession and compared to the traditional gender roles of men.
Now, to get cranky about it, considering that every one of us was born from a woman, it seems about time that we should start valuing them on the same level as men.
THANK YOU!!
I’m not really sure what you’re thanking me for, but YOU’RE WELCOME, JAMIE!