In high school I was always happy in the obscurity of uniform, so perhaps it's strange for me to be revelling in the re-emergence of crafty forms of personal expression. But sure enough, on the lapel of my worn denim jacket sits a 'print forever' pin, and my leather jacket sports a bluebird patch.

While cultural ephemera comes and goes with the decade there was something incredibly heartening about watching the U.S. election borne down amid a worldwide sea of hand knitted pussy hats. It was an intense feeling of near global unity that was palpable, and very, very pink.

We live in an era of guys and gals wearing vintage patches and 'I'm lonely' lapel pins, stitching 'fuck you' amid floral patterns. How better to identify yourself as a feminist cat loving coven member than a stylized badge? And amongst it all the memory that one good resistance deserves another, and that political messages have been intertwined with crafts about as a far back as history goes, sewing the star spangled banner, rolling out placards to fight for the right to vote and providing punks with the patches to fill up the front of their leather jackets.

The old feminine crafts have come back with a vengeance as a public symbol of political self-expression and identifiable public identity, and instead of reinforcing gender norms they seek to tear them and other forms of oppression down. And of course, sometimes they're just pretty. In the age of Tinder our generation may not wear our hearts on our sleeves anymore, but we'll let you know our feelings about medicinal marijuana in an ironic phrase on our breast pocket.

Sarah Layton

Image by Holly. Used with permission.