Women’s Work: Knitting in Shetland, 1800-2000

In this video, Professor Lynn Abrams discusses gender and women’s work through a case study of kitting in the Shetland Isles, 1800-2000.

Lynn explores the importance of knitting within the context of Shetland society, one dominated by women due to high levels of male migration, absence and death at sea. She explores the gendering of knitting as female, and how it was undervalued, underpaid and associated with leisure rather than highly-skilled work. Yet, as Lynn shows, knitting was an essential economic lifeline within Shetland with an enduring cultural and gendered legacy.

Task

Watch this broadcast from 1964, where Cathal O’Shannon discovers the intricate gossamer shawls of Unst, and answer the following questions: https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/shetland_shawl_knitters/zff27nb

• Were the women of Unst fairly compensated for their work on these shawls?
• If not, what can this tell us about gender and how women’s work was viewed in past and present societies?

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