My daughter is 10 and already bemoaning her leg hair and asking why the boy who used to be her friend now teases her mercilessly. No wonder she gravitated toward a fabulous new book the moment it landed in our mailbox. Crafting with Feminism by noted geek and author Bonnie Burton (whom you might know from Felicia Day’s Vaginal Fantasy Book Club? No? Okay, anyway she’s awesome…) has put together 25 cool, easy, and fun crafts centered on taking pride in feminism.
So far, my daughter is determined to make matching NOPE necklaces (for herself and me), Monster Week Maxipad Cases, and Food for Thought Plates.
Related: The ultimate STEM book of kick-butt women in science.
What I already love about this grrl power book — besides the fact that all the supplies needed can be found at any arts and crafts or even big box store — is the conversations we’ve had just from flipping through it. I’ve explained why women burned bras, why Frida Kahlo is important, and why yes, we are in fact feminists and just what that means.
In fact, those of you with tweens and young teens may recognize the stage in which our kids are completely mortified talking with us about bodies and sexuality. I happen to love that the craft projects in this book give us great opportunities to discuss owning her power and not letting anyone make her feel lesser.
Especially considering how prevalent these issues are in the news and in our culture at this very minute.
As for the projects in Crafting with Feminism, plenty are great for tweens and teens, including Feminist Badges of Honor, Heroes of Feminism Finger Puppets, and an All Hail the Queen Crown. But I’ll admit that some things will have to wait until she’s older (if ever) such as the Power Panties.
Also, the Huggable Uterus Body Pillow. But only because because it requires a ton of sewing.
Whether you want to plan a crafting party with your female friends, need a gift for your empowered bestie, or are looking for a way to start an open dialogue with an eye-rolling adolescent, I think Crafting with Feminism is full of great ideas, powerful quotes, and good laughs. Plus, it’s a cool gateway to the conversations we all need to be having with our girls, hard as they can be.
You can pre-order Crafting with Feminism by Bonnie Burton at our affiliate Amazon which ships 10/18/16, or look for it at your local indie bookstore starting next week!
