March 16, 2009, - 6:24 pm
Dumb Deviance: Quilting World Embraces Porno-Quilts; Shock for Shock’s Sake is Stupid
By Debbie Schlussel
When I wrote about men who knit and said they were girlie-men, I got a torrent of outrage from them. Forget Muslims (and “Watchmen” fans), I thought I’d get fire-bombed by the men with balls (of yarn only).
Now, I suppose I’ll get attacked by the silly male men who quilt. One of ’em, Mark Lipinski, has his own magazine, “Quilter’s Home.”
And not being content at being a girlie-man who knits, er . . . quilts, he and his friends in the quilter community find it necessary to transform quilts into attacks on Jesus, gun-owners, and people who want their kids to be able to look at a quilt without being oversexed. At least, I think this is the case.
I don’t know for sure because you can’t look at Quilter’s Home issues without paying up. And I wasn’t about to pay to see a magazine that is–no lie–sealed in plastic (like Playboy and Penthouse) and which Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts pulled from its stores across the country. Here’s the scoop:
Sex sells. Even, it seems, when it comes to quilting.
The January/February issue of Quilter’s Home magazine sold out despite‚Äîor maybe because of‚Äîa little controversy. The issue came sealed in plastic, like many adult magazines, and boasted the headline: “Shocking Quilts: We show you the controversial patchwork.”
Inside, an artful photo spread includes quilts stitched with a gun-toting Jesus, one woman’s homage to Viagra, ample male and female nudity, and at least one newborn “peering out from his mother’s lady parts,” as it was described recently in The Washington Post.
Needless to say, the graphic images have caused quite a stir in quilting circles. At least one major hobby retailer, Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts, pulled the issue from its 20 Chicagoland stores and others across the country. And the debate continues to rage in quilting forums online, where some are calling the material “objectionable” and others are praising the magazine’s creator, Mark Lipinski.
“The quilts are not offensive. Joann’s small-minded censorship is,” wrote a poster at marklipinski.com.
Jo-Ann’s declined to comment, but has pledged to carry future issues.
Oh, and there’s also a quilt of the Confederate Flag with lynching victims hanging in front of it.
The first thing that comes to mind is, “Why?” Why do they have to do this? Shock tactics just for shock value are stupid. Sure, his quilting magazine sold out, but so did the January/February issue.
Must everything be escalated and perverted and warped from what we normally think of it? What’s next–“Barely Legal Needlepoint”? “Lecherous Looming”? If you want Playboy, buy that crap. But don’t turn craft magazines in craft stores into the simulation of that and attacks on Christians and Second Amendment supporters.
Is there any envelope we won’t push “just ‘cuz”? If you spend your free time quilting your “homage to Viagra” or “ample male and female nudity,” there’s probably something wrong with you.
And, please, don’t send me e-mails about Michelangelo’s David. Hello . . . It’s a quilt.
By the way, if they really wanted to be edgy, they’d do a quilt of something shocking and meaningful . . . like a quilt of a Muslim woman being stoned to death or a Nick Berg video. I know, I know, who’d want a quilt of that? Well, who wants a quilt of naked people or an “homage” to Viagra?
“Quilting?” Not a guy’s work. But learning how to sew and knit is a handy skill. Things do need to be repaired. But taking up female work and perverting it with things beyond description – guys and girls ought to leave well enough alone. Our society is sexually confused already.
NormanF on March 16, 2009 at 6:58 pm