Wall Street Journal Article
The Gawker.com
Mind you, I've had my own personal crisis to deal with so I am a little behind the ball on this one, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't put my 2-cents worth of grumbling out there~
First of all...the whole notion of the "white trash" and "frumpy, time frittering" stereotypes are simply ignorant. Who the heck are these people and why do they feel the need to debase a tradition that dates back hundreds of years? The fact that I am commenting on these articles months after their release is irrelevant when you think of all of the scrapbooking stereotypes that are still flying around the arena:
- Scrapbookers are primarily SAHM who have nothing better to do with their time or spouse's money.
- Scrapbookers are fat, homely, and living a life vicariously through their pages.
- Scrapbookers are people who lack substance in their lives and therefore fill that void by reliving the past memories in Technicolor.
Is it that the end product of our scrapbooking is so personal (to ourselves) that others have a hard time making a connection and therefore seeing the beauty and value of what we are doing? Is it the typical "those who can, do and those who can't, criticize" thing again?
I've seen the looks that some people give my pages and I think that there really is an underlying failure to understand the true essence of scrapbooking festering out there. I have some of my favorite pages cycling across my computer monitors as a screen saver at work, the reaction is mixed, but mostly positive. I've been asked how I find time to do what I do, WHY I do what I do and why don't I just put my pictures in an album like "everybody else". I don't typically honor those questions with an answer. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... they wouldn't understand, so why bother?
What I disliked the most about the articles is the way that they spun Scrapbooking up to be a hobby that somehow beneath worthy mention and that Martha Stewart is going to somehow "rescue" the dowdy craft. Now, we scrapbookers know that this industry is a huge cash cow and that Martha Stewart simply wanted to grab hold of one of it's utters before it dried up. I don't fault her, I don't fault anyone for opening the door when opportunity knocks. I do find fault in the ignoramus' who think that they can take an outsider glimpse of our time honored tradition and pass such a crude and baseless judgment on it in an attempt to do what ever it was that they were trying to do (it still boggles my mind).
So, where did this negative stigma come from? If you look at all of the grumblings going on, you would think that the light that was cast on scrapbooking would've been one of over indulgence and fame seeking...but frumpy and trashy? I don't see anything trashy about a $10 pack of rubons and long gone are the days when the primary staples for creating a scrapbook were bits of ribbon, lace and newspaper clippings. Perhaps the reasoning for the derogatory spin was based on a need to cast Martha as something other than just another scrapbooking entrepreneur? What ever the reasoning, I think that it may have done more to hurt her by creating a bigger divide between her fledgling company's ventures and the "typical" scrapbooker. Of course, it wouldn't be the first time that I was wrong.
I think that I AM right in thinking that scrapbooking needs to be recognized for it's intended value...something that I don't see happening any time soon. I guess once again, it will have to start with us. As tired as I am of being questioned about why I scrapbook, I think it's time that I spoke up to the masses of people who seem to be okay with allowing their memories to fade into nonexistence. The next time that I am asked about my pages, I will be sure to ask the inquirer whether his parents were able to recall every memory that was attached to those albums full of featureless photos or if they remember the first joke their kid ever successfully pulled off...then I'll take it from there.
7 comments:
here here...I love your comebacks..I so need to do that. :) It seems that people look at me like I have a third eye when I tell them I scrapbook..and it almost makes me feel ashamed. I HATE the 'I don't have time to do that' like they are putting me down because obviously I don't have enough to do. But I CHOOSE to do it...some people CHOOSE to watch a show every night of the week...some people CHOOSE to play bunco...I CHOOSE to use my time to scrap...so what. :) Thanks for the insightful post...I wish I had an answer though why scrapbooking is deemed to be such a mousy negative hobby.
lol, yeah, there really is a lot of negativity associated with the hobby. I live in Utah, where you'd think people would at least have a better idea of what scrapbooking is (and isn't) and I showed one of my co-workers a layout the other day and she was like... wow, I've never seen scrapbooking like that. I could get into that. Not trying to say my page was super-awesome, but it didn't include sticker sneeze nor was it the CM style that so many people see. Of course *I* think it's awesome :D
I don't know where the stigma comes from, but it's continually perpetuated. Maybe it's because there is such a large majority of the scrapbooking population that do it just as a hobby? That follow the CM credo rather than being concerned about design principles and frufru product?
I definitely have to disagree with the thought that we're lacking something in our lives and are making up for it this way. That's just silly. Don't they LOOK at the subjects of our pages? I can't speak for all scrapbookers, but I scrapbook because there are so many things in my life that I feel are worth remembering. It would just be paper and glue without the memories. If that were all it was, I'd be painting or knitting. And, if I were indulging in those hobbies instead, would these same critics be on my case for such a wasteful and empty passtime? I somehow doubt it. I wish I knew what the solution was, it would sure make it easier for me to admit to being a scrapbooker!
Since The Gawker.com is a Manhattan site, I'm not surprise that they would consider scrapping a 'white trash' hobby. Some New Yorkers simply thrive on looking down their noses at anything that doesn't originate in New York.
Here's the deal, though (not saying I agree with the articles, because I don't, but something I have been thinking about). In your post you said " think it's time that I spoke up to the masses of people who seem to be okay with allowing their memories to fade into nonexistence." This suggests that the only way to preserve memories is to scrapbook. But really, if you wrote the story about the photo and linked them in some way---a connection between your digital pictures and your word file with the story, even---then you're still preserving the memory. If you put all your photos into a regular photo album with one slot holding the story instead of a photo, you're still preserving the memory. (Some people consider that scrapbooking; I don't.) Why do we have the need to scrapbook---to add other visual elements to the photos and story? Scrapbooking companies push scrapbooking not because they want you to preserve your memories but because it IS a cash cow. Why am I spending so much money on it???
Just some thoughts.
I have to agree with you 5:00pm. That IS a very good thought. And you are right. My grama glued (yes GLUED) her photos on black paper and wrote around the outside of the photo...while it's primitive...it tells the story and I can scrap those pictures KNOWING the story. I don't know why we decided we have to 'embellish' the paper to create the story. Maybe it's because we like to? I know for me it's more visually pleasing to see the page although non scrappers don't even look AT the page they look AT the photo and the journaling. So maybe the scrapbooker is one who likes to preserve their memories with the added bonus of having that much needed quiet time? Maybe we are just killing two birds with one stone...hobby and preserving our memories. Sorry to ramble...I don't think I made much sense...but hopefully someone got something out of my wordiness. :)
Such a good question! I think, many of us act in a way that to outsiders seems so ridiculous! There are scrappers who worship their heroes (so called “scrap celebs”) in a way that is just embarrassing. Then the stereotype of the fat SAHM: well, its very easy to get the impression that this is true... When I first noticed scrapbooking online, I was (and still am) astonished how many women on photos of conventions seem to be dramatically obese…
I was so happy to find that there are even unmarried women and even young boys who scrap.
And what kind of history do most of this women scrap? So often it’s just about cuteness of their DDs, DSs oder DHs. It’s more about doing something for the present moment, but are they are really writing down “family-history”? I think, this is often just being said to legitimate this paper-craft hobby.
And honestly – often there are way more ribbons and rub-ons than journaling on a LO, no wonder, people don’t take it seriously.
Of course there are people who can create interesting and well designed pages. But those who are not into scrapbooking do not know how hard it can be to put a page together just don’t see the efforts behind.
I wonder, why there is so little individualism and self-esteem around…This product fetishism is ridiculous. So many are striving to get the latest stuff, the newest, hippest, whatever. It will all end up being not recognized what it was - it will all be just paper in the end... none of their kids will say: “wow, how cool”. It will all look "oldfashioned" to them, when they are older.
When people ask me, I tell them: I love paper, I love trends, I love the tools and to play with them. I like to be creative, to play with textures, colors and photos. Some of the results may end up being of interest to my kids, some of it is more like an art journal that I do keep for myself. I like the scrap community (well, part of the community), made friends out there, I like a good challenge once in a while, even the competitiveness - to me, that would be more honest. People would more likely understand that it’s a hobby like painting or taking photos. It’s “being creative with paper and photos”, that’s all! If your family album is more colorful now – why not? But to me scrapbooking is not about making the better album. Maybe the plain white albums are actually more timeless than patterned paper that will look so 2004 in thirty years…
5:00, I concur whole heartedly. Though my "masses" I meant the people that have told me that, pretty much, a memory worth remembering will be remembered without having to delve into arts and crafts, you do make a valid point. I have been guilty of being a little egocentric with my idea of memory preservation, I won't deny it. You brought up a really good point about memory preservation being done in many forms (though I doubt my "masses" would consider even something as digitally etching their pictures with memory details a waste of time). My own mother wrote extensive stories on the backs of photos and my grandmamma did the elmers and black paper thing too.
Scrapbooking has indeed become the cash cow for many companies that seem to have more of a vested intrest in slipping another buck out of my pocket than helping me preserve memories in a way that I won't be cringing about later.
I too have always been artsey crafty so scrapbooking is a natural choice for me for now. I can respect any form of memory preservation, even if I often forget that they exist.
Thanks for such compelling contributions.
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