How Art, Beauty and Talent is Underappreciated, Overworked and Taken for Granted……..
Ok so I started a new job, doing something I love, finally. I have finally entered fashion and design industry. First week’s lesson,where silk comes from. So ok it not groundbreaking but it got me to thinking.
Did you know silk comes from fucking worms can you believe it, WORMS!!
sericulture in Asia was born out of creating this lux fabric. The silk fabric is formed from the cocoon of silkworms. The worms through their life span and through a very specific diet create what we wear on our bodies. Can you imagine,hanging in your closet right now is the carcasses of thousands of worms.
Are you freaked out yet? Silk in itself not only feels and looks amazing but it is really strong. The weaved fabric’s strength is equated to steel!
But, I still couldn’t get around the fact that millions of worms are harvested and sacrificed for a motherfucking shirt. But still the silk business has been booming for thousands of years. In India, sericulture has allowed female entrepreneurship to thrive as (looming) sewing silk together has created a source of income for so many women.
Amazing for everyone right? Beautiful lux fabric, female entrepreneurship win, win right? I began to think though how amazing is it that someone looked at something as small and unique as a worm and seen the profit in it. From that one tiny creature and that one curious human, a billion dollar industry has been made. But who pays the price,the real price? To think because of its beauty the silk worm pays the ultimate price, death.
Then I got to thinking about the women who actually pick through and create something out of it. How profitable is it for them, how much are they paid, how much do they profit? I’m quite sure next to nothing compared to the billions the industry makes profiting off of the work they toiled over.
Did you know that each sheet of silk created is unique in that isn’t like any other piece. It is different from others due to how each person (looms) sews each strip. Because each person’s technique is different so is each piece. So, before it is ever sold, it’s construction is unlike any other piece, a work of art all on its own.
Just to think we buy the shirts or the pajamas never realizing the sacrifice that was made for that comfort. It got me to thinking about places in society, positions that are overlooked yet are so essential to the function of comfort that we all take for granted.
The people who go through and update systems so payments for bills can go through. Or, the grocery store stocking clerk who comes in every night when everyone is home sleeping and arranges the things in the store neatly so we can find them the next day. The farmers who plant the seeds to the fruits and vegetables we eat for nourishment.
The technique, the knowledge, the talent and tenacity required to do those things that aren’t widely known.
Though we are a capitalist society, I wondered how we the unseen “workers” are stripped, crushed, mixed up and sewn together for our talent, our tenacity, our marketability to make comfort for someone else’s lifestyle. How many us have become the modern day “silk worms” for this generation to thrive?
Signed, AnUrbanGirl
An Urban Girl Blogs 