Jones D
Womens Writ. 2001;8(3):375-89. doi: 10.1080/09699080100200143.
This article examines letters, diaries and fiction by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century women travellers and colonists to show the important contribution of sewing, cloth and clothing in defining the self and determining class and racial barriers within a colonial context. Needlework skills often acted as significant props for the performance of socially approved femininity, indicating the complex role of women settlers both as colonisers and as colonial subjects. Upper- and middle-class women directed their supposed social inferiors, along with indigenous women, in approved feminine practices by urging they learn such skills. Issues of appearance and self-presentation, so important in maintaining class boundaries, were a frequent source of anxiety, while indigenous peoples were pressured to follow European notions of "decency" in dress, yet derided if they were perceived to be aping fashionable appearance.
本文研究了18世纪和19世纪女性旅行者和殖民者的信件、日记及小说，以展现缝纫、布料和衣物在殖民地背景下定义自我、确定阶级和种族界限方面的重要贡献。针线活技能常常成为展现社会认可的女性气质的重要支撑，这表明女性定居者作为殖民者和殖民地臣民的复杂角色。上层和中产阶级女性督促社会地位较低的女性以及本土女性学习此类技能，指导她们遵循被认可的女性行为规范。外表和自我呈现问题在维持阶级界限方面至关重要，常常引发焦虑，而本土人民在着装方面被迫遵循欧洲人的“得体”观念，但如果被认为是在模仿时尚外表则会遭到嘲笑。
