美国国家公共电台 NPR--Kentucky teenagers discover that embroidery is a lot more than just a craft

Kentucky teenagers discover that embroidery² is a lot more than just a craft

Transcript³

Two artists in Kentucky designed a summer workshop for teens called The School of Needlework for Disobedient Women, using embroidery as an avenue to explore feminism, activism and self-expression.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Instead of hanging out by the pool or off at camp, some Kentucky teenagers are spending part of their summer with long needles and colorful floss and also learning how embroidery has long been used to empower women. Cheri Lawson of member station WEKU spent time with the School of Needlework for Disobedient Women and has this report.

CHERI LAWSON, BYLINE⁴: In what looks like a cozy⁵ living room with antique couches, a group of teenagers is hovering⁶ over small pieces of fabric⁷. They're getting a lesson on the how-to's of embroidery. Fifteen-year-old Arabella Huff says she heard about the workshop for kids her age when she saw a flyer on Facebook.

ARABELLA HUFF: It said they discuss, like, feminist⁸ and political topics while you stitch. And I was like, OK, I can get behind that.

LAWSON: And then she says, there was the name - the School of Needlework for Disobedient Women.

ARABELLA: That made it more appealing to me 'cause I have some very feminist ideals. So I was like, OK, that's my people (laughter).

LAWSON: There are 12 teens altogether, and they talk about everything from media literacy to identity to the rollback of Roe⁹ v. Wade¹⁰. On this day, instructor¹¹ Cecelia Rhoden is showing a few girls how to rethread a needle.

CECELIA RHODEN: Just take the needle off the thread.

LAWSON: Rhoden is one of the creators of the grant-funded workshop in the small town of Berea, Ky. She says there was a time when needlework was used as a tool to prepare girls for marriage. And women later used those skills as a form of activism. They stitched things like suffrage¹² banners rallying for the right to vote. Rhoden says the School of Needlework for Disobedient Women is a nod to all those women and the evolution of their work.

RHODEN: They took that skill that they were taught to help marry them off, and they used it to just, like, scream, I'm not happy, and I'm doing something about it.

LAWSON: Kiana Mahjub, the workshop's other co-founder, says she and Rhoden are both artists. They work with things like fabric and multimedia¹³, and now they're teaching teens to use embroidery as a means of self-expression.

KIANA MAHJUB: Mostly just learning how to speak their minds and not be afraid to do it here.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Hey, Kiana?

LAWSON: Mahjub walks over to a table where four girls are embroidering¹⁴ and chatting. Adyson Shepherd is stitching an image of a woman's body. The 14-year-old points out the large thighs¹⁵ and stretch marks, saying the body reflects how she looks.

ADYSON SHEPHERD: I feel like it'd be an empowering move if I just embroider¹ a body because it reminds me of how everyone is beautiful in their own way.

LAWSON: Mahjub agrees.

MAHJUB: I think it looks really cool.

LAWSON: Across the room, Cadence¹⁶ Perman perches¹⁷ on a gold velvet¹⁸ couch and works on a square of fabric inside a wooden hoop¹⁹. Perman identifies as agender. The 15-year-old is new to needlework but carefully stitches a design circled by a message. In red thread, it says, respect my existence or expect my resistance.

CADENCE PERMAN: And then I made a uterus with my ovaries as the lesbian and nonbinary flags.

LAWSON: The free two-week workshop has received some funding and coaching from Shannon Downey, an art activist²⁰ known on Instagram as Badass Cross Stitch. She says the School of Needlework for Disobedient Women is especially important because, in her opinion, there's been a backslide in the rights of women and folks of marginalized genders²¹.

SHANNON DOWNEY: The only way that's going to change is if we're supporting our young people and understanding that they have power and that they have autonomy and that they have say.

LAWSON: The workshop is only in its second year, and co-founders Rhoden and Mahjub say they're already working on duplicating it so that other artists can teach teens about art, activism and finding their voice.

For NPR News, I'm Cheri Lawson in Berea, Ky.

1 embroider   

v.刺绣于(布)上；给…添枝加叶，润饰

参考例句：

• The editor would take a theme and embroider upon it with drollery.编辑会将一篇文章，以调侃式的幽默笔调加以渲染。
• She wants to embroider a coverlet with flowers and birds.她想给床罩绣上花鸟。

2 embroidery   

n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品

参考例句：

• This exquisite embroidery won people's great admiration.这件精美的绣品，使人惊叹不已。
• This is Jane's first attempt at embroidery.这是简第一次试着绣花。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

6 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

7 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

8 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

9 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

10 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

11 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

12 suffrage   

n.投票，选举权，参政权

参考例句：

• The question of woman suffrage sets them at variance.妇女参政的问题使他们发生争执。
• The voters gave their suffrage to him.投票人都投票选他。

13 multimedia   

adj.多种手段的，多媒体的；n.多媒体

参考例句：

• Multimedia is the combination of computer and video technology.多媒体是计算机和视频技术的结合。
• Adam raised the issue of multimedia applications and much useful discussion ensued.亚当提出了多媒体应用的问题，从而引发了许多有益的讨论。

14 embroidering   

v.（在织物上）绣花( embroider的现在分词 )；刺绣；对…加以渲染（或修饰）；给…添枝加叶

参考例句：

• He always had a way of embroidering. 他总爱添油加醋。 来自辞典例句
• Zhao Junxin learned the craft of embroidering from his grandmother. 赵俊信从奶奶那里学到了刺绣的手艺。 来自互联网

15 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 cadence   

n.（说话声调的）抑扬顿挫

参考例句：

• He delivered his words in slow,measured cadences.他讲话缓慢而抑扬顿挫、把握有度。
• He liked the relaxed cadence of his retired life.他喜欢退休生活的悠闲的节奏。

17 perches   

栖息处( perch的名词复数 )； 栖枝； 高处； 鲈鱼

参考例句：

• Other protection can be obtained by providing wooden perches througout the orchards. 其它保护措施是可在种子园中到处设置木制的栖木。
• The birds were hopping about on their perches and twittering. 鸟儿在栖木上跳来跳去，吱吱地叫着。

18 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

19 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

20 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

21 genders   

n.性某些语言的（阳性、阴性和中性，不同的性有不同的词尾等）( gender的名词复数 )；性别；某些语言的（名词、代词和形容词）性的区分

参考例句：

• There are three genders in German: masculine, feminine and neuter. 德语中有叁性：阳性、阴性和中性。 来自辞典例句
• Japan was fourth among the genders of foreign students. 日本在二十个留美学生输送地中列第四位。 来自互联网