When most people think of embroidery, the image of delicate, single women waiting for marriage comes to mind. According to Dennis:
Embroidery has throughout the ages has promoted submission to the expected norms of feminine obedience and often evokes the stereotype of the virgin...Embroidery has become indelibly associated with stereotypes of femininity. Historically through the centuries stitch or embroidery has functioned as a source of constraint for women...
In 1812, the Brothers Grimm published a book including the tale of the 12 Princesses. Dennis based this work on the tale, exploring its depiction of women and their secrets. The story goes as follows:
"12 princesses, each prettier and far more beautiful than the last, sleep in twelve beds in the same room; every night their doors are securely locked, but in the morning their dancing shoes are found to be worn through as if they had been dancing all night. The king, perplexed, promises his kingdom and each daughter to any man who can discover the princesses’ midnight secret within three days and three nights, but those who fail within the set time limit will be put to death.
Several princes forfeit their lives in the attempt to uncover the secret of the twelve princesses who conspire against these men to ensure that their secret remains undiscovered."
Embroidery has throughout the ages has promoted submission to the expected norms of feminine obedience and often evokes the stereotype of the virgin...Embroidery has become indelibly associated with stereotypes of femininity. Historically through the centuries stitch or embroidery has functioned as a source of constraint for women...
In 1812, the Brothers Grimm published a book including the tale of the 12 Princesses. Dennis based this work on the tale, exploring its depiction of women and their secrets. The story goes as follows:
"12 princesses, each prettier and far more beautiful than the last, sleep in twelve beds in the same room; every night their doors are securely locked, but in the morning their dancing shoes are found to be worn through as if they had been dancing all night. The king, perplexed, promises his kingdom and each daughter to any man who can discover the princesses’ midnight secret within three days and three nights, but those who fail within the set time limit will be put to death.
Several princes forfeit their lives in the attempt to uncover the secret of the twelve princesses who conspire against these men to ensure that their secret remains undiscovered."