Founded in 2005 by Robert Kaplin, Etsy has become the go-to online marketplace for all things handmade and vintage. Through Etsy, individual sellers can use the e-commerce site to sell anything and everything handmade or second hand. From art and quilts to furniture and second hand toys, if it’s cute, knitted or has a bow on it, you can find it on Etsy. However beneath the ruffled curtains and Oreo cookie shaped necklaces, Etsy has come to represent something much larger. It is a key technological tool in the third wave feminism movement, encouraging a new generation of women to start their own businesses and make their own money. Born in the 1990s third wave feminism was largely a reaction against some of the strict initiatives and movements created by second wave feminists during the 1960’s, ’70’s and ’80’s. It focused on broadening the term feminism, focusing on issues such as class, race, sexuality and femininity that previous feminist waves often ignored. Third wave feminists redefined what it meant to be a feminist, reclaiming old media crafts such as knitting and sewing that were viewed as hobbies of their mother’s generation by second wave feminists and no longer necessary to the modern woman (Offensend). With more and more young, empowered feminists turning to the creation of handmade goods to make an income, Etsy has created a space where the online selling of handmade goods is easier than ever and where women who may traditionally not have been able to work or make an income have been able to empower themselves and become successful business owners from their own homes.
In November 2013 (the last time Etsy posted their monthly statistics online), $147.5 million of goods were sold via the online marketplace. In that same month 1,318,666 new members joined the Etsy community and 2.15 billion page views were recorded on the site (Traub). What makes Etsy stand out from other competitive online marketplaces is, of course, it’s focus on the homemade, however upon examining the interface of the website there are a number of features that show why Etsy is so appealing as a platform for business owners and why it has made the process of selling online so easy.
As soon as you go the Etsy homepage, users are encouraged to sign up to in order to start browsing and buying goods. The sign up process is easy and requires no financial transactions upfront. Once users are signed in, the Etsy homepage displays galleries of items that are ‘trending’ or centre around a certain theme such as ‘halloween’, ‘weddings’ or ‘gift ideas’.
The interface (see image a) is clean and minimalist but with a feminine edge. The handpicked items from different stores displayed in the galleries all feature beautifully handmade goods and well photographed products. The items chosen by Etsy to display are clearly aimed at a female audience, from jewellery to cupcakes the website’s white layout lets the products speak for themselves, attracting the user with the beauty and attractiveness of the items on sale.
Studies have shown that 80% of usability problems on websites come from poor navigation design (Savaji, Downe, Fahmi Mazlan, Soo and Abdullah). With millions of diverse new products listed every month (Traub) it would be easy for Etsy to become an incomprehensible mess of unrelated handmade products. Etsy combats this problem through their use of categories. One of the first options on the homepage is to either search for an item or browse items by category. The key to good navigation is good information architecture; selecting the right labels and categories and laying them out in a way that attracts the user and reflects their own mental organisation of the information (Straub). Many of Etsy’s categories are very simple, appealing to users who may not be familiar with the website and just want to browse. The ‘Men’, ‘Women’ and ‘Kids’ categories make it easy for an Etsy beginner to start looking for something they might be interested in. The other categories appeal to the kind of user Etsy is most familiar with. Categories such as ‘Wedding’, ‘Jewellery’ and ‘Craft Supplies’ are clearly aimed at Etsy’s predominately female audience and serve as markers, telling you what to expect from the content of the website as well as making it easy for users to find exactly what they want. As an avid crafter myself I can advocate for how hard it is to find craft supplies for sale online, the immediate presence of that category on the Etsy homepage let me know I was in the right place as soon as I first visited the site.
One thing that makes Etsy so attractive to sellers is the store front interface (see picture b). Once you have clicked on a particular user or seller the site directs you to their personal Etsy page. The layout of the pages is beautiful, users are given the chance to upload their own header image, create categories displayed in the side bar detailing the types of items they are selling and each user has a box in the sidebar with information about the shop owner. What strikes you most is how professional Etsy makes everything look. Many of the people selling are extremely amateur however due to the layout, each individual sellers page could be it’s own professional e-commerce site. The layout and the design immediately provoke trust in the buyer. You do not feel as if you are buying from an amateur but from a proper online shop with beautiful handmade items.
Etsy operates all their transactions through PayPal. Upon buying an item the user is redirected to Paypal where they can check out in a number of seconds with nothing but their PayPal login details. The seller never has to worry about handling the money, Etsy takes care of it all. The money is simply transferred from the buyer’s PayPal into the sellers PayPal and then the seller is sent the details of the order and the delivery address. PayPal may be a large part of why Etsy is so successful. A study regarding trust and usability elements in E-Commerce websites conducted by University Teknologi in Malaysia found that the usage of PayPal immediately increased the user’s trust in the transaction security of the website (Savaji, Downe, Fahmi Mazlan, Soo and Abdullah 221-226). The study also found that web site quality, ease of navigation and professional design also played a large role in making the user trust the site and feel more confident about spending their money (Savaji, Downe, Fahmi Mazlan, Soo and Abdullah 221-226). PayPal also serves as a huge attraction for sellers. What discourages a lot of people from starting their own business is worry about how they will operate it financially; processing payments and figuring out how to handle the money once it’s been received.
Another element of new media that makes Etsy so attractive to small business owners is photography. Jewellery designer Emma Mitchell owns an Etsy shop called Silver Pebble where she sells her handmade silver jewellery. A necklace by Emma will cost on average $180 and to make each one costs Emma herself 50% of the selling price (Mitchell). Before Etsy, were Emma to have tried to sell her products she would have needed to sell them through a shop or a craft fair. This would mean making dozens of each product in the hope that they would sell (Mitchell). For a lot of people setting up their own business it is financially impossible to make a large supply of their items before having sold them and there is also always the risk that the items won’t sell and you will make a loss. The development of photographic technology has meant most people have access to high definition photography and a way of putting it online. This means Emma has to only make one of her necklaces and can then go on to make each one individually as each new order comes in. Etsy offers customisable delivery times meaning the seller can let the user know that they will be making the product upon receiving the order. For small business owners who do not have a lot of seed money, this aspect of the online marketplace is extremely important and almost completely removes all the start up risks involved with creating a business.
This transformation in potential business opportunities for crafters has also had a huge impact in modern feminism. For a long time feminism and crafts such as cooking, knitting and any other act seen as ‘women’s work’ were considered two opposing forces. During the second wave of feminism in conjunction with the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, feminists rejected so called ‘women’s work’ in order to try and claim equality and to balance women’s lives with their male counterparts. Women all over the world put down their needlework, put on their trouser suits and crafts became associated with stay at home mum’s and an old way of viewing women (Offensend). However this very rejection of all things ‘girly’ goes against the idea that a central element to the feminist movement is choice. Feminism is about women having the freedom and equality to live the lives they choose without feeling dominated by men and the rejection of homely activities by second wave feminists exorcises this choice (Offensend). The 1990’s saw an explosive resurgence of knitting among young women, often stated to be centred around feminist and Bust magazine editor Debbie Stoller’s book Stitch ’N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook. In this, Stoller argues that it is time to rethink the position that girls doing traditionally male activities is feminist but girls doing traditionally female activities is not. There were also similar movements dismissing cooking and baking as non liberated, oppressive activities. As a feminist knitter and baker myself I feel cooking and knitting are extremely important activities. Having the skills to create something from nothing and being able to reclaim a skill like knitting and bring it into the modern age feels very empowering. While the 90’s resurgence of all things girly was extremely popular it was also very criticised. It centred around the idea that women who were already working or had some sort of financial stability should take up knitting or cooking as a hobby and many commented that only women in some sort of privileged position have the option not to do activities like these as a necessity but for pleasure (Gilley).
This is where Etsy becomes relevant, new media has created a place where this reclamation of the handmade among feminists has stopped being simply a way to make a statement but an actual way for women to create businesses and empower themselves with their own income. In 2001 the media began to pick up on a growing trend regarding young women’s interests in knitting and crafting. The New York Times and other newspapers published profiles on young women, typically in their 20s or 30s, who support themselves by making and selling handcrafted items. A newspaper in Portland described it as a ‘craft phenomenon’, profiling 33 year old Susan Beal who supports herself by sewing, quilting and embroidering (Stryker). When this movement first began most women were using craft fairs and independent boutiques to sell their goods, but with the development of Etsy most of them have relocated online. “In another era, I would have done this as a hobby, but the fact that I can earn my living with my creativity feels very feminist to me,” Beal says. “I don’t know if I would say it’s the new bra-burning, but I definitely think it’s a radical act…” (Stryker).
What the fight for equality for women has been known to dismiss is the real life complications of working for a lot of women. In 1998, feminist writers Judy Smith and Ellen Balka proposed the development of a Sex Role Impact statement that would be used just like the Environmental Impact Statement and would attempt to assess new technology on what the effect of it’s development would have on sex roles. The study involved seven questions that would need to be asked of every new technology by many public agencies before development decisions were made (Smith and Balka). The first two questions on the list are “Would it broaden or restrict women’s traditional options (Smith and Balka 113)?” and “Would it increase or limit women’s chances for economic self sufficiency (Smith and Balka 113)?” The answers to these seems obvious. Etsy has made it easy and effective for women to sell their handmade goods all over the world, entirely broadening the options of how far they can take their business’ and how much money they can make. “Would it decrease or increase the time needed for home and family maintenance (Smith and Balka 113)?”. Once again I feel the answer to this is positive. For women looking to work and maintain a family Etsy makes online selling quick, easy and brings it into women’s homes meaning they can work and look after their families at the same time. The next question “Would it reduce or increase women’s privatisation in the home (Smith and Balka 114)?” has a slightly more complicated answer as any form of online presence immediately slightly reduces the users privatisation, but in our modern technological world that is hard to avoid and there is nothing to show Etsy is less secure or private than any other trusted website. “Would this development be dangerous to women’s health (Smith and Balka 114)?” The answer to this I feel is no. Unless of course a women decided to sell something online that was dangerous to produce however this would be less Etsy’s fault than the women’s own lack of judgement. And finally “Would it make sex roles more interchangeable so that either women or men could do what needed to be done or would it re-enforce traditional sex role stereotyping and division of labor (Smith and Balka 114)?” This question is probably the most complicated on the list and addresses the majority of the points I have been trying to make throughout this essay. In many ways, Etsy does re-enforce traditional sex role stereotyping. The scenario I have evoked during this essay has been one of a women sitting at home knitting and looking after her children. And were I to ever hear someone say that women’s jobs were mothering, cooking and knitting I would probably scream at them until I lost my voice. But the reality of the lives of many women is that they do have to stay at home to look after their children, be it because they can’t afford childcare, have a child who is ill or simply want to stay at home while their children are young. What is amazing about Etsy is that it is truly beginning to subvert any stereotypes we may have of mothers, knitters and women who stay at home. My imaginary women, the one sitting at home and knitting is no longer without an income, her interests and hobbies are no longer outdated. Instead she is able to care for her children while running her own business from home. She is able to sell and make money from the beautiful things she makes. She is able to be part of a huge community of women like her, supporting each other, talking to each other, empowering each other. Etsy has become a symbol of third wave feminism. A place where women can choose to embrace ‘women’s work’ but transform it into ‘men’s work’. In conclusion, if you thought it wasn’t possible to do needlework and be a feminist, you were most definitely wrong (see image c).
WORKS CITED
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“Etsy homepage”. Etsy 2014. Authors screenshot.
“Elina Creations’ Etsy shop”. Etsy, 2014. Authors screenshot.
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