Posted on 06/23/2019 4:10:20 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The "online knitting and fiber arts community," Ravelry, declared Sunday that it is banning all vocal supporters of President Donald Trump from its website, and declared support for the current President akin to "white supremacy."
Yes, a knitting website.
Ravely describes itself as, "[a] place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, weavers and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, project and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration. The content here is all user- driven; we as a community make the site what it is. Ravelry is a great place for you to keep notes about your projects, see what other people are making, find the perfect pattern and connect with people who love to play with yarn from all over the world in our forums."
Ravelry announced the ban on Twitter, taking aim directly at anyone who used the site to speak nicely about the President or upload projects that support Trump, and (ironically) stressing that the ban is in the spirit of encouraging inclusiveness on their platform.
"We are banning support of Donald Trump and his administration on Ravelry. We cannot provide a space that is inclusive of all and also allow support for open white supremacy," the site Tweeted.
The sites administrators expanded on the policy in a post on site's official blog.
We are banning support of Donald Trump and his administration on Ravelry.
This includes support in the form of forum posts, projects, patterns, profiles, and all other content. Note that your project data will never be deleted. We will never delete your Ravelry project data for any reason and if a project needs to be removed from the site, we will make sure that you have access to your data. If you are permanently banned from Ravelry, you will still be able to access any patterns that you purchased. Also, we will make sure that you receive a copy of your data.
The site's administration made clear that Trump supporters are still technically allowed on the site, largely because they can't police the thoughts of those who don't openly express their political opinions in an online form for knitters and crocheters, and that the site isn't trying to show preference for Democrats over Republicans.
"We are definitely not banning conservative politics. Hate groups and intolerance are different from other types of political positions," the group says.
In pursuit of their "inclusive" community, the group does say that they will not tolerate people who report profiles for past support of Donald Trump, nor will they tolerate bullying of people who are known to hold conservative policy positions, but Ravely doesn't make clear how it will enforce those rules. More than likely, the unwelcoming nature of a once diverse online knitting community will be enough to send certain participants running for the doors.
It also appears the admonition not to report profiles for Trump support fell on deaf ears. A handful of Trump-supporting Ravelry community members noted on social media that they'd already received notice that their profiles were being suspended (no suspensions have been indepdenently confirmed, however).
Ravelry is, of course, an independently owned online community and free to set their own set of standards for users -- and that includes their right to ban those they feel are encouraging "hatred" on their platform. It just seems that their definition of "hatred" is a bit limited, and their definition of "inclusiveness" is off the mark.
A handful of Twitter respondents suggested the website also make an effort to ban supporters of former Vice President Joe Biden, who has a history of working with segregationists in Congress.
This isn't the first time, of course, that the knitting community has been embroiled in a political dispute. Certainly the pink "pussy hats" that have adorned the noggins of plenty of Women's March attendees were a controversial "knitting activism" project, and knitting, cross-stitching and fiber arts communities are surprising hotbeds of progressive activism. There are websites, Instagram profiles, and bestselling books dedicated to instructing people how to use their stitching talents to challenge the Trump Administration.
They even, occasionally, attack themselves. Back in February, a prominent and respected member of the online knitting community was publicly excommunicated after revealing that she'd always wanted to travel to India, and that she'd finally planned a trip for late in 2019. She was subsequently accused of racism, cultural appropriation, cultural insensitivity, and white privilege, and forced apologize to the full online knitting community for her sins.
I wish your gf could recommend another site for me. I have been looking as I plan to leave.
Alice, can you recommend an alternative site for those of us who want to leave? I can’t find one that lets you keep a notebook of all your stuff.
Boomerbabr I’m asking everyone so I’ll ask you - where can we go? Is there a similar site we can join?
Navymom where will you go? I need to leave too and am looking for the best place. Is there anything comparable?
No, I don’t know of an alternate site. What’s interesting is that I was a member of the Ravelry Facebook group this afternoon ... but I’m not now. I guess they kicked me out.
It amazes me in the gigantic world of the internet there does not seem to be one similar site. I want one where I can keep a notebook like I do in ravelry and look up the patterns and yarns that others use, see how they turned out.
Someone out there should start it up. There is money to be made. I don’t have the skills.
Look up Garnstudio.com.
They don’t appear to have a forum, but all kinds of free patterns and nice yarns.
When someone attributes White Supremacy on another because of their skin color, we have the same stereotyping that is the basis of racism. When a group can’t figure out that they are doing it, that tells me they are stuck on stupid. They might as well be another Heaven’s Gate Away Team.
And, considering it is an on-line site, possibly, threadbenders, as well!
There should be places somewhere. I intend to contact each and every one of the designers I’ve purchased patterns from and tell them that unless I can purchase from them other than through Ravelry, they have lost future sales.
Pardon my language but where in the hell did this White Supremacist stuff come from anyway? Are liberals that sick and twisted? What is wrong with people..... This is starting to become scary .
“And yes, we did take him out of the will.”
*APPLAUSE* :) I’d do the same. Screw ‘Em!
Yes, Ravelry is one of a kind. I feel the same way about Facebook; I consider it as a TOOL more than anything else and I never do ‘politics’ on my own page, other than to remind people to vote...which makes some of them nutty anyway. *Rolleyes*
I’ve been unfriended a LOT of times through the years, and have spent some time in Facebook Jail, LOL! It’s a Badge of Honor, actually. ;)
The Socialists think they’re the only ones with subversive tendencies? HA! :)
“The President sure has gotten under a lot of thin skins.”
It’s the first time someone has told the TRUTH since President Reagan, so of course the Uni-Party Drones and the Socialists are upset! :)
“I just want to knit socks, ladies... Pretty, lacey socks with yarn so expensive I don’t tell my husband...”
You are my kind of FReeper! :)
This is or WAS a hugely popular site for weavers, spinners, knitters and anyone who did anything with fiber. It is disgusting that they would do this. Only answer is boycott!
When we were dating (8 years ago!) Beau courted me in so many wonderful ways!
One of which was a trip to a working sheep farm with all that entails from the lamb to the sheering to the carding to the spinning to the finished yarn. It was awesome!
Now that I’m retired, carding and spinning wool is on my short-list of hobbies. Once our new Pole Barn is built, I’m going to raise Angora Rabbits for the fur to spin - and because they’re so darn CUTE! :) (And neither of us cares to get into raising sheep!)
Maybe we can start branches of our own ‘Ladies Spinning Circle and Terrorist Society?’ :)
Excellent idea!
Their site is home to millions of people world wide. A boycott won’t work. But on the bright side, I just deleted my Ravelry account and contacted all the independent designers who I’ve purchased from informing them that I will no longer purchase their patterns through Ravelry.
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