Marinate on this

"The development of the ideology of femininity coincided historically with the emergence of a clearly defined separation of art and craft. This division emerged in the Renaissance at a time when embroidery was increasingly becoming the province of women amateurs, working for the home without pay. Still later the split between art and craft was reflected in the changes in art education from craft-based workshops to academies at precisely the time--the eighteenth century--when an ideology of femininity as natural to women was evolving."

from Subversive Stitch by Rozsika Parker