While growing up, sewing clothes was something that I always saw my mom doing. From pajama bottoms with my favorite Hello Kitty patterns on them to elaborate princess costumes for Halloween, my mom would find joy in making clothes for me and my sister. Even at the beginning of the pandemic when masks were of short supply, my mom brought out her sewing machine, made masks, and sent them to me and my sister from Massachusetts so we could go out to grocery stores. She had told me of when she worked in a sweatshop and had injured herself on accident with the sewing machine, but she still participated in this hobby. My mom had later told me that my grandmother would hand sew her and my grandfather’s clothes, a practice that she had done while living in rural China and brought with her to America, despite being gifted many new articles of clothing. Sewing clothes in my family doesn’t appear to hold much value in my family, however, the prevalence of it shows otherwise.
I had decided that sewing would be a useful process for adults with Gender Dysphoria. While working through understanding internal self and portrayed self, I think that sewing clothing could serve as a transitional object for those coming to an understanding of identity. Sewing and giving the individual autonomy to create their own definition of gender through something that is so often made dichotomous allows for variation in everyday expression. By presenting self through clothing made by personal definitions of gender and identity, an individal is offered a means of expression that is not defined by societal standards but rather standards established by self. Although getting to this process might require more introspective work in therapy treatment, it is something that has potential to empower those who have become impaired by standards that are not true to the identity of the individual.