Arts Thread

Be Girl. Be Good. is a textile-based project that explores women’s experiences navigating traditional gender roles, focusing on the journey from conformity to self-recognition. Using embroidery and knitting, the work reflects on how generational narratives and patriarchal values shape identity. Inspired by Moie cousin’s upbringing in the Chaoshan region of China where she was placed in foster care shortly after birth in preference for a son, the project traces how familial expectations and comparison to male siblings shaped her sense of self. As an adult, she distanced herself from her family to reclaim her path. Embroidery, reimagined through free-motion techniques, and knitting serve as tactile, temporal languages to voice these often-silenced stories. Drawing from Simone de Beauvoir’s concept of woman as “the Other,” the project examines how internalized roles are carried in the body and released through acts of making. Rather than providing critique or resolution, Be Girl. Be Good. creates a space for reflection. It contrasts tradition and innovation, expectation and agency, to explore how identity is formed, reformed, and quietly asserted through textile.