Arts and Crafts movement was a period where designers rejected industrialization and promoted craft as an art form. The followers of the Arts and Craft movement felt machine produced goods had a harmful effect on environmental and social conditions as well as the quality of the goods themselves. William Morris, a prominent advocate of the Arts and Crafts movement, felt the workers were losing a connection with the products they were producing and therefore did not have personal fulfillment. He wanted to free the working classes from the frustration of a working day focused solely on repetitive tasks. ("V&A · Arts and Crafts: An Introduction”)

The Arts and Crafts Movement created an opportunity for women to become involved in industry since few occupations were considered acceptable employment for a middle-class woman. Subsequently artwork was seen as an extension of the traditional feminine role (Nevada Museum of Art), women could take an active part in developing new forms of design, both as makers and consumers during this time. ("V&A · Arts and Crafts: An Introduction”)

Women played an important role in the Arts and Crafts Movement especially in the painting of china and creation of textiles and jewelry.

During the Arts and Crafts Movement, women had to contend with the deeply entrenched belief that their place was in the home. (Downey) The Arts and Crafts Movement opened the door for women to use their feminine skills and talents to their economic advantage in an occupation that would be socially acceptable for a woman.

Although the Arts and Crafts Movement was in many ways socially and artistically radical, it perpetuated and reinforced the patriarchal ideology of the feminine role, but many women were already engaged in a range of craft and design fields by the time the movement was fully fledged in the mid-1880s. (Callen) Though not without prejudice, the Arts and Crafts Movement provided women with alternative social roles and greater avenues for self-determination. (Nevada Museum of Art)

Callen, Anthea. "Sexual Division Of Labor In The Arts And Crafts Movement". JSTOR, 1984, https://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1357958.

Nevada Museum of Art. Women and the Arts and Crafts Movement: “What Can a Woman Do?” YouTube, YouTube, 29 Apr. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRb1WXwGvRM. Accessed 20 Feb. 2022.

"V&A · Arts And Crafts: An Introduction". Victoria And Albert Museum, 2022, https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/arts-and-crafts-an-introduction.