whole industry. Women started to sew less because it became more affordable to purchase well-made clothing from stores. Fabric retailers found that they needed to convince women to return to their sewing machines, so the companies devised a variety of strategies to revitalize sewing. A theme that many retailers employed was to send out the message that sewing not only saved money and let them explore their personal style, but was also a way to be feminine and show gracefulness. Sewing was portrayed as a way to be a good mother and an attractive and thrifty wife. Dr. Deborah Thom, professor at Cambridge University, helps detail out a time where fiber art took a feminist turn during the Suffrage Movement where women were making embroidered banners for their protests. The reclamation of fiber arts In the 1970s, needlework was reclaimed by the Feminist Movement. This began the reintroduction of textiles and fiber in 'high art'. Judy Chicago founded the first feminist art program in the United States, and proceeded to coin the name Feminist Art, with many artists working with fiber arts, especially in her project Womanhouse. Chicago created one of the first pieces of "high art" that incorporates and celebrates needlework and fabrics within women's history, called The Dinner Party(1979). Linda Nochlin In 1971 continue with the feminist movement by publishing her groundbreaking essay Why have There Been No Great Women Artists? The Subversive Stitch In 1984, Rozsika Parker published The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the making of the feminine. Parker has published books on art history and psychotherapy, and uses theories from both fields in her analysis of "women's work". Parker examines the belief of women and embroidery as both feminine and natural, and the appearance of natural that is actually socially constructed. Her analysis on feminism is strongly argued that needlework signifies the relationship between women and the domestic sphere. Gendering that concept dates back to the 1500s when other crafts such as embroidery and textile work were made by women. Many people had varying reactions from emotionally moved to deeply disgraced after seeing the exhibitions 'The Subversive Stitch', of which incorporated two shows called 'Embroidery in Women's Lives 1300–1900' and 'Women in Textiles Today' in July 1989, as recorded in Pennina Barnett's article "Afterthoughts on curating 'The Subversive Stitch' ". The critical response from women and feminist's reviews and articles were similar. These two shows were