Her + Products: American Generation X Women Entrepreneurs as Innovators, Change Makers, and Cultural Producers in the Twenty-First Century Quilt World

This doctoral research is a feminist ethnography that explores the anthro-socio-economic impact of contemporary women-led entrepreneurialism through a complex inquiry into American Generation X women entrepreneurs and their tangible and intangible cultural products in the Quilt World today.

Each participant was asked research questions investigating what influenced her, how she runs her business, what her barriers are, and how her creative commerce impacts her life, the Quilt World, and society. Utilizing anthropology, feminism, quilt studies, and fan studies, this research investigates cultural influences surrounding these women in their formative years, such as women’s representation in pop culture, prevalent consumerism previously established in the quilt industry, and the advent and proliferation of digital technology, to consider how these factors may or may not influence their businesses.</p><p dir="ltr">Using original interview and survey data from 24 distinctive women and the products and services they provide through mostly home-based businesses, patterns emerge of prevailing character traits that reveal deliberate, digital community-builders as key change makers in their homes and society.