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TG fiction is a funny genre in some ways: it has some myths and conventions that, while so commonly encountered in many stories within the genre that they are often accepted as 'fact', sometimes you have to wonder about the realism of some of these things...
It's only been about five or ten years since I first read a TG fiction story... before that, I was involved in "the community", but only in "non-fiction" fora. Whatever. I just mention that, as coming to this genre somewhat late in life... I have noticed a few things that "jar" with my previous world-view.
Little things, like the pervasive "TG fiction conventions" such as "Victoria's Secret". Shrug. Perhaps they are common in the States, but I had never even heard of that company before I started reading TG fiction – they do, apparently, have a very few stores scattered across my country (Canada), but they have a very tiny market share up here. LOL. Despite my shopping for lingerie on a regular basis for decades, I first stepped into a VS store only a couple years ago... and then, it was mostly just because I kept reading about them in stories and was curious. [A let down, really. Overpriced and not that good of a stock selection compared to their competitors up here, at least in my opinion... although their failure to capture more of a market share suggests I am not the only one who thinks like that].
Or the whole thing about women with big boobs not being able to see their feet. Shrug. I suppose it is possible, for REALLY large breasts (think "stripper" boobs, obviously enhanced to the max)... but anything close to "normal"? I am a "Double D" myself, and looking around them has never been the slightest problem. [They are somewhat "squish-able", so you can always push them out of the way... and one of the things about being female (or "mostly female", in my case) is that the bones of the spine tend to be narrower and longer (in comparison to their width) than male bones, which results in little things like a neck that is more flexible than the average guy's neck. Which is to say, it really is not that hard to just tip your (my) head far enough forward to see past the boobs. Smile. Funny how many stories have young, thin, athletic looking girls in them, with "long graceful necks"... and yet the author doesn't connect having that long neck with being able to tilt it forward...]
Whatever, again. I just mention those things as preliminaries to my point today, which has to do with my reading in yet another story about a kid taking "Home Economics" classes. A class with sewing, and cooking, and "all that traditional female stuff" all bundled into one.
When I first read of Home Ec classes in TG fiction years ago, I thought, "Okay, this story is set in the States. Maybe they actually have such classes down there." And so, I just shrugged and kept on reading the story... even though it seemed a bit peculiar to me. You see... I transitioned young, (admittedly a long time ago...), so I actually *have* taken courses like that. *Like that*... but not actually *called* "Home Ec".
In grade 9, for example, I took a course on cooking... but it was not Home Economics. It was "Foods 9". [As an aside, if anyone is imagining these high school cooking classes as "gourmet cooking"... forget it. Keep in mind that they are usually one hour classes (55 teaching minutes), with ten minutes lost at the beginning to getting set up, 15 lost at the end to clean up, and only half an hour for actual cooking. Which is to say, the recipes taught are usually really basic stuff – I learned far more about cooking from my Mom than I did from that class]. Later on, I took a class in sewing in high school... where it was called "Fashion Studies 10". Both of these courses are in the *field* of studies that are often lumped together under the academic title of "Home Economics"... but they are not actually *called* Home Economics.
Nor are these subjects ever (so far as I am aware, and at least in the part of the world I live in) actually *taught* in the same class. Why? Think about it. Foods classes require specialized classrooms that have been equipped with stoves, sinks, counter space, storage for cooking utensils, and at least a couple refrigerators. Sewing classes also need specialized space, although a little less so. My class, for example, had smaller tables (located near plug-ins) around the edges with two sewing machines on each table, a big table in the class centre for laying out/cutting fabrics, and open space where we could do things like fit/pin a pattern to someone... and the class itself needed to be located near either change-rooms, or at least restrooms, so we could occasionally try on the creations we were working on. Completely different class layout needs than the Foods courses... and consequently, taught in different parts of the school, as different classes.
I suppose an analogy might be "shop classes". In casual conversations you might hear some guy talk about taking "shop class"... but (so far as I know) the courses those boys are actually taking would be called "Woodwork", or "Metal Work", or "Automotive Repair", or whatever. Not "Shop"... just as girls don't actually take "Home Ec" – although you might hear girls occasionally *talking* about "Home Ec".
Or at least, they don't have a course called "Home Economics" where I live... and as I am currently working on a novel (with another author) set in the state of Maine, and consequently have been looking at a lot of actual high school program guides for schools in that state... it also doesn't seem to be a real course in that state, either. According to Wikipedia, "Home Economics" really is a field of study... and I do have a few vague memories of occasionally (rarely) hearing the term mentioned... but a class actually named that? I can't find one, and I don't remember ever hearing of one.
Which finally brings me to my point. Does anyone know of an actual class in an actual school somewhere that is actually named "Home Economics"? (And if so, is this a class *now*, in this century, or was it one recalled from many decades ago?) Or is this whole Home Ec thing just another "TG Urban Myth"? A course where someone, somewhere, vaguely remembered girls talking about this subject... knew that girls took classes in sewing and cooking, but didn't know any details about those courses... and just started a myth that other authors have picked up on?
Shrug. As I said earlier, I do know that some things are done differently down in the States, and at one time I did think that maybe this is just one of those things. That Home Ec is real, and a real course "down there". But the more I look into details of schools in the States for this novel I am working on, the more I am beginning to wonder...
Is this real, or is it just fiction? Or was it once real, but no longer called that?
Home Ec
in the Public schools(city or county sponsored), they had Home Ec for the girls mostly. It became Life Skills and Resources or Family and Consumer Sciences depending on the region. At the Catholic High School I was at it was called Family Planning and only for girls, it was changed to Life Resources shortly after the Health Dept opened up their offices calling them Family Planning as well but more along the lines of offering contraception advice and setting up abortions.
So now they have Life Skills and Resource Classes, mostly balancing a checkbook(They still can not as they did not learn the math) setting a budget(see last note), making a balanced meal menu, and repair sewing. Some even have a basic plumbing and electrical home repair as well. The twins were rather upset that they had to waste 180 hours in the class because We had made sure they had the ability to do the things taught in the class, but not every parent does
So yes it existed, and may in some areas of the country but it all comes down to the 3 r's even now Reading wRiting, and aRithmetic, and that is why we lag behind
Goddess Bless you
Love Desiree
As a mid-century classic...
...I can say that the High School and Junior High School I attended had Home Economics for girls and Wood and Metal Shop for boys, with no exceptions. You might say I'm dating myself by admitting having attended High School during the first run of the original Star Trek series (watched in glorious black and white on our Magnavox television). As far as TG urban myth? I was TG and Suburban and wanted to be a Miss; does that qualify?
Love, Andrea Lena
Home Ec. back then...
Back in the late 60's in Belleville, Ont. (Canada), all the Elementary schools (JK - Gr.8) in the city required all students in Gr.7/8 to take 'Home Ec.' (girls) and (wood) 'Shop' (boys) 3 times a week.
The senior students (Gr.8) were also required to switch for a 2 week period, with the girls taking 'Shop' and the boys taking 'Home Ec.'. AFAIK, the classes during this period were 'un-modified'. The girl's found themselves doing the same projects we had just completed and we - the boy's - found ourselves in the kitchen, etc., doing the same classes the girl's had done prior to the switch.
PB
More like Old Fashion, Outdated &/Or Rural!
I think it has mostly faded out of use.
Keep in mind the United States is made up of 50 states and some assorted territories. Most states are actually larger then quite few Countries, the US is far from homogenous although there is quite a lot in common holding it together as one nation and a lot differences have faded over time. This Due is to both social trends and the Federal Govt slowly asserting more power, yet quite a lot is still under jurisdiction of local State Government.*
Generic "Shop Class" and "Home Economics" or more rural and old fashion. The Schools I attended had neither nor did they have any of the specific craft or mechanical skills classes it was all academic classes plus gym class. There were however other schools in the area that were considered trade high schools that did have such specific topic classes. These schools were for those planing a particular direction not involving further higher education. The purely academic schools are way more common in my area now and at that time.
I do however remember relatives from the previous generation mentioning "Shop Class" and "Home Economics". Note I am in one of the larger cities, I am not sure how prevalent these type classes may still be in other areas, they seem however to have been phased out a long time ago where I am.
Lastly keep in mind exactly When and Where the story take place makes big difference. I believe generic "Shop Class" and "Home EC" were only meant to add a slight taste of "school applies to the real world" to schools with other wise purely academic schooling, an Idea that seems to have fallen by the wayside.
PS. This is not any kind of official study of the topic, but my opinion/conclusions from observation etc.
.
*Side Note: 9/11 seems have sped up the trend of more federal power & standardizing things across the US.
Having taken
Having taken Home Ec in High School back in the 70's I can say that our classroom was larger in several aspects. One is that if you took the cooking portion you were blocked for two class periods the second year. The first years only had the one hour. We had a large kitchen with several stoves and refrigerators (walk-in) Thus we learned how to cook biscuits and other short recipes. Second years also did more cooking and preparations for late afternoon activities. We also had a dining area where we served food to those interested. This class was open to both boys and girls.
But also this room and the one next to it served as a Home Ec. for sewing and dress making. The desks we sat at in class had sewing machines that flipped out of the way. Large closets were also in the room where those that took the class would hang up whatever they were making. I don't remember if boys could take the class but there as I recall two rooms dedicated to sewing.
There was a third year and forth but I wasn't involved with them. Once in their year you were required to find a job with some industry in food preparation.
I'm from the UK and my school
I'm from the UK and my school had a course called Home Economics, the course comprised of cooking and sewing.
Granted the two items were taught in different rooms but it was all under the Home Economics department. They didn't have separate names it was just different room numbers to differentiate them. Like Home Ec 9c or Home Ec 10c.
I guess each country defines Home Ec skills differently, I think I've heard it referred to as life skills somewhere.
see here http://www.wjec.co.uk/index.php?subject=67 listed at the side are
Home Economics - Child Development
Home Economics - Food & Nutrition
Home Economics - Textiles
Child Dev and Textiles would be in the same room.
Big hugs
Lizzie :)
Bailey's Angel
The Godmother :p
We had a home economics class...
...in the high school I attended in Arizona (I went to high school in the seventies). I've no idea whether it was girls only--I wanted to take it myself, but it was my disability and not my gender that was the problem (scant room for a wheelchair.) Then there were issues of safety--I was almost prevented from taking photography because the teacher thought I'd slip on spilled chemicals (I had to use crutches to get inside that tiny darkroom). One could almost hear the administration's stomachs knotting at the thought of me near a stove.
Livin' A Ragtime Life,
Rachel
1972
I graduated High School. Rural Colorado in the town of Carbondale Roaring Fork high school. WE had wood,metal shop and Drafting for the boys, then Home Eck for the girls. This was normal for Jr high and high schools when they were trying to give people a sense of what real life was about. Not that bad of an idea but the 1960s moved the expectations and the markers. The basic classes, I think are still desirable for everyone. Working with your hands is a valuable skill for everyone. Boys need to know how to manage there lives just like girls do but the ridge lines do not hold water. I did want to learn how to drive a sewing machine, and cook but the principal nixed that one pronto. I was lucky my mother tried and seceded in teaching basic cooking. But I am still staring at my sewing machine trying to figure it out. This winter that is my goal learning to use my sewing machine.
See an old wolf can learn new tricks.
Huggles
Michele
With those with open eyes the world reads like a book
War on skills
CAUTION SOAP BOX IN OPERATION, OPINIONS EXPRESSED MAY UPSET SOME PEOPLE. WARNING EXTREMIST VIEWS OFFERED.
The second part of my comment is not a quaint or nice. A revolution has quietly been underway in America where working with you hands has been demoted to a vile and dirty thing to teach people. In Pennsylvania in the 1980s shop and home Ec was wiped out forcefully by the powers to be. Equipment was removed and smashed beyond use then disposed of not salvaged and sold. Private schools became very trendy and the Public Schools given very short shrift. WE now have accumulated nearly two full generations of people who never held a tool or got there hands dirty. Every one was to become professionals wear an IBM uniform and work for a big corporation. This was where and when I started as an electronics tech. There has remained a core of us knot heads who love to tinker and build and even in my 60s I am still actively doing this. It has gotten harder with local townships forcing many garage shops to close. Our local Mill Creak city has declared war on these endeavors as almost black market. Do understand that some of these endeavors were breaking both the law and common sense being very dirty polluters, operating dangerously AND who should be closed. But many more were good folks fixing furniture , framing pictures, computer programing and repair. Things that earned money in an informal manner. Apple computer Microsoft and thousands more started in peoples residences. Steve Jobs mother evicted Apple computer forcing them to go pro.
I will still quietly work om my small section of my world making it better. may be one of us will become the next wonder.
Thank you for your time I surrender my soap box to the next person use it with pride. But be careful of your words you may be forced to eat them.
With those with open eyes the world reads like a book
Amazon
Let's not forget that Amazon started in a garage as well.
Amazon.com
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"After reading a report about the future of the Internet which projected annual Web commerce growth at 2,300%, Bezos created a list of 20 products which could be marketed online. He narrowed the list to what he felt were the five most promising products which included: compact discs, computer hardware, computer software, videos, and books. Bezos finally decided that his new business would sell books online, due to the large world-wide demand for literature, the low price points for books, along with the huge number of titles available in print.[16] Amazon[17] was originally founded in Bezos' garage in Bellevue, Washington.[18]"
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
I graduated high school in 2005
And we had a Home Ec class that thought sewing, cooking, hygiene, etc. all in one class -- supposedly over the course of one semester even. We also had a shop class - woodworking, and so forth - that filled the second of the same year.
If anything, the gender bias is the only part that has ever struck me as off in the presentation in stories.
Melanie E.
my school had home ec and shop
boys took shop, and girls took home Ec. Interestingly, during my tenure in the school they made each a half year and had the boys and girls switch classes ...
As for Victoria and her Secrets, while Edmonton now has its own VS store, I find it too expensive for my tastes. there are better stores that dont charge an arm and a leg, but they dont have the brand awareness of VS ...
cant speak to women not being able to see their feet. I can see mine, I just cant reach em without serious contortions, but that's because I have a large belly, not large breasts ...
huggles!
Yes, maybe.
Back in my days of junior high (grades 7-9) there were two classes available for each sex. For guys it was Metal Shop followed by Wood Shop. Metal Shop was required. As these instructors were teaching other classes as their primary jobs the classes were only offered in the Fall semester, so only counted as a half credit-hour each.
Same situation for the girls. They had Home Ec 1 and Home Ec 2. HE1 concentrated on house keeping schools that everybody (read every girl) needed to survive in the cruel world after graduation. He2 was a bit more specialized, sewing and other "feminine" skills.
I don't have a clue how they do things these days, part of the reason I try to deal with adult situations in my stories. But to give an idea of how far back in the mists of time this was, guys in the wood shop classes were allowed to build working crossbows as their class final project. Can't see that happening these days!
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
I did home economics at school
When I was going through the UK school system back in the 80s/90s, Home Economics was certainly one of the subjects taught.
The subject matter covered both cooking and sewing. In Middle school this was actually in one classroom that was divided in half with a kitchen at one end and some sewing machines at the other.
In high school the were two separate classrooms for cooking and sewing, and the subject was split in two, textiles and cooking.
The way we were set up in our high school is for the first year we didn't specialise in subjects, but instead did a few weeks of each subject, rotating round all the classes in the year group. So we would spend a some time on cooking, some on textiles, some on woodwork, some on electronics, some on art, some on dance, some on media studies, etc. Everybody did every subject. The was never any division based on sex. The only time we ever had different classes for boys and girls was P.E., where different sports would be played.
Once we got to the last two years of high school, we had to specialise on our subjects. At this point I dropped any form of Home Economics and instead chose Art and Woodwork as my two electives. I don't know of any boys who opted to go on the Home Economics courses. There were a few girls doing woodwork, but not many.
The taster class I had were only very basic. The cooking never got any more complex than baking an apple crumble, and the sewing was basically sewing a couple of pieces of material together with a sewing machine. I think the most complex thing I ever made was a cloth pencil case. The girls who specialised in the subject may have gotten to make actual items of clothing, but I can't remember for sure.
Home Economics in California
i graduated in the late 80's,and there was home ec and it WAS available to both sexes but peer pressure usually kept it separate. i dont remember a male taking it although i tried, my mom wouldnt let me, but i did get typing since i was really into computers even then lol
Terri
Teresa L.
Did it in 6th grade.
Both boys and girls were required (happened in 70s) This was in NYC. The area was huge and had like 6 different kitchen areas. I suspect it was starting to fade back then.
Kim
I don't know what becam of Home Ec
In the 60s and early 70s, Home Economics was alive and well.
My sister was a Home Economics/Journalism major in college and one of her daughters was a Human Ecology/Household Finance major. (Human Ecology is what the School of Home Economics has turned into. (She's a small bank loan officer now.)
For that matter, my housemate's great aunt was Dean of the School of Home Economics, who while she had retired, her shadow still loomed large over the field in my sister's day.
I went through my high school's current catalog, and there was nothing much resembling Home Ec to be found. There were Cullinary classes, but they were in the Travel & Tourism vocational program. . . And nothing for sewing at all.
When I was in junior high (grades 7-9, and this is the late '60s) all seventh & eighth grade girls were required to take home ec, and all boys were required to take metal and then wood shop. The year I started high school, or perhaps when I was in 9th grade, it became possible for the first time for boys to take home ec and girls to take shop classes. Needless to say there were few takers.
My surmise is that you are too young to have encountered such things.
I was a Substitute Teacher...
until a couple of years ago and subbed in Home Ec. classes both in Middle and High schools in the western US. In several, the classes were in big rooms with stoves, fridges, sinks, etc around one side of the room and sewing machines and cutting tables around the walls on the other side of the room. In middle school, I actually had three boys in the sewing class, which I thought was a great idea. Everyone should know at least how to sew a button back on. Usually sewing was given in one semester and cooking another. Interestingly enough, I also had girls in shop classes in high school. And several in technology and engineering classes at the district Voc Ed school. I think what the classes are called depends on what part of the country you live in, but the subjects are offered today.
Suzij
Home ec?
I took that in middleschool, fortunately in the school I was in no one seemed to find Home ec all that bad regardless of gender. I really enjoyed it though, I learned how to sew, do laundry, clean, do some baking.
I know who I am, I am me, and I like me ^^
Transgender, Gamer, Little, Princess, Therian and proud :D
It was home ec when i took it.
There was 2 "home ec" labs and a regular classroom. In grade 8 we learned cooking basics and food menu planning in grade 9 we learned advanced cooking and home finance. In grade 10 we learned sewing and knitting and crocheting basics and in grade 11 we learned more sewing and dressmaking and in grade 12 we learned advanced dressmaking
I moved around a lot so differnt schools taught it different ways
Dayna.
Ps your right and wrong about shop class. In grade 8 boys learn drafting and one shop (metal or wood). The. In grade 9 they take the shop they didnt get in gr 8 and then specialise in either metal or wood shop in grade 10 they could take adv shop or automotive but there where lab fees so most just skipped it. This was almost 40 years ago now.
It's real its real
I can say that in the late 1990's I took a class called Home economics which taught both cooking and sewing plus a few other things basic cleaning child care and shopping tips. all in the same room by the same teacher in the same hour. and that was in Spokane WA USA
I am always amazed at the power of words when they come flowing out of the heart; even in small numbers.
It was called Home Ec. when I went to school.
And shop was shop but they varied what you learned in each term by term.
Bailey Summers
I don't remember if my high
I don't remember if my high school had a course with that name, I think that was the department name. Checking currently, the department is called Family & Consumer Sciences Department. For your novel find a school were it is set and go to the school website and see if they have course listings.
When I went to scool it was home EC and shop
But then again, I'm old as dirt. We were required to take both classes. No, the boys weren't required to make a dress, but were were required to learn how to darn a sock and use a sewing machine. Cooking was also a skill we learned. Girls learned how to cut a piece of wood and hammer a nail. The sujects were just lifes skills, not male or female. It's a shame we can't think that way anymore, Arecee
We had "Home-Ec". . .
When I went through Junior High (grades 7-9) in Nova Scotia in the late 80's, early 90's. It wasn't divided by gender. Everyone in my class had first a term of sewing, then a term of cooking, wood-shop, metalworking, and in 9th grade, drafting replaced one of the other four. Each hour class had its own room dedicated to that course, for example the cooking room had about 10 mini-kitchens in it.
It's been nearly 40 years.....
But it was called Home Economics, or Home Ec, when I was in high school. Over the past decade of my three sons attending high school, the name was changed, for the unfortunate reason that the name had been distorted to "Homo Ec" by the general school populace. It is an unfortunate indicator of the nature of many of our children.
The name was in fact changed to Homes and Careers, which I understand was immediately twisted into "Homos and Queers" by the same portion of the student population. At this point in time I have no idea what the name may be changed to eventually.
As far as Shop class, well, that was divided into Wood Shop, or Metal Shop, or Automotive Shop, etc. depending on what was taught in the class.
While I was in school, it was mandated that all students, both male and female, would be required to take one semester of each Home Ec and Shop - whether they wanted to or not. The idea being that everyone would benefit from a basic course in how to maintain a home, both through cooking and nutrition, as well as through basic use of tools.
I believe that this is still the case today.
Dallas
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Home Ec and Shop
In 1961 I started high school (9th grade) in a small town in desert Southern California. The school year was divided into quarters. Boys were required to take shop which consisted of one quarter each of Wood Shop, Metal Shop, Electrical Shop and Mechanical Drawing. Girls were required to take Home Ec which consisted of one quarter of Cooking, one of Sewing, one of Family Economics and one of Family Health. Students rotated through the various shops for the boys and through classrooms and specialized kitchens and sewing rooms for the girls.
Sophomore year more specialized and intense courses in all subjects were available and crossing the gender line was allowed. Nine years later, my brother attended the same school. Family Health and Family Economics were required for both genders and quarter long Introduction-To courses were available for the shops and home ec courses and open for both genders, though the line was seldom crossed. An Introduction to Auto Repair and Maintenance shop class had also been added since the school in the meantime had invested heavily in an auto shop complex. There were also Ag courses available at higher grades.
While rural, it was a fairly wealthy area compared to a lot of the US and had a tradition of support for education. The high school had actually taken over the grounds of an old college that had a new campus built outside of town.
This was a medium-large Union High School (unifying several smaller grammar school districts), about 1200-2000 students, small by big city standards perhaps.
I have no idea if such Home-Ec are offered now of if they are called Home-Ec. In 1979, degradation of California's education infrastructure began with changes in the tax code taking away local control and responsibility.
It's been my experience reading here and on other sites that stories with Home Ec classes are almost never set later than about the early 80s.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
I graduated high school in 1954 & 1956 - grades...
11 & 12 and there was a home ec course for the girls & shop - woodworking - for the boys. When to an agricultural college where boys & the occasional girl took courses to improve farming techniques. The rest of the girls had a degree course in Home Economics. It primarily graduated dieticians.
When to the 50th anniversary of the class I did not graduate with in 2010. As I had changed gender by then, I met of a lot of surprised faces.
Ruth
May the sun always shine on your parade
Nowadays you can still find
Nowadays you can still find home Ec and shop in some schools but in a lot of them they have chosen to come up with more 'contemporary' names, mostly because people in administration have too much time on their hands and try make everything sound sophisticated and politically correct.
In the past decade or so money has gotten tight, mostly because of the blotted administration department, and they have cut out anything that doesn't directly effect their state mandated test scores. So in some school you won't find any kind of shop or home ec, and sometimes no music, band, or art, they always seem to have money for sports though...
As for Victoria Secret, they seem to have a store in every mall of any kind of size I have seen, at least in my state. They also have lots of commercials, so they have name recognition even if you have never seen one in person. I guess it's just easier for authors to use that store than make one up and have to explain what it is and what it has.
In Australia....
in the public school system we all (boys and girls) had to take Home Economics (which was just cooking, actually) in year 7 and 8 - and they were generally over 2 x 55 minute periods per week pushed together to give some time to actually cook.
Yes, it was merely basic stuff.
In my school we did that for half the year in both year 7 and 8, and then did Textiles the rest of the year - which is just learning to sew etc.
After those years you could take the classes as an elective, and while I was one of the few ... male students to take home ec; I don't think I heard of a single one ever taking textiles...
Anyway, sewing just doesn't interest me like cooking does.
And so I guess there is a modicum of truth the the convention? Although I've never heard of a teacher of either class who was so outdated they'd also be teaching students "how to behave like a proper woman"; and while everyone wore aprons there would have been a revolt had anybody been forced to wear something they didn't want to ... as in some stories I have read.
Just my two-cents' worth - sorry for going a bit off topic.
xx
Amy
Home Ec
I attended High School here in Massachusetts back in the mid to late 70's (graduated 1979) and Home Ec was actually a required class for all students at my High School. I did great in the cooking portion of the class but sucked at sewing.
The origin of home-ec was in
The origin of home-ec was in the USA, in the 50's. It was 'career training' for women who were going to be homemakers. The classes at the time included basic cooking, sewing, cleaning/ laundry (how to get out stains & get a collar sharp), comparison shopping & home budgeting (the actual economics part), and in some cases infant care. By the time I was in school in the 80's it was more of cooking/ sewing classes as presented in the fiction you've mentioned. How much it's changed from the 50's depends on how rural, and how conservative the local school system is. Progressive areas will be more likely to have classes that are pre-culinary career & pre-fashion career, while conservative will be more 'how to take care of your house'.
Home Ec in the states
Back when I was in middle school I took Home Ec. in 8th grade I think it was. I am not sure if it is still offered or even still called that as I graduated high school in 1997 but when I was in school they still had it. I was also presenting as male at the time so it being a female only class at least in my experience is bunk after all knowing how to fix tears and stuff and even cook is something everyone should be able to do. That isn't to say that all schools that offer it allow gender equality like that but in my schools guys could take it and girls could take the various shop classes. The area I lived in at the time was a fairly rural and country area but our shop classes were actually called Auto Shop, Wood Shop, and Metal Shop.
Bekah
Home Ec, Shop, etc
I attended Public School in NYC. I was in in Junior High School 7th to 9th grade from 9/63 to 6/66.
Girls had Home Economics which had 2 to 3 components each a year long. All girls took a year of cooking and a year of sewing/home management. Those were in 7th and 8th grade. Depending on if your were in a more academically oriented program (better classes) the girls could opt out of 9th grade and take something else. If they took shop in 9th Home Ec in 9th grade it was more of a family living course.
Boys took shop. Shop was divided into electrical, wood working and printing. Again shop was required in 7th and 8th grade. Everyone took woodworking in those two years. I had printing in 7th grade and woodworking in 8th grade. Again like the girls, the boys in 9th grade could opt out of shop. I opted out and took an addiitonal elective.
Shop occurred 2 times a week for a double period.
Each day was divided into 8 periods.
In High School my school had 4 tracks.
Academic. you were going to College. Most Academic students did not take any shop. The year I graduated 1968-69, they made a special girls only automotive class a semster long. They tried to convince the girls in the academic and commercial track to take the course.
Commercial. Mostly girls. They finished High School and went on to become bookkeepers and secretaries. Many girls took stenography. My school taught both Pittman and Greg. One of the few I was told to do so in the entire country. They also had a court reporting program.
Vocational. Almost entirely boys. Automotive program and a wood working program, and a pre-construction program. There were some girls but it was rather small in number. It was primarily a pre-nursing and a food management program. (By food management- running large kitchens and food service.
General. This was where the less academically challenged students went. Had a large dropout rate.
There was limited Shop or home Ec in HS unless you were going into the vocational track.
As far as the TG element, it is an interesting device to get a guy into a dress.
RAMI
RAMI
Not only...
Not only did our school have a Home Ec class but there was a national club that held conventions that we sent representatives to. It was called Future Homemakers of America. FHA changed it's name to Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America or FCCLA. I don't know if it helps but maybe such a convention could make for a place where interesting things could happen.
Ours were largely peer pressure divided.
At 10th grade you could pick your classes but it was still pretty much divided between the two genders. Before that you needed permission to take one or the other crossing over but both classes in the lower grades.
Bailey Summers
Home EC
Starting with middle school in 1955 I had ask for Home EC But wasn't allowed so instead of shop I was on to Stage Crew as the Lighting Tech for anything that happen in the school theater 9th Grade then went to Sr High School. 10th Grade I was in Mechanical Drawing, 1/2 year then had wood shop, 11th grade I was in Auto shop 1/2 year and then went to Stage Crew last half of the 11th and all of 12th grade back as the Lighting Tech and the control board for all things that happen in the school theater. My teacher tried to get me to go on to SDSU for theater lighting but the money for me to go was not there. As my dad thought it was a waste of time, so ined up working service stations until I was drafted for VN.
Richard
I had to take both
When I was going to junior high, everybody had to take both the full set of "Shop" classes - Wood Shop and Metal Shop - and the full set of "Home Economics" courses - sewing and cooking. It was not segregated. It was also not optional. The classes were more on "How not to cut off your own limbs with a radial arm saw" and "How not to burn down your house cooking a can of soup" than any attempt to make us truly proficient, but at least we learned the very basics. We also learned that we wouldn't catch cooties from picking up a needle and thread or cleaning our own clothes. I assume that the girls learned much the same about using tools.
I went to high school in a different state with different rules, so no idea what they did in my old school district at that level.
Home Ec
Think of classifications such as Social Studies or Math. Home Ec. often ,at least in the '50,s' appeared on grade cards but in reality was broken down into component classes in reality.