General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: How the Fast Food Industry Destroyed "Home Ec" to Hook Americans on Processed Crap [View all]MadrasT
(7,237 posts)Home ec and shop were mandatory for 2 years and they were still gender segregated.
My mother had already taught me to cook and sew and balance a checkbook. I was shocked to learn that virtually no one else knew how to do those things and that there was a class in school to teach it. To me, that is stuff your parents teach you.
Biggest waste of time ever for me.
(My mom also taught me how to change a tire, patch drywall, and fix a leaking faucet. Mom was big on learning life skills, gender be damned.)
I was much more intereted in wood shop and metal shop but was not allowed to take them because no penis.
Later (after I moved on) my school made them mixed gender and home ec and shop were required for everybody in junior high. I don't know what they do now, if anything.
In high school I took 3 shop classes as electives (they had a different policy for electives in HS that for mandatory courses in jr high) and was the only girl in the class in each class.
Since it seems my situation was not normal and since I guess everybody's parents don't teach them how to cook, bake, and sew, it would be good to learn them in school... but no gender separation, please.