Issue 6-Final

opinion 3
Learning Basic Life
Skills Isn’t Sexist
Schools should bring back home economics classes, for both girls and boys.
By MEGAN COOPER ‘21
Home economics class
needs to make a comeback,
but this time,
it shouldn’t be sexist. Often,
when people think
of home economics
class, the picture
of young women
learning to sew
and cook comes
to mind. While
this is historically
accurate—to an
extent—home economics
class teaches
valuable lessons that both
men and women should learn.
According to Cornell University,
home economics class
aims to “formalize and teach
principles of domesticity.”
However, feminist critics denounced
the sexist social constructs
and behaviors of domesticity
“entrenched since the dawn
of the industrialized age,” writes
Rebecca Traister in The New Republic.
Boys were required to take
a shop class to learn how to use
tools and work with their hands—
girls were not allowed to participate.
At the same time, girls were
required to take classes that prepared
them for the only jobs imagined
for them: wife and mother.
As a result, most schools eliminated
home economics classes.
Decades later, many teens and
adults, specifically men, are more
incompetent than ever when it
comes to essential domestic responsibilities.
While this can
be attributed to underlying bias
within households— for example,
daughters are often assigned
more chores than sons—the lack
of a home economics class is a
significant contributing factor to
the incompetent domestic man.
When I was in seventh grade,
I learned how to sew; this was
considered a relatively unique
skill for a 12-year-old, but
years later, I’ve become wellknown
among my friends and
family for my sewing abilities.
While I initially envisioned
sewing as a form of creative expression,
it became a valuable
skill for everyday repairs. From
reattaching a button to hemming
a dress, my sewing skills have
helped my parents save a decent
amount of money over the years.
To me, sewing is a basic life
skill. Whenever I talk about my
sewing, I’m always surprised by
the number of people who don’t
know how to threading a needle
correctly. While I understand that
not everyone wants to dedicate
their time to thread a sewing machine
or drafting complex clothing
patterns, I believe that having
a basic understanding of sewing
is essential for everyday life.
On the other hand, I’m a horrendous
cook. Microwaving ramen
noodles and making PB&J
sandwiches is the extent of my
cooking knowledge. I by no
means consider myself skilled
or self-sufficient enough to cook
a dinner for myself, let alone my
family. Neither of my parents offered
to teach me to cook—granted,
that might have something to
do with my refusing to participate—and
I didn’t learn through
a class at school, because there
wasn’t one. I can guarantee that
many others share this experience.
After teaching a friend how
to use a plunger, explaining to
my brother that metal doesn’t
go in microwaves, and learning
the basics of personal finance
during a long car ride with my
mom, I’m a firm believer that
many household issues could
be avoided if everyone were required
to take a home economics
class in school. Learning basic
life skills are essential for success;
they ensure self-sufficiency
and independence from others,
even for the simplest of tasks.
Photography by Trisha Yun‘24
Design and graphics by Chloe Yan ‘24
“
Learning basic life skills are
essential for success; they
ensure self-sufficiency and
independence from others, even
for the simplest of tasks.”