AKitchens on tue 19 jun 01
Dear Kelly and Pam,
Here's one better. I grew up in Minnesota, I graduated in 1970.
My father was the wood shop teacher.
Huge industrial arts department. He taught for 35 years.
His students made fine furniture, grandfather clocks,
beds, dressers, stereo cabinets, canoes, they took grand
prizes everywhere they exhibited their work.
I helped Dad build houses during the summer months. In the
days when teachers had to get summer jobs to eat. I had
no trouble swinging a hammer, framing out walls,
hanging drywall or shingling a roof.
I understand plumb and square. As you know it has nothing to
do with gender. This was the time of women's lib,
burning bras, marching on the Washington Mall.
Here's the clincher:
It never occurred to Dad or me to press the issue
with the school board to allow me to take his classes.
(Sheesh, What was I thinking?)
The last ten years Dad taught, he had girls in his classes.
Times change.....They had great ideas for projects.
They made beautiful turned spindle cribs, furniture for
their siblings, rocking chairs and chests. He loved it.
Their enthusiasm made his last years of teaching
much more enjoyable.
To this day I have a pang of jealousy. I learned by
doing it, in a hurry, on the fly. We were working.
They were taught. There is a difference.
Side note: When I was teaching art in a small school in Florida
I had a soft sculpture project that involved sewing. Gosh,
I thought, the 6th grade boys will drum me out of the
classroom on this one. Turned out that they enjoyed
it more than the girls did and wanted to do more.
Go figure.
Times change.
Nan Kitchens
Tennessee and Key Largo
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 16:05:46 -0700
From: primalmommy@IVILLAGE.COM
Subject: put your daughters in shop class
A small vent, here, with a moral to the story. Not entirely off topic
for a
woman potter.
My 50's-era parents, with the best intentions, prepared us for what they
assumed would be our future. My brother, being male, was subjected to
summer jobs, money management, mechanics, wall street, woodworking, and
other skills that would assure his future as a breadwinner and "man of
the
house".
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 20:22:59 -0400
From: pammyam
Subject: Re: put your daughters in shop class
Dear Snail,
Amen.
I wanted to take shop class in high school, but
wasn't allowed. I lasted about five minutes in
home economics. Because of aptitude testing, I
was "college bound." While that hasn't
particularly hurt me, it just didn't exactly
foster me. I, too, end up doing tasks that I am
not prepared for and learn on the fly. I tried to
sew and I tried to embroider, but I was, er, too
"creative" in my attempts to put it mildly and
kindly.
Oh, and put the boys in home economics, too.
Pam
pammyam on wed 20 jun 01
Nan, your letter proves the point that the gender
thing works both ways and some of the boys and men
would like to learn more of the traditionally
female skills and arts, too.
Pam
----- Original Message -----
From: AKitchens
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 8:35 PM
Subject: Shop Class
Dear Kelly and Pam,
Here's one better. I grew up in Minnesota, I
graduated in 1970.
My father was the wood shop teacher.
Huge industrial arts department. He taught for
35 years.
His students made fine furniture, grandfather
clocks,
beds, dressers, stereo cabinets, canoes, they
took grand
prizes everywhere they exhibited their work.
I helped Dad build houses during the summer
months. In the
days when teachers had to get summer jobs to
eat. I had
no trouble swinging a hammer, framing out walls,
hanging drywall or shingling a roof.
I understand plumb and square. As you know it
has nothing to
do with gender. This was the time of women's
lib,
burning bras, marching on the Washington Mall.
Here's the clincher:
It never occurred to Dad or me to press the
issue
with the school board to allow me to take his
classes.
(Sheesh, What was I thinking?)
The last ten years Dad taught, he had girls in
his classes.
Times change.....They had great ideas for
projects.
They made beautiful turned spindle cribs,
furniture for
their siblings, rocking chairs and chests. He
loved it.
Their enthusiasm made his last years of teaching
much more enjoyable.
To this day I have a pang of jealousy. I
learned by
doing it, in a hurry, on the fly. We were
working.
They were taught. There is a difference.
Side note: When I was teaching art in a small
school in Florida
I had a soft sculpture project that involved
sewing. Gosh,
I thought, the 6th grade boys will drum me out
of the
classroom on this one. Turned out that they
enjoyed
it more than the girls did and wanted to do
more.
Go figure.
Times change.
Nan Kitchens
Tennessee and Key Largo
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 16:05:46 -0700
From: primalmommy@IVILLAGE.COM
Subject: put your daughters in shop class
A small vent, here, with a moral to the story.
Not entirely off topic
for a
woman potter.
My 50's-era parents, with the best intentions,
prepared us for what they
assumed would be our future. My brother, being
male, was subjected to
summer jobs, money management, mechanics, wall
street, woodworking, and
other skills that would assure his future as a
breadwinner and "man of
the
house".
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 20:22:59 -0400
From: pammyam
Subject: Re: put your daughters in shop class
Dear Snail,
Amen.
I wanted to take shop class in high school, but
wasn't allowed. I lasted about five minutes in
home economics. Because of aptitude testing, I
was "college bound." While that hasn't
particularly hurt me, it just didn't exactly
foster me. I, too, end up doing tasks that I am
not prepared for and learn on the fly. I tried
to
sew and I tried to embroider, but I was, er, too
"creative" in my attempts to put it mildly and
kindly.
Oh, and put the boys in home economics, too.
Pam
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Chris Stanley on wed 20 jun 01
No fooling! I have been attempting to get money for several years to
purchase about 6 sewing machines for the design students at UTPB. There is
an academic bias out there that is not coming from the artists. It seems as
if the "Home Economics" stigma still exists in the lofty tower. At the same
time, I am seeing more and more students who have never:
made bread,
made pie shells,
or used their hands for anything other than video games.
We should all consider ourselves very lucky to have what we have as hand
skills.
Chris
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