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Nov. 12th, 2009 07:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geebsI've asked this before, but are there really such classes as "home ec" or "shop" or is that something just in TV shows or movies? Like they really have a classroom full of ovens or workbenches or a garage or what have you in high schools? I mean, my high school was a "preparatory school" which meant it was geared towards prepping students for college, not teaching them how to cook or build things. So I'm not sure if they didn't have it because they weren't classes useful for getting into a good college, or if those are just classes out of another decade that have been kept in tv and movie depictions of high school long after they've been considered obsolete.
But speaking of weird concepts on TV and movies, last night's Secret Girlfriend (which I had on in the background while typing my previous post) with the blond chick being in some family reunion in Hawaii, and talking about relatives printing T-shirts up, reminded me of the Monk ep a few weeks ago with the dog. Because they also had the printed up T-shirts and fancy banners and wot-not. Okay, is that like some weird white people thing I'm not getting, since they're traditionally not as close knit as other cultures so a big family get together is some sort of big deal that you have to organize it as if it were some fancy event? I mean, I have a pretty big extended family, and we're relatively close knit. Like the holidays, depending on where it is (Astoria or Long Island) can have anywhere from 20 to 30 people, and that's not counting friends or other guests. And that's just the NY/NJ folks! Double that when we do have a big fancy get together with the out of state relatives. (And heh, I realize I'm counting myself and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
7500centfish with the NY family even though we don't actually live in NYC anymore)
But anyways, if we get together, we just get together. Like why the hell would you print T-shirts about it and name the event like "X Family Reunion '09" or whatever?
More Glee commentary: Thinking about the whole Kurt/Rachel competition to sing Defying Gravity, one of the salient plot points is that is supposedly traditionally a "girl's song". But I don't see that though. Yeah, it was first sung by Idina Mendzel (I'm kinda amused by how many people want to see her come in as Rach's biological mother since she and Lea Michele are very similar) and Kristen Chenoweth, but I don't think there's anything gender specific in that song. I mean, its a poignant song of hope that I think either sex can sing. I guess its high at parts, but I wouldn't say its specifically a girl's song.
To me, labeling something a boy's or girl's song means something where the content is gender specific. And I don't just mean a song obviously being sung to the opposite sex, like "Oh Sherrie" or "Sara Smile". Obviously, it is kinda weird for a guy to sing "If I Were A Boy" by Beyonce, or Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" (though I must say I do kick ass it in Karaoke Revolution 2) or "Baby Girl" by Sugarland. Though I guess the themes in the latter would be applicable to a guy leaving home to try and make something of himself, but what guy would refer to themselves as "Your Baby Boy" (other than Adam Sandler in Big Daddy). Or Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car". I mean, there are chick alcoholics who neglect their family, and maybe it is sexist of me to think this way, but I'm not sure you could just switch the genders of the people in the song. I mean, having some dude working hard and trying to take care of the kids all by himself while his wife spends all of her time drinking with her friends, so he tells her to just hop in her fast car and drive away?
But speaking of weird concepts on TV and movies, last night's Secret Girlfriend (which I had on in the background while typing my previous post) with the blond chick being in some family reunion in Hawaii, and talking about relatives printing T-shirts up, reminded me of the Monk ep a few weeks ago with the dog. Because they also had the printed up T-shirts and fancy banners and wot-not. Okay, is that like some weird white people thing I'm not getting, since they're traditionally not as close knit as other cultures so a big family get together is some sort of big deal that you have to organize it as if it were some fancy event? I mean, I have a pretty big extended family, and we're relatively close knit. Like the holidays, depending on where it is (Astoria or Long Island) can have anywhere from 20 to 30 people, and that's not counting friends or other guests. And that's just the NY/NJ folks! Double that when we do have a big fancy get together with the out of state relatives. (And heh, I realize I'm counting myself and
7500centfish with the NY family even though we don't actually live in NYC anymore) But anyways, if we get together, we just get together. Like why the hell would you print T-shirts about it and name the event like "X Family Reunion '09" or whatever?
More Glee commentary: Thinking about the whole Kurt/Rachel competition to sing Defying Gravity, one of the salient plot points is that is supposedly traditionally a "girl's song". But I don't see that though. Yeah, it was first sung by Idina Mendzel (I'm kinda amused by how many people want to see her come in as Rach's biological mother since she and Lea Michele are very similar) and Kristen Chenoweth, but I don't think there's anything gender specific in that song. I mean, its a poignant song of hope that I think either sex can sing. I guess its high at parts, but I wouldn't say its specifically a girl's song.
To me, labeling something a boy's or girl's song means something where the content is gender specific. And I don't just mean a song obviously being sung to the opposite sex, like "Oh Sherrie" or "Sara Smile". Obviously, it is kinda weird for a guy to sing "If I Were A Boy" by Beyonce, or Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" (though I must say I do kick ass it in Karaoke Revolution 2) or "Baby Girl" by Sugarland. Though I guess the themes in the latter would be applicable to a guy leaving home to try and make something of himself, but what guy would refer to themselves as "Your Baby Boy" (other than Adam Sandler in Big Daddy). Or Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car". I mean, there are chick alcoholics who neglect their family, and maybe it is sexist of me to think this way, but I'm not sure you could just switch the genders of the people in the song. I mean, having some dude working hard and trying to take care of the kids all by himself while his wife spends all of her time drinking with her friends, so he tells her to just hop in her fast car and drive away?
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Date: 2009-11-12 01:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-12 04:00 pm (UTC)/joe
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Date: 2009-11-12 04:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-12 05:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-12 06:27 pm (UTC)/joe
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Date: 2009-11-15 02:26 am (UTC)Out in bumblefuck, we had home ec and shop, which everyone had to take. Along with a few other classes.
Home ec was a few weeks on sewing (we made bags), and a few weeks on cooking. Shop was a few weeks on wood shop (I made a wooden doorstop in the shape of a duck), and a few weeks on plastics shop (made name plates and a plastic letter opener). I still have all these remnants sitting around somewhere at one parents' house or another.