This fine film attempts to cloak fifties “happy homemaker” stereotyping in the mantle of science. It opens as Janice and Carol, two sisters, try to decide which classes they want to attend next semester. Janice remarks that she wants to take some courses in Home Ec, to which Carol is aghast. “Home Economics?” she scoffs. “Why in the world do you want to take Home Economics?” Janice is not easily dissuaded, and replies “Why? Because that’s something I’m gonna need to KNOW. If I’m gonna be a homemaker the rest of my life, I want to know what I’m doing!”
To confirm her point of view, Janice visits “Miss Jenkins,” her Home Ec teacher, who explains that Home Economics isn’t just baking and sewing; it teaches “the fundamental principals of food buying” and “the psychology of clothing.” “Present-day textiles cannot be judged with confidence just by casual examination,” Miss Jenkins cautions, as we see shots of girls peering through microscopes and stretching cloth swatches on a mechanical rack. If Janice decides not to get married (“at least, not right away” Miss Jenkins chuckles) she can apply her Home Ec training to college courses such as chemistry and bacteriology, or so this film insists.
“Home economics training teaches ways of developing democratic practices within the home,” Miss Jenkins adds, patriotically, but she doesn’t have to say any more to convince Janice. “Anyone who’s going to be married and a homemaker would be foolish NOT to take Home Economics!”
Why Study Home Economics (clip)
Includes sociological research in comments.
Published on Jan 17, 2013
This was the decade when sitcoms came of age and became a tool for social commentary. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down the Top 10 Sitcoms of the 1970s.
Published on Dec 6, 2012 by VOAvideo
In recent years Pakistan has passed laws protecting women against having acid thrown on their faces or being killed to satisfy the honor of a family. Despite being legally banned, abuses against women continue. However, there are stories of individuals who stand up when the law fails them. Sharon Behn reports from Peshawar on one family whose father died trying to prevent their daughter from being given away to settle a dispute.
Published on Oct 26, 2012 by linktv
Girls education activist Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head by the Taliban earlier this month in Pakistan in an attempt to scare people away from supporting her cause. Contributor Wajahat Khan reports from Islamabad on how Pakistani social media erupted in several narratives around her story.
Published on Mar 10, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
After years of denying any wrongdoing, Peru has reopened investigation into forcible sterilisation of women, what human rights groups say was a crime against humanity.
During the 1990s, more than 300,000 women were pressured into being sterilised by the government.
Doctors and nurses under Alberto Fujimori’s administration, between 1996 and 2000, were assigned monthly quotas and given bonuses based on the number of sterilisations they performed.
Al Jazeera’s Latin America Editor Lucia Newman reports from Anta on the women’s quest for justice.
Yeah, I say
Bitch bad, woman good, lady better
Hey, hey
Hey, hey
[Verse 1]
Now imagine there’s a shorty, maybe five maybe four
Ridin’ ’round with his mama listening to the radio
And a song comes on and a not far off from being born
Doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong
Now I ain’t trying to make it too complex
But let’s just say shorty has an undeveloped context
About the perception of women these days
His mama sings along and this what she says
“Niggas, I’m a bad bitch, and I’m that bitch
Something that’s far above average”
And maybe other rhyming words like cabbage and savage
And baby carriage and other things that match it
Couple of things are happenin’ here
First he’s relatin’ the word “bitch” with his mama – comma
And because she’s relatin’ to herself, his most important source of help
And mental health, he may skew respect for dishonor
[Hook]
Bitch bad, woman good
Lady better, they misunderstood
(I’m killin’ these bitches)
Uh, tell ‘em
Bitch bad, woman good
Lady better, they misunderstood
They misunderstood
(LinkAsia News: 6/22/12) A tale of two women: Liu Yang, the first Chinese female astronaut, blasted off earlier this week. The other, 22-year-old Feng Jianmai, was forced to have an abortion at seven months pregnant by local government officials. Host Yul Kwon reports on how people reacted to these two women’s stories.
Contemporary critics universally commended the music video for its themes and production values. The video was both heralded and criticized for confronting women’s rights in Saudi Arabia; the portrayal of women wearing the niqab driving cars is strictly prohibited in Saudi Arabia, while some media outlets accused the video of propagating Arab stereotypes.[30][31] Claire Suddath of Time agreed that at first glance, the video appeared to be a political statement on women drivers in Saudi Arabia and a stylish, aesthetically pleasing piece, stating that the video was fun either way and that audiences could all agree that women and men should be able to “drag race, pop wheelies and drive their cars on two wheels” equally.[32] Dina Dabbous of Jordanian publication Al Bawaba praised M.I.A. for presenting an accurate picture of male customs in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, continuing “if she’s being accused of stereotyping, then she’s turning the oriental fantasy on its head when she has Arabian women dressed in khaki styled, though still Arabian, dress or gear, toting guns and strutting their stuff with a swagger unknown to the conservative female society that has women closed off or ‘haremed’ from the male gaze. M.I.A’s girls are a far-cry from the harem-veiled subversive mysterious women of the oriental fantasy in their floaty feminine veils, if we’re accusing her of feeding stereotypes. She’s toying with the militarized West infiltrating Arabia. Sexing it up a notch to have her ‘bad girls’ taking male guns and aggro”.[30]
