Ooh, Shiny!

This post at jezebel.com got me thinking about my own adventures in domesticity. I never took a "real" home ec course (I opted for typing in junior high, which did me a lot more good in the long run, and my high school electives were choir and foreign language), but I remember summer school courses in sewing and cooking. What amazed me was how many people (probably 90% female) commented that they couldn't cook at all or even sew on a button. I'm not going to get into the feminist arguments about gender roles, etc., but come on -- not being able to sew on a button? Or make a hard-boiled egg? Really? How does that make a statement about anything except you probably spend way more on dining out and tailors than you probably should?

I also stopped to pat myself on the back, because I moved out when I was nineteen and took the whole running a household thing very seriously -- studied cookbooks, made grocery lists, the whole thing, all while going to school full-time and working part-time. My mother didn't teach me much about cooking because she was too busy working full-time and raising us to conduct Cordon Bleu courses in the kitchen. But teaching myself was probably a good thing, since I learned that cooking competently (I'm not talking chef-level here, of course) pretty much requires that you follow directions and watch the timer and not all that much else. Same with sewing -- I learned some hand-sewing techniques and embroidery when I was in elementary school, but it wasn't until I was college-age and got into costuming that I decided to teach myself how to do that stuff because I wanted pretty costumes like everyone else in my group (they costumed for SCA and science fiction conventions, mainly). Some of it was really tough (you try reconstructing a bustle dress from Phantom of the Opera when you haven't made anything more complicated than a wrap dress), but it was worth the effort. I ended up with some amazing costumes and a bunch of awards from local, regional, and even international competitions.

Not that I do much with any of that these days. But at least I know I can make my own curtains if necessary. :-P

I don't know exactly what this post is about, except that there's no shame in having these skills. I think they make you self-sufficient and independent. Of course I've taken things to the tailor when I can't be arsed to do the alterations myself. The difference is that I could do them if I wanted to save myself that 20 bucks. And that, kids, is where the power lies.