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A review by pagesfromhome
The Secret History of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harnessed the Power of Home and Changed the Way We Live by Danielle Dreilinger
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
After originally DNFing this last year, I picked it back up this month and I’m so unbelievably glad I did. This book is dense and filled with lots of names and events to note and while that can be overwhelming at times, it is also a testament to the incredible research that went into creating it. Dreilinger does an excellent job of making what could have been a really dry book more personable and casual with her writing style.
She covers EVERYTHING to do with home economics from the 1800s to now and does it with skill and wit. I feel like there is still so much that could have been explored. I was particularly curious about spending more time looking at the not-so-great things that home economics has partaken in like internment camps and boarding schools because I think that would have balanced it out a bit better in my eyes. But even with that critique in mind, Dreilinger does a stellar job at critiquing home economics through a social justice lens that is well-worth diving into.
If you have any interest in the home at all, or if, like me, home ec was your favorite class in school but you never went further with it because you thought it was just “sewing and stirring”, add this one to your TBR.
She covers EVERYTHING to do with home economics from the 1800s to now and does it with skill and wit. I feel like there is still so much that could have been explored. I was particularly curious about spending more time looking at the not-so-great things that home economics has partaken in like internment camps and boarding schools because I think that would have balanced it out a bit better in my eyes. But even with that critique in mind, Dreilinger does a stellar job at critiquing home economics through a social justice lens that is well-worth diving into.
If you have any interest in the home at all, or if, like me, home ec was your favorite class in school but you never went further with it because you thought it was just “sewing and stirring”, add this one to your TBR.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Sexism
Moderate: War