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>>I actually wasn't aware that prior to that, only boys took shop only girls took cooking/sewing. I vaguely recall I did OK at wood shop but I was a disaster at metal shop. I was great at cooking and sewing (partly because my mother and aunt had taught me a few things) - and because I could throw a baseball harder than any kid in the middle school at the time, no one gave me grief over it.
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>See, this is an issue on a lot of stuff. When you don't know the history, it's hard to understand the present. As I like to tell kids, I can remember when the want ads (in fact, I can remember want ads :-)) had "Help Wanted-Man" and "Help Wanted-Woman." When I hear about young women who don't think feminism matters, I want to sit them down and tell them about how it used to be and what feminism has done for them.
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Uhm....I would hardly call not realizing (or not remembering, because maybe I knew it years ago and forgot) that prior to late 70's, boys didn't take home economics as important history.

(Though I think certainly think it's a good idea for boys to take home ec and for girls to take shop)

Regarding feminism, it has certainly greatly helped and also has harmed, because of the different forms it has taken on.