Via Matthew Yglesias and Jessica Valenti, I have learned that the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is offering an academic program in homemaking.
Southwestern Baptist, one of the nation’s largest Southern Baptist seminaries, is introducing a new academic program in homemaking as part of an effort to establish what its president calls biblical family and gender roles.
It will offer a bachelor of arts in humanities degree with a 23-hour concentration in homemaking. The program is only open to women.
Coursework will include seven hours of nutrition and meal preparation, seven hours of textile design and “clothing construction,” three hours of general homemaking, three hours on “the value of a child,” and three hours on the “biblical model for the home and family.”
I definitely share in Matt and Jessica’s distaste for this particular course–one would think that in an age in which we are battling with Islamic Fundamentalism, we wouldn’t seek to emulate them in their treatment of women.
What’s also personally fascinating for me is that there are women who would voluntarily take this course. Don’t get me wrong–I think that stay-at-home moms (and dads) have it rough, and I know that I personally would have loved some courses when I was younger in things like cooking, sewing, and budget management. Those are all valuable skills. But given that the degree is open only to women and given that the Seminary is openly stating that its goal is to pursue “traditional gender norms”, I find it odd that there would be a desire to pursue this. I’m pretty sure that even some of the most conservative women I’ve met in my life would balk at this sort of thing.
