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What Would An Actual MRS Degree Look Like?


jenny_islander

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Some of the fundamentalist colleges do offer what amounts to a degree in home economics, but it's limited by their assumptions about helpmeets and Old Paths and whatnot. What do you think should be in the course list for a degree in how to be a valiant wife a la Proverbs 31 and so on?

Some ideas, in no particular order:

Home Troubleshooting (1 semester): What do do when you're the only adult and the situation can't wait. Sample topics: Belching toilets, fires on the stove, breaker box safety, repairing clothing that has to be worn today.

Car Ownership (1 semester): Defensive driving course included for days when your mom van is surrounded by idiots. Also how to change a tire by yourself, etc.

Bookkeeping (2 semesters): Learn how to do it by hand so that you understand how home bookkeeping programs work, then go on to home and business bookkeeping software.

Home First Aid and Sickroom Management (1 semester): Red Cross first aid course, when to call the doctor, home hygiene for prevention of illness, etc.

Moms Making Money (2 semesters): Is a home small business for you? Typical home businesses, finding a market, startup issues, advertising, spotting scams, tax issues, etc. Expanding a home business; becoming an employer; management issues; payroll. Balancing work outside the home with home care and childrearing, how to build a resume, career ladder vs. mommy track, etc. Guest lectures by women who chose each option.

Household Help Pros and Cons (1 semester): Liability and payroll issues for cleaners, child care assistants, etc.

Disaster Preparedness (2 semesters): Advanced first aid with option for paramedic training. Preparation for assorted natural disasters.

Investing for Families (2 semesters): First, savings and checking--bank vs. credit union--insurance, what do you need and how much--home ownership pros and cons. Then, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs, rental property, etc., etc.

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MRS degree- I spent way too long trying to figure out what that stood for- "OK, so an MBA is masters of business admin, I'm trying to get a BS degree, uncle has a PhD... what the hell does MRS stand for?"

And then it hit me. "Oh, missus. Duh."

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Do I have the PHDMRS degree as I can do all those things (except change a tire but I have AAA to do that for me)and I homeschool? I want to be DR.CLIBBY :) I know having only 3 kids is held against me, so maybe I just have a Masters?

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Um, if the girlies are being raised to be keepers of the home (homemakers in training, for years and years and years like Sarah Maxwell) why, exactly, would they need to pay to learn these things? Doesn't that entirely contradict the idea of raising your girls to be the perfect wife and mother?

I'm confused.

Also, the majority of what is listed above was taught as I grew up. No paramedic training, but I learned to sew, cook, etc...as part of life. As I got older and got a job, I learned about banking and budgeting. As the need arose in life, my older relatives were always there with advice and sharing experiences with insurance, investments, retirement planning, etc. My uncles taught me basic car maintenance, including how to change a tire (but, these days I choose to utilize AAA and not get my girly hands dirt). I had CPR and first aid training as part of my horrible public school education and then again during one of the many summer camp/activities I participated in.

Basically, though living life and my mom doing her job, I learned most of what these classes claim to teach. And I wasn't even raised to be a godly homemaker. I think the only things I didn't really learn about were what is involved with hiring domestic help. Instead, I was taught to take care of things that needed to be taken care of and prioritize and plan my time.

All in all, if a girl needs to get this 'degree' her parents failed miserably in training her to fulfill her duties as a godly homemaker.

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Well, the point of real Home Economics degrees was to have the newest scientific knowledge - nutrition, up-to-date childrearing psychology (including the School Practice Babies at ISU and Cornell), most efficient sewing & baking, stuff like that. THey didn't want those girls to be like old wives tale wives, they wanted them new and shiny and scientific.

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An MRS. degree is what Mormon girls go to BYU to obtain. They just disguise it as a liberal arts major.

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I majored in "Marriage & Motherhood" at Hyles-Anderson before I escaped to real college.

(p. 88 here - http://hylesanderson.edu/files/2010_2011_catalog.pdf)

It was pretty much like a normal home ec class, with the addition of Bible, and lots of piano lessons & some secretarial & photoshop and desktop publishing classes (because most wanted to be pastor's wives and there is the expectation that she must be able to sing, play piano, and be the church secretary & bookkeeper).

The classes I considered worthwhile were the normal home ec ones - cooking, food preservation, sewing, even children's literature & also the classes on personal finance, time management, and leadership. Some of the classes on preparing for marriage & relating to your husband had good info, but most of that came from the teacher's anecdotes rather than the curriculum.

I would ditch all the required piano lessons, re-do most of the parenting & early childhood courses, and make the secretarial type things optional, with more focus on web design & applications for those who chose it.

If I designed or added a "Mrs." class, I would include some basic home & auto maintenance and repair and an even more detailed class on finance and budgeting specific to living on one income. A few entry-level business and entrepreneurship courses would be good too, since many stay at home wives end up with some form of home business. I would keep some basic homemaking, especially cooking and basic housekeeping (yeah, a lot of people are at a loss on how to create a routine or schedule to keep their homes clean) & maybe cover design and decorating. Sewing could be useful, but more as an elective, because it comes out cheaper and easier for most people to shop sales than to try to sew all of their own clothing. At least 2 semesters of women's studies - not super-slanted one way or the other, but to let women see the differences between the present and the romanticized past, and to give them some things to think about before deciding whether to work or not. I would also cover community resources and how to access them in some sort of class, so they would know where to go for food stamps, medical coverage, or legal advice in case of abuse, abandonment, or impending divorce. In the same vein, at least 2-3 psychology classes, with one focused on children and adolescents and one focused on adults and including information on recognizing mood disorders in yourself & family and where to get appropriate treatment.

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It looks like the "Women's Ministry" degree at Liberty.

hernoblecharacter.com/2011/05/anatomy-of-womens-ministries-degree.html

hernoblecharacter.com/2011/05/so-what-are-you-going-to-do-with-that.html

I'm mostly just so surprised that Liberty is an actually accredited school. This is the passage that stuck out to me most:

Survey of Women’s Ministries - This was a foundational course that examined the Bible's teaching on masculinity and femininity. We also looked at the history of feminism and its positive and negative effects on the world. We spent time studying various biblical passages that speak to the role of women in the home, church, and society. We read Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, compiled by John Piper and Wayne Grudem. We were responsible to write critiques of Men and Women: Equal Yet Different by Alexander Strauch. We each wrote a research paper about a woman in the Bible and how she displayed godly character. We concluded that men and women are equally valuable to God but function differently for His glory. I thought this was a great and helpful class that all girls at Liberty should take!

So, basically, the prof tells you which books to read and take seriously and which ones to critique? The most troubling part to me was "we concluded..." What? The entire class came to the same conclusion? The professor led them all to the same epiphany? I can't think of a single time in my college career when that happened. If everyone comes to the exact same belief, there can't be much legitimate academic exploration happening.

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I'm sorry, but "research and write about a woman in the Bible" is a 5th grade Sunday school project, not a college level work (unless they're using sources other than the Bible).

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I'm sorry, but "research and write about a woman in the Bible" is a 5th grade Sunday school project, not a college level work (unless they're using sources other than the Bible).

Like Bertie Wooster, my obsession rests with Jael, wife of Heber.

"Being a female, you wouldn't.You gentler sexes are like that. You pull off the rawest stuff without a pang. You pride yourselves on it. Look at Jael, the wife of Heber."

"Where did you ever hear of Jael, the wife of Heber?"

"Possibly you are not aware that I once won a Scripture-knowledge prize at school?"

"Oh, yes. I remember Augustus mentioning it in his speech."

"Quite," I said, a little hurriedly. I had no wish to be reminded of Augustus's speech. "Well, as I say, look at Jael, the wife of Heber. Dug spikes into the guest's coconut while he was asleep, and then went swanking about the place like a Girl Guide. No wonder they say, 'Oh,woman, woman!'"

"Who?"

"The chaps who do. Coo, what a sex!

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Ha, Jael was my favorite Bible story growing up. I was way too wild-ass for Vacation Bible School. Tent stakes= Biblical womanhood. :)

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An MRS. degree is what Mormon girls go to BYU to obtain. They just disguise it as a liberal arts major.

I discovered through Facebook that a Mormon girl I was friends with in middle school wound up going to BYU and majoring in "Marriage and Family Studies." That sounds like a MRS degree to me. And yes, she got married before graduation. Now she's a SAHM who posts constantly about how afraid she is that gay marriage will ruin family values and Obama will "bring socialism to America" so I had to block her status updates for my own sanity.

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Not allowed! But you can pray for your headship to do it.

I am the official food-orderer in my house. Hubby hates to do it, so if I want it, I have to suck it up and call (I hate talking on the phone). So I guess if my headship commands it, so it must be.

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Guest Anonymous

What got me about the courses at Southwester was that a degree in Biblical Studies is considered a Bachelor of SCIENCE.

These courses offered don`t seem to be as technically advanced as the old studies of Household Science or Economics etc....at least those courses - which you could take a hundred years ago, recognized cooking and baking as applied chemistry, and as time progressed nutrition etc...

A think a good course for a Mrs. is how to put up with someone else`s sh*t without blowing a gasket - call it cooperative communication or ``smiling through the hate``etc. All the cooking and handy man stuff is for anyone who wants to get through life.

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