Reviews for Sexual static

The average rating for Sexual static based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-11-03 00:00:00 Jocelyn Laurin As a homemaker and stay-at-home-mom in 2011, I found this book incredibly interesting. I was amazed at how much is still the same. Of course, much is different (skimmed the chapter on lamp light vs. candlelight), and quite a bit they were just wrong about (most medical information). But overall, I learned more than I thought I would. I admired the spirit and attitude of Harriet Beecher Stowe, if at times a bit too preach-y and self-indulgent. I read it more as a reference book, rather than cover to cover. And some sections I just skipped. I really don't think I will ever build a toilet made with soil so that I can add my family's poop to compost. The sections on "Care of Infants" and "Management of Young Children" I read first. "At birth, the stomach is feeble, and as yet unaccustomed to food; its cravings are consequently easily satisfied, and frequently renewed. At that early age, there ought to be no fixed time for giving nourishment. The stomach can not be thus satisfied. The active call of the infant is a sign, which needs never be mistaken." p.199 By making such a point, I'm guessing there were as many opinions to feeding on-demand (or not) back then. Take that, Mr. Ferber. Not sure how that theory fits with this one: "Do not allow a child to form such habits that it will not be quiet unless tended and amused. A healthy child should be a accustomed to lie or sit in its cradle much of the time; but it should occasionally be taken up and tossed, or carried about for exercise and amusement. Many mothers, with a little painstaking, succeed in putting their infants into their cradle while awake, at regular hours for sleep; and induce regularity in other habits, which saves much trouble." p.202 "In regard to the physical education of children, Dr. Clarke, Physician in Ordinary to the Queen of England, expresses views on one point, in which most physicians would coincide. He says, 'There is no greater error in the management of children, than that of giving them animal diet very early.'" p.205 Stowe promoted vegetarianism way before vegetarianism was cool!!! (She re-iterated this when instructing the homemaker on healthful cooking. Discouraging heavy, gross foods such as meat.) (!) The section on p.210 of disciplining children could be from the book "Love and Logic". I guess it really is logic. I also enjoyed reading WHY, in the author's view, children should be seen and not heard (p.156). Society and families have changed very much in this regard. Children's "chatter" is now a point of view and is not a distraction, but something to be nourished. I also gravitated towards the sections on organizing a kitchen, and cooking. That someone would document "minutiae of family work" as detailed on 171 leaves me feeling I should be thankful for their effort at allowing me such a precious glance...even if it is a bit overbearing. And not at all encouraging to my wistful thought of making my own bread: "Although bread-making seems a simple process, it yet requires delicate care and watchfulness. There are fifty ways to spoil good bread; there are a hundred little things to be considered and allowed for, that require accurate observation and experience." p.233 Specific comments regarding cooking that struck me: "Though this is not the common opinion of medical men, they all agree that, in America, far too large a portion of the diet consists of animal food. As a nation, the American are proverbial for the gross and luxurious diet with which they load their tables; and there can be no doubt that the general health of the nation would be increased by a change in our customs in this respect. To take meat but once a day, and this in small quantities, compared with the common practice, is a rule, the observance of which would probably greatly reduce the amount of fevers, eruptions, headaches, bilious attacks, and the many other ailments which are produced or aggravated by too gross a diet." p.104 "There is no country where an ample, well-furnished tables is more easily spread, and for that reason, perhaps, none where the bounties of Providence are more generally neglected. Considering that our resources are greater than those of any other civilized people, our results [in cooking and preparing food] are comparatively poorer." p.129 How often have we been hearing that lately? Some things in this book seem like completely new modes of thought, but were not even new in 1869. Amazing. Some things never change. Another example: "There is no duty of those persons having control of a family where principle and practice are more at variance than in regulating the dress of young girls, especially at the most important and critical perilous of life, It is a difficult duty for parents and teachers to contend with the power of fashion, which at this time of a young girl's life is frequently the ruling thought, and when to be out of the fashion, to be odd and not dress as all her companions do, is a mortification and grief that no argument or instructions can relieved. The mother is often so overborne that, in spite of her better wishes, the daughter adopts modes of dress alike ruinous to health and to beauty." p.122 Of course, she was talking about the dangers of corsets pulled too tight, so that the young girl would look thinner. But whatever. The paragraph that left the most impression on me, because of where I am specifically in my life right now, and in my walk with God, was on page 166. Most women of the C21st would whole-heartedly disagree, and be offended. For me, it is just true. "A woman, therefore, needs to cultivate the habitual feeling that all the events of her nursery and kitchen are brought about by the permission of our Heavenly Father, and that fretfulness or complaint in regard to these is, in fact, complaining at the appointments of God, and is really as sinful as unsubmissive murmurs amid the sorer chastisements of his had. And a woman who cultivates this habit of referring all the minor trials of life to the wise and benevolent agency of a heavenly Parent, and daily seeks his sympathy and aid to enable her to meet them with a quiet and cheerful spirit, will soon find it the perennial spring of abiding peace and content."

Review # 2 was written on 2008-02-18 00:00:00 Mark Proctor First published in 1869, "The American Woman's Home" was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and her sister, Catharine E. Beecher, an early advocate for women's higher education. Meeting the Beechers inside their books, essays and sermons is an introduction to the world of reserved radicals who seeded their beliefs throughout nineteenth century American society. Endearingly unsubtle, one knows where one stands with a Beecher within a few short sentences, and this Beecher bluntness surfaces on the first page of "The American Woman's Home": "It is the aim of this volume to elevate both the honor and the remuneration of all the employments that sustain the many difficult and sacred duties of the family state, and thus to render each department of woman's true profession as much desired and respected as are the most honored professions of men." Having dispensed with the raison d'être, the rest of the volume is a delightful stroll through planning kitchens, decorating homes and planting gardens. Some of the advice is wonderfully arcane (how to install your own self-deodorizing "earth closet"), and some is still in use today (incorporating work spaces in kitchen design and using fresh, local produce). Witty and fun, the passion for living well regardless of economic status shines throughout, making it both engaging and ultimately contemporary.