I'm not sure what the purpose of the Social Studies curriculum was supposed to be in the 1960s, but for me it was reinforcing of every ethnocentric instinct that lay lurking. I was inordinately glad not to have been born Japanese as I was told the key cultural aspects of life involved the family bathing all together in very hot tubs and living in paper houses where they ate and slept on the floor. The English spent a lot of time dancing around poles holding coloured ribbons or with bottle tops attached to their legs, and for some reason could only buy pegs from gypsies who knocked at the door. I knew for sure that wooden shoes would not be a comfortable choice no matter how lovely the tulips were in Holland. Handling a knife and fork was quite enough to co-ordinate for me, so I was very glad not to have to scoop food up with chopsticks like the poor Chinese children. Worst of all seemed to be the unfortunate Masai people, who expected not just milk from their cows but an on-going blood supply as well, all mixed together into a ghastly drink. The French ate frogs and snails - disgusting, but also had strange plumbing. Apparently, according to the teacher, their baths and basins had levers to raise and lower the plugs. He tried to make it sound quite sophisticated, but I thought it sounded unnecessarily complicated even then.
Fast-forward forty-plus years, and suddenly in nice, sane, normal New Zealand these pop-up plugs have become the latest thing. I put in a new bathroom at my previous house and one was installed in the basin. It lasted a day before I asked for it to be swapped back to a proper removable plug fitting. Now in Petone, I have the misfortune to have one again. It restricts the flow of water from the basin and impedes cleaning. I think its removal will go on the holiday 'to do' list. It didn't make sense in the sixties and it doesn't make sense now.
(I now sponsor a Masai child through Childfund, and still give a little shudder when I think of her family's cows.)
Good post.
ReplyDeleteThe 60's social studies curriculum has now been picked up by contemporary TV advertising companies who tell us that: Mexicans forever agonise on how to make their tacos stand up; Finns run around the hills with packets of instant sauce in their hands; Australians blaspheme on beaches (that's closer to the truth); Brazilians are all women who wear tiny bikinis whether on the beach or not; Inuit are all Eskimos who live in igloos; and all African children are black and starving.