Young man symbolises shift in American attitudes to home

Press, 23 September 1987, Page 33

Young man symbolises shift in American attitudes to home

By

MAGGIE MCNEIL

of Reuters

NZPA-Reuter Washington One of the brightest stars of the Future Homemakers of America, a group known for grooming girls into ladies, is six feet tall (183 cm weighs 195 pounds (88.4 kg plays gridiron football and can’t cook. “I’m liberated,” says Tom Lucas, aged 17, "but I don’t like to cook.” Lucas has other domestic talents. He took home economics classes for five years, studying “family living,” including family finances, family communication and parenting. This helped propel him last year into the presidency of the 315,000member Future Homemakers (F.H.A.) — the first male elected to that post in the overwhelmingly female, 42-year-old organisation. Having recently handed over the office to a female successor, he continues his efforts to help eliminate sexual stereotypes as a member of the

F.H.A.’s National Board of Directors, its senior teenage member of either sex and its new media star. The athletic and selfconfident Lucas, a recent high school graduate from West Virginia, was assured of celebrity status last year the moment he became president of a nation-wide club traditionally associated with teaching young women how to cook and sew. He had to give up his membership on the high school gridiron football team, where he played the rugged defensive tackle position, and the track team in order to make time for F.H.A. presidential duties. In an interview with Reuters, he said teenagers made little fuss about such striking departures from customary ways. “Teenagers have always been more open to changes than adults,” said Lucas, who plans to attend university this year and ultimately enter politics. “What my being president (of F.H.A.) says is,

‘Hey, look, we don’t care about barriers. We want to be ourselves, we want to be able to achieve whatever goals we set for ourselves.’” In all, he said, he had suffered more teasing from girls than boys about his Homemakers’ involvement. At first, there were tensions with his father. “It was kind of hard to convert an adult who is used to having the guys mow the yard and the girls do the dishes,” Lucas said. “But now he is really supportive of me.” : Established in 1945 as i an out-of-school extension of home economics classes, the F.H.A. at first i focused on post-war relief ; efforts. But its emphasis I soon shifted to the proper ; upbringing of tomorrow’s homemakers and to such ; items as telephone etii quette and good grooml ing. I Since the homemaker’s I role then was nearly universally seen as the woman’s, the emphasis , was strictly feminine.

An early issue of “Teen Times,” the organisation’s p official publication, gave a this morning checklist for ti F.H.A. members: v Body clean? d Clothes fresh? r Nail polish perfect? j. Elbows presentable? Shoes shining? g Hem even? p Fashion — now called “wardrobe psychology” in I some American schools — t and cooking still play a s big role in home econo- t . mics classes and F.H.A. Lucas says that in his high p school, “almost all the s football players took « home economics because 1 (unlike him) they wanted 1 to learn how to cook.” Both boys and girls take < “wardrobe psychology.” s Katrine Ryan, F.H.A. c director of public rela- f tions, says it is basically p “dress for success” instruction and teaches ui youngsters how to improve their image. J But modem life and the J problems facing today’s J teenagers have forced the 1 F.H.A. to make adjust- ? ments. ‘

Teenage pregnancy and parenthood, drug and alcohol abuse, date-rape, teen suicide and A.I.D.S. were among the issues discussed at the FHA’s recent annual convention in Washington. “No matter where you go, kids have the same problems,” says Lucas, who travelled to 15 state F.H.A* conventions during his year as president and spoke to thousands of teenagers. His very traditional organisation, he boasts, “is a step ahead of everyone else because we have our finger on the pulse of the American family.” The F.H.A. executive director, Carol Ann Kiner, says Lucas’ presidency could change the allfemale image of the group. F.H.A.’s Ryan says: "Kids are very aware that men are more involved in the family. We don’t have to tell them that. They see it in their own families with their mothers working/*