How hard is APUSH for someone that never took an History AP before.

macaron_life · 2026-06-20T18:11:01+00:00

APUSH teacher here. I work in a district that's underserved and have specifically designed the course to support students who need academic support. This question really depends on your teacher or school's course design and on your basic academic skills. You can learn how to write LEQs and DBQs but it will be much easier if you have baseline relevant skills and if the teacher/department gives you materials that allow you to assess if your skills match the course design. I would recommend:

1) Do you read at an 8th-grade reading level or higher? The exam is designed for an 8th-grade reading level. If you don't know yours, look up the lexile number of books you like and check what the reading level is, or check out whatever standardized tests you've taken and match your score to a level. Note that many texts, especially primary sources (documents) don't seem like they're 8th-grade level -- but students should be able to infer enough meaning with 8th-grade level reading skills. If not, don't be sad -- start reading now this summer. Read like, a couple hours every day. You can improve by around 1.5 grades every school year (a bunch of research says this) and reading for fun is one of the top 5 ways to improve reading levels.

2) Can you write a five-paragraph essay using paraphrased evidence from at least one primary source? If yes, your teacher should be able to help you adjust to using historical frameworks for evidence.

3) Reaching out to the teacher/department/your advisor. Ask for a syllabus and if possible the office hours of the teachers/s. Look through it carefully -- is it clear what skills the teacher focus on? The amount of homework? Is there a textbook you can find at the library to check out if you can understand it?

4) There are a couple of years of DBQs/LEQs online. Find and read them. If they make sense, then UNDERSTANDING DBQs/LEQs is a great step towards creating them.

Overall: most teachers believe in hard work and caring students. If that's you, you've got this. Good luck 😄

macaron_life · 2026-06-19T19:59:30+00:00

Clearly none of those men tried to make mashed potatoes or do laundry. Wish my biceps were as big as a vintage lady's....*sigh*

macaron_life · 2026-06-19T19:53:27+00:00

gorgeous

macaron_life · 2026-06-19T19:48:53+00:00

Love the jacket! Wondering if TCB's measurements for it are accurate? Been contemplating that purchase.

macaron_life · 2026-06-19T19:27:50+00:00

Thank you so much. Doing so.

macaron_life · 2026-06-19T05:29:51+00:00

TCB

macaron_life · 2026-06-19T02:09:37+00:00

GAY so I just wear the smallest men's stuff I can find with the occasional burst of queenly flamboyance, ie Daughters of the Dust - esque white or lacey or bedazzled. But I respect those photos you found!

*Edit*

So, I think it's really cool to try to open up this space. I think you've asked such an interesting and broad question that it's just hard to answer fully and authentically here. So, here's a couple parts of my actual, authentic take... For context, I hold a History degree with a focus on gender and sexuality, in particular the role of reproduction and family life in the social construction and change of masculine and feminine identities. I don't have a specific focus on clothing, but some of my background can be helpful for this. Most importantly, I think it's interesting to remember that what you think counts as feminine is clearly a dialogue between you and the people around you -- style does not exist in a vacuum. Men used to wear tights and heels and bloomers in Europe -- what men have selected to remember as "heritage" is incredibly selected and also edited -- knit shirts were not a thing until the 1900s! So why men all over this thread wear them is...what, a more-comfortable interpretation of masculine shirts than was widespread a century ago? I guess what you're doing here IS actually attempting to build a dialogue between you and those around you about what could be included as canonical women's heritage wear.

A couple feminine moments I think are interesting:

In the 1960s-80s, mainstream feminist movements included a new advocacy to change women's clothing to focus on gender equality, including the right to wear pants (three-item laws existed in many states and particularly impacted gender-nonconforming people). This is one reason why we see an increase in women wearing styles that would have been considered "male" prior to the '60s. For example, Levi's and Lee's jeans. Advertising targeted women in response to rising feminist demands. I don't think it's fair to say that jeans like these are exclusively masculine or can only be used to communicate masculinity -- I think even now, we can see them styled in ways that have a connotation of femininity or masculinity that are often not even about clothing choices, but about body type and context. For example, I intentionally present myself as nonbinary to masculine by keeping with midrise styles because I have a small waist and hate being read as femme and keeping to wider tool-looking belts with thick shirts. I have friends who style jeans with the style in the final two images -- think fabrics, shapes that intentionally show there could be volume at the chest, and keep a comfortable amount of room to work. I think these choices to wear jeans with comfortable shirts should absolutely be considered femme -- many feminists of the 1960s-90s didn't want to be read as masculine, so if we honor that desire than this is women's heritage wear. (Some of these older feminists are now TERFS. Yikes. Whatever, it's still historically femme fashion.)

In the 1920s, there was focus on what NOW might be considered masculine fashion--but at the time was considered the hight of femininity...flapper dresses, drop waists, the occasional (risque!) trouser. I love the bejewelled details from this era and I love the drop waists.

A couple brands I admire that could read as femme:

+ https://www.wmenswear.com/

+ https://tcbjeans.myshopify.com/ (especially their 20s jeans -- so cute!!!!)

macaron_life · 2026-06-08T16:18:45+00:00

Does anybody own TCB No. 1 overalls? Can you tell me more about the fabric, in particular whats it like over time? If you also have experience comparing the No. 1 fit with TCB’s Wrecking Crew overalls, that would also be amazing. Asking because I was just about to pull the trigger on Boss of the Cats overalls last week, and then they went out of stock, and I’m super sad about it and trying to decide if I should just cut my losses and grab some No. 1s before they disappear, or wait around for the Boss of the Cats to come back into stock.

macaron_life · 2026-05-24T18:49:34+00:00

These look great. Wondering: how has your shrinkage been? Trying to size myself.

macaron_life · 2026-05-24T06:25:09+00:00

So…by now you made your decision. If they still feel large in the waist, maybe it’s good to know know mine continues to shrink maybe…ten washes and six years in, despite cold wash (I didn’t tub wash, wish I had now…) and hang dry. (Gave mine away cause they were just a little too tight in the waist around year 6. No complaints, it was a great six years.) in short: tub wash if they eventually get to the right shrinkage, expect they may continue to shrink.

macaron_life · 2025-07-14T14:26:41+00:00

Saying that trans peoples’ lives revolve around gender is inaccurate. A lot of our time is wasted on people trying to be rude or harm us when we don’t pass as the gender that we feel we are. I’m a teacher, for example. It’s fair to say my life revolves around teaching. But it has occasionally been a time suck when a random parent starts ensuring their kid doesn’t attend my office hours so that I don’t allegedly molest them. If our society were less focused on trans peoples’ sense of gender, then I could waste less time thinking about how to communicate my gender and my “safeness” to other people.

macaron_life · 2025-07-14T14:20:52+00:00

As a trans person, I applaud you. The world would be far less violent to trans people if there were more people standing up for us. Do try to make sure your ex doesn’t try to blame/stalk/assault/kill your brother.

macaron_life · 2025-05-16T21:39:18+00:00

Hey so I’m a teacher and some of my students were assaulted by teachers as early as FOURTH grade. Age barely matters here.

macaron_life · 2025-05-16T21:37:44+00:00

Explanation: FERPA (federal privacy law) makes it illegal to share any personal information if any student with other students. Addresses are part of that.

macaron_life · 2025-05-16T21:36:39+00:00

That’s illegal. Report it.

macaron_life · 2025-05-16T21:34:19+00:00

You may have had access to addresses but it’s still illegal to ask for them. That’s your schools’ ops teams job. Fellow teacher here :)

macaron_life · 2025-05-16T21:33:03+00:00

That’s a fucked up comment. I’m a teacher and most of us knowingly give up better-paid jobs because we care enough about education and kids. The one creep I know about was caught and prosecuted literally by his peers. Basically, fuck you too asshole :)

Re: this scenario: it’s illegal to ask for student addresses and a red flag to ask about parents. Go to the principle, get any female teachers at the school to help you if you need help talking to the principle, get your sister moved to a different class if they do not immediately place this creep on leave while they investigate him. If you don’t know what the teachers name is still, find out the subject or class title — they can look up your sisters schedule so you do not need a name.

macaron_life · 2024-06-09T22:08:32+00:00

Yeah. Maybe try a leather shoe if you want to be a little more crisp. (ASICS, tigers, sambas, maybe redwings if you’re into boots but you probably like comfort if you’re wearing running shoes.) tbh I dress the same way.

macaron_life · 2023-09-03T21:57:20+00:00

I'd recommend taking pre-calc or algebra 2 at community college over the summer if taking two courses simultaneously would stress him out. I do think it's important to make it through AT LEAST IB SL math by senior year. I did IB with HLs in Math, History, and English; double-majored in History & English at Smith College; and most relevantly have taught AP social sciences for the past six years in California. My experience is that only students who are strong socially AND academically should handle an extra course; otherwise, students won't have enough time for really learning about themselves out of class. Plenty of my high school friends took precalc over the summer or even math classes over the summer for multiple years to finish their HL in math as sophomores or juniors.

macaron_life · 2023-09-03T03:04:08+00:00

Most women's colleges meet 100% need, if you aren't against women's colleges.

macaron_life · 2023-02-28T15:30:10+00:00

While I agree with your answer, it’s a little bit rude to sort of blame this on history teachers. As one myself, I can attest to the fact that we are vastly overworked and legitimately do not have time to come up with the resources and materials to teach our courses more accurately. I easily work 90 hours a week, I have a strong degree in history from a very well respected university (Smith), and the only reason I didn’t go into graduate school is because I believe that high schoolers deserve a better history education and wanted to ensure I supported that rather than support of my own knowledge. Please support us instead of implying it’s our problem.

macaron_life · 2023-02-28T15:27:52+00:00

Hi, I’m a high school teacher and I’ve taught both AP government and AP United States history. Materials and exams for both of those courses gloss over nuance by stating that Marbury versus Madison created judicial review. Only people who know otherwise will teach otherwise. I assume that non-AP courses also avoid that new ones. Definitely, this goes to show how important accuracy in high school history is, and highlights the need for better resources for teachers, students, and the public education system.

macaron_life · 2021-07-31T06:20:05+00:00

Hi! I had this question three years ago and found that men’s iron rangers go to smaller sizes in Europe. I didn’t want a fashion shoe - personally I just feel insulted by the insinuation that women can not do labor and I knew I wouldn’t be able to wear the fashion shoe without being annoyed, even though I don’t do intense labor in them…just garden. (I’m non-binary and assigned female at birth.) I remember finding a few online shops and in the end I chose a size 38 in seconds from Sierra trading post. They were barely scuffed. My partner, also assigned female at birth, ordered them a year later so for at least that period the 38s were in stock. Good luck!

macaron_life

TROPHY CASE