An actual 1955 Good Housekeeping article

MuddaMia · Aug 20, 2006

I think the poster made that remark to get a rise out of you. You fell for it.
I went to school in the 70s. When I was taking home ec. our book had similar advice for us. My mother believed this is how a woman should behave until she died 3 years ago. It was just how things were back then. There are plenty of people around who still think this way. It's not all that unheard of.

How sad....

PeachPie · Aug 20, 2006

Yeesh, if my man expected any of that from me, I'd knock his kneecaps out with a cast iron frying pan.

CHATSDALE · Aug 21, 2006

i think that josifek said that tongue in cheek

no one really believes that

buddiage · Aug 21, 2006

I agree. I reread this whole thread. It appears it was meant sarcastic-like.

MB's and email...it's difficult to understand at times when there is no body language to read.

toolateforlawschool · Oct 3, 2006

This article isn't from Good Housekeeping. Please note the name. GH was called GH in 1955.

It actually appears to be from an ancient home economics textbook which could have been published years before 1955. In that year women were buying periodicals for stories and escape, decorating ideas and the recipes that were published to make the magazine legitimate.

It is quite feasible that they were still teaching this stuff in high school, however. Girls in Home Ec were easy prey and naive enough to think this version of "reality" was quite romantic. Particularly post WWII, when this thing was most likely published.

Had GH published this any woman who'd ever had a thought or a labor pain would have lined the birdcage with the article and then cancelled their subscriptions or stopped picking it up at the market.

But it is quite amusing, either way.

Aradien · Oct 3, 2006

This article isn't from Good Housekeeping. Please note the name. GH was called GH in 1955.
It actually appears to be from an ancient home economics textbook which could have been published years before 1955. In that year women were buying periodicals for stories and escape, decorating ideas and the recipes that were published to make the magazine legitimate.
It is quite feasible that they were still teaching this stuff in high school, however. Girls in Home Ec were easy prey and naive enough to think this version of "reality" was quite romantic. Particularly post WWII, when this thing was most likely published.
Had GH published this any woman who'd ever had a thought or a labor pain would have lined the birdcage with the article and then cancelled their subscriptions or stopped picking it up at the market.
But it is quite amusing, either way.

My DH snoped this or scoped this and it turns out that none of it is true. But it was a good giggle!

nurse4theplanet, RN · Oct 3, 2006

Like others have said, even though the article is a hoax the attitude of the times was similar to some extent...painting women as subserviant to their men with no purpose other than raising children, working in the home, and meeting the man's needs.

And if you are thinking that times have changed, please.....think again. Just pick up any magazine...

Cosmo for example:

"His secret Marriage Checklist"

"Discover the Sex Fantasy 88% of Men Have!"

"His moan zone"

"Sex tips from Guys"

And the list could go on and on and on...

In any "woman's" magazine, most of the material is related to pleasing 'your man'. Occassionally you may find an empowering article mixed in among the mess, but the message is still the same...put your man first, give him what he wants, and if you don't know what that is the read this article! It's sickening...Then throw in all the "Lose x number of pounds!" articles and all the beauty tip articles, pencil thin models, breast plants everywhere you look...I mean it is amazing we have any women with a healthy image of her body and worthwhile sense of personality.

Sorry just my soapbox...

In my own household, even though my husband and I share many things sometimes I still notice the 'old skew' setting in...I do all the laundry, I do the grocery shopping, I do the majority of cooking, etc. And I am sure when we have children that I will be responsible for finding daycare and transporting them/picking them up, attending doctor's appts, and taking off work when they are sick...even though I am the actual breadwinner. It's not something either of us consciously do, but my mom was a housewife and his mom took on excessive responsibility within their household even though she worked...so its like a learned habit or cycle that is hard to break.

MedSurgeMess · Oct 4, 2006

In all reality though, the women of the past (like 50 yrs ago) didn't work outside the home, so it was assumed that the man "took care" of them, and it was owed. Thank goodness times have changed. I don't think I could have easily lived in a society that treated women like they did in my grandma's day. We still have a long way to go, but we've come a long way to be sure!

TazziRN, RN · Oct 4, 2006

In my own household, even though my husband and I share many things sometimes I still notice the 'old skew' setting in...I do all the laundry, I do the grocery shopping, I do the majority of cooking, etc. And I am sure when we have children that I will be responsible for finding daycare and transporting them/picking them up, attending doctor's appts, and taking off work when they are sick...even though I am the actual breadwinner. It's not something either of us consciously do, but my mom was a housewife and his mom took on excessive responsibility within their household even though she worked...so its like a learned habit or cycle that is hard to break.

Ohhhh, in my house it is definitely a conscious act! My husband does everything he can to avoid the have-to's when it comes to the kids....I will get up an hour early on weekends to take the baby to my mom's, then backtrack to drive for an hour to work. All so Hubby can sleep in. I love him dearly, but sometimes........ :banghead:

And please, don't anybody jump on me. I know that I allow this behavior.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Oct 4, 2006

And if you are thinking that times have changed, please.....think again. Just pick up any magazine...
Cosmo for example:
"His secret Marriage Checklist"
"Discover the Sex Fantasy 88% of Men Have!"
"His moan zone"
"Sex tips from Guys"
And the list could go on and on and on...
In any "woman's" magazine, most of the material is related to pleasing 'your man'. Occassionally you may find an empowering article mixed in among the mess, but the message is still the same...put your man first, give him what he wants, and if you don't know what that is the read this article! It's sickening...Then throw in all the "Lose x number of pounds!" articles and all the beauty tip articles, pencil thin models, breast plants everywhere you look...I mean it is amazing we have any women with a healthy image of her body and worthwhile sense of personality.
Sorry just my soapbox...

It's not just your soapbox, i'm sick of all that please-your-man mentality crap too, and why i dumped Cosmo. And i'd thought that maybe i'd outgrowns Cosmo, but looking at a decade's old issue compared to today's issues, VASTLY different.

But what amazes me is that anytime i speak up about it, there's a least one person that says that i'm insecure secure with myself for thinking this way. :rolleyes:

Liddle Noodnik · Oct 4, 2006

ICK. I will never buy this magazine again

Well I don't know if the following is an ad from the same magazine (this appeared on another forum on Allnurses previously, sorry I can't give that person credit..>) ANYway... we've come a long way baby...

It is hard to see but it's an ad for Lysol used as a douche (!!!)

(to see this more clearly, and to see similar ads, go to http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/04/26/godbags-douche-bags-and-old-bags-and-why-it-matters/ )

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Oct 4, 2006

Well I don't know if the following is an ad from the same magazine (this appeared on another forum on Allnurses previously, sorry I can't give that person credit..>) ANYway... we've come a long way baby...
It is hard to see but it's an ad for Lysol used as a douche (!!!)
(to see this more clearly, and to see similar ads, go to http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/04/26/godbags-douche-bags-and-old-bags-and-why-it-matters/ )

Oooo just when i had burned the memories of the Lysol douche thread out of my brain lol.

Important to marital happiness is flushing your parts with Lysol???? LOL!!!

(Matt's over at his desk gagging at the moment)