Rubber Bands On Your Wrists and The Glorious 1950s (not for women)
I was reminded of that nostalgic trip back the other day when, talking to another friend, I mentioned that the society had not always been good to women in the work place and she said "it makes we shake my head when people wish for a 'return to the 1950s'".
I grew up in the 1960's work place and, while the sixties were considered the "sexual revolution" and the era of "women's liberation". it wasn't that way in the workplace. A man could be judged as nasty -- "a rotten son of a batch", "a real bastard" - but nastiness in a woman always had sexual connotations -- "She must not be getting enough", "It must be that time of the month". The comments were usually followed by smirks -- but nobody smirked about the "real bastard".
Likewise, a sharp man on the move was "aggressive", "a real go-getter" while a woman with the same attributes had "balls" -- who in their right mind would want to be a woman with balls or would use that as praise for a woman? Do we speak of a caring, warm man as having a vagina?
All this coming twenty some-odd years after World War II when "Rosie the Riveter" had helped defeat the Axis!
In recent years, things have changed certainly in relation to gender (and race) tolerance but we still have a way to go. Any woman that I have ever discussed this with has had some story of gender discrimination -- hopefully, our grandaughers will not have such stories.





