It's just as well that I love my job, as being stuck indoors during the sunniest weekend of the year so far was a little dispiriting. I cheered myself up by standing by the door occasionally, sniffing the spring air. And so to this article, which gives advice on how to live up to beauty standards which appear to require you to CHANGE HANDBAGS to match an outfit. To be fair, mixed in with the patriarchal stuff are a few handy practical hints, especially if you're on your feet all day, which would have been the case for many women, given the lack of choice in career at that time. But do remember to refresh your make-up, otherwise your boss will think you're a rough old slag, and there won't be any flowers for you!
February 2012
22nd February 2012 / Comments (0)
Linc-O-Lin
An advert deconstructing advertising, there, from over 40 years ago.
17th February 2012 / Comments (4)
Tablecloths with Ovaltine!
What was behind the obsession with giving away tablecloths in the late '60s? Were British women going through some sort of tablecloth crisis?
11th February 2012 / Comments (0)
The Heinz Definition of Motherhood
Ah, the Pandora's Box that is child rearing. Obviously, it would have been in Heinz's interests to promote their foods as the ideal weaning solution, and it's interesting that these foods still cause controversy today, as what was reported as a link between industrially-produced baby food to childhood obesity in the UK media, actually, erm, isn't. However, the main point I have about this advert is that copy which is ostensibly intended to reassure new mothers actually provokes anxiety in me; a clever skill!
5th February 2012 / Comments (3)
Drama Queen
"Sometimes it's hard to be a woman...". All of these letters are significant in their own way, as none of these problems are issues for men. The 16 year old girl is probably being a bit overwrought, but I stayed the night with my best friend more than once as a teen without being accused of meeting a boy by my parents! Both Mrs. C and Working Wife are suffering from higher expectations being applied to them than to their husbands, and naturally, poor Worried won't see the father of her child for dust. In some respects, things haven't changed all that much, but at least women have more options nowadays to either get themselves out of trouble, or to avoid landing themselves in it.