August 28, 2006
Want to ge a good wife to your husband?
Then why not follow these oh-so-helpful guidelines from a May 1955 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine?
(Clicking on the photo will bring up the full-size article.)
Aren't you glad it's not the 50s anymore?
Posted by: Bruce on August 28, 2006 03:06 PMIn a way, yes, I'm very glad it's not the 1950's anymore! We have so much more freedom these days to speak our minds to our husbands. It's nice to know that what I have to say is just as important as what my darlin' hubby has to say!
However, there is a very big part of me that believes that if it were 1955 again, I wouldn't be expected to pull double duty by bringing home a salary and taking care of everything that goes on at home. So as sure as I'm standing here today, if times were such that my husband could afford to provide for us both on his salary alone (living where we do in one of the most expensive areas of the U.S.), nevermind children that would have to be supported as well, and knowing how much I absolutely hate my job but do it only for the money it brings, I would be quitting my job so quickly my own head would spin! I'd be out of here so fast they'd only see dust clouds where once my feet had been.
I guess what it all boils down to are that there are pluses and minuses about living in each era. My grandmother was a 1950's wife (and has been a homemaker her entire life). So while she had to put up with the whole "men are better than women, and women, you better know your place" societal mentality, she never had to go out and work a full time job only to come home and start her second full time job taking care of house, home and children. I see it as six of one, a half dozen of the other; women have gained a bit more respect, but at the same time, we've also saddled ourselves with twice as much work -- all in the name of women's liberation and feminism. Ha! Some liberation!
Your thoughts?
Posted by: Kasey on August 29, 2006 07:20 AMAs an out-of-work house-husband I find these kinds of little reminders invaluable. ;-) My wife works very hard in a career that puts her in a fairly boring environment, but one that can sometimes be tediously intricate and filled with contentious and political people. My career took a nosedive when the bloom went off the dot-com bubble, and from the increased 9/11 economic fallout and consolidation, they company shut down our enterprise. At age 48 I'm out of the range of the hiring-in group for the kind of work I once did.
At home I should vacuum more, but I load the dishwasher and clothes-washer, and she enjoys the glass of wine I bring here when she arrives home. I enjoy the manly-art of barbecue and becoming a better Chef - I make a mean sausage spaghetti sauce from scratch, osso-bucco, standing rib-roast, and meatloaf. She doesn't mind the reloading brass and equipment, and the range-time. We recognize that we have to support each other. Getting married late in life we don't have kids which makes a big difference - and one other KEY thing is to have separate bathrooms...