How to be a Good Wife

I think this was real ...

Don't complain if he stays out ALL NIGHT?!?!

I think I would be the kind of 1950's wife that would use the cast iron frying pan as a weapon!

Yea, this was real. A great loss also.

D/s 1950's style?

or more likely a (male) editor that just got chastised last week for dragging his ass home drunk (again).

My man would LOVE it if I was a little gay (with Shakira) for him when he got home from work.

The rest, I don't know if I can really do without laughing my ass off.

I wonder what kind of work that hypothetical man does. It must be something awefull.

I think he builds robots.

I just printed this out and put it on the refrigerator...wifey hasn't seen it yet. I'll report back when she does.

No... I think you won't be reporting back...

1950's Directive: "Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by"
21st Century Reality: God, I forgot to open the flue. Again? Crap

1950's Directive: "Clear away the clutter"
21st Century Reality: Kids, help me put this charred wood, furniture, and carpeting in the trash. Now. When I say, "now," I mean NOW, damnit!

1950's Directive: "Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces"
21st Century Reality: Look, I know that you have been shoveling burnt debris for the last hour, but do you really need to look like a Welsh coal miner? When I say, "now," I mean NOW, damnit! What Timmy? The trash can is on fire?

1950's Directive: "Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time."
21st Century Reality: Call 911!!!!!!

1950's Directive: "Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order, and tranquillity where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.
21st Century Reality: Your goal: Try to wean yourself off the heavy meds.

I went looking for more information in the interest of becoming the Perfect Woman, and sadly I found http://snopes.com/language/document/goodwife.htm

That's ok though, it still has some good pieces of advice nonetheless.

XD

I guess this was written back before sex was invented. No mention of sex whatsoever.

I collect a lot of 1940-1960 vintage book. I have a ton of how to be a good wife, how to date/be a lady, and how to diet. The diet book is pretty intesting since your height is based on how tall you are with heels, lol.


I know a lot of women bitch about this, but the friends that I have that are happily married and get what they want from their husbands, basically follow a lot of those 1950s rules and their lives are better for it.

Who would want to come home to some chick in sweats with a scrunchie (eww, I feel dirty for just typing that) in her hair, dirty house, and some prepackaged warmed over meal that isn't even from scratch? I wouldn't.



This is from the Lazy Ladies Diet Book by Sidney Peterie published 1969. It is basically a low carb diet book. Some tips in the book are to skip a meal if you are going to have cocktails to save on calories. This is also the perfect setup for date rape since drinking Martinis (the suggested drink, no carbs) on an empty stomach will get you drunk quick, fast and in a hurry.

It's one thing to do it because you want to, its another thing to do it because you're (basically) forced to. My sister is a house-wife and cooks, cleans, takes care of the kids - but it is not *expected* of her, it is something she chose to do.

Assuming that the wife is a housewife and the husband is the only one that makes money to support the family, you have a good point. The man should probably also try not to be a slob if the woman goes out of her way to present a refined aesthetic.

Expectations and *Forcing* are two different things.

I can expect my girlfriend to get a job and not be a slacker, but that doesn't mean I'm going to force her to do it. But if people are in a relationship like marriage, how can you not *expect* someone to adhere to a set of rules and expectations (isn't that why marriages have vows)? Expectations are not a bad thing, but "putting a woman in her place" is. That's probably what you meant, but I wanted to note the distinction.

Marriages are formed on expectations and though you shouldn't *force* someone to do something, if they don't fulfill your established expectations then you can always leave them or coerce them (in the threatening to leave them sense).

Where's the part about getting a lobotomy? cause that's pretty much what it would take to get me to follow this advice. Granted this is probably why I'm divorced lol

You shouldn't kid about that. It was fairly common practice up to the 1950s to lobotomize people for whatever ails them, including the unruly daughter.

But it really goes beyond that. A few months ago, somebody on LJ posted excerpts from a sex education manual for girls published in the 1950s. Several of the passages were like that, but one of the most chilling was about what should be done about girls who fool around a lot, masturbate frequently, or, in general, have overactive libidos and unruly. The book recommended a clitorectomy to calm them down. We would call this procedure nowadays female gential mutilation and it was a continued practice in the United States until 1980.

I do a lot of those things mentioned in that article.

OK shoot me.

My mother accepted that role unquestioningly, as did my father. Now he's dead and she's happy.