A Test of Gender

There has been a lot of discussion lately about gender labels and this has led to a broadening of the standards for "normal" behaviour which were very narrow in the Mad Men era. The storybook image of the ideal woman in the 1950s was June Cleaver, a domestic caregiver. Her husband had a career and "brought home the bacon". Magazines were active in reinforcing these stereotypes.

The May, 1953 issue of pulp magazine The Girl Friend ( and The Boy Friend ) offered 2 gender specific tests for its readers. The quiz, strictly for girls, asked the question “What are Your Best Fitted for: Love or Career?"

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The second quiz titled "Will You Make a Good Lover?" was strictly for males, but directed “girl readers” to quiz their boyfriends.

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Aren't you glad you didn't grow up in that era?

More here

Thanks Bruce!

Comments

  1. Eh, kind of. I think that I could have been born 10 years earlier than I was and be quite happy. But I'd be horrified of growing up 10 years later. And I already am for my kids.

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