Hello all. I have yet to make to one of the FDG meetings, post to the blog, or even comment on any postings. However, I've still been avidly following the happenings of this fine establishment and thought I'd pass along a link to an article found on BoingBoing.net.
The article displays a marital rating scale for wives created in 1939. Enjoy the read, it's quite appalling.
-Mike
2 comments:
Oh man, that is quite the list. If I were a wife, I'd fail miserably. I know I shouldn't be surprised that such a list existed in the 1930s, but I still am. The blatant sexism of that time will always shock me. But the "wife test" makes me wonder a few things. How much of the underlying attitude of this test still runs strong in marriages today? And how can we address the sexism in our society now that we no longer have "wife tests" to use as proof that sexism still exists today. More and more news articles come out saying that we have a "boy problem" because women are doing so well (god, feminism, give it a rest--you've done more harm than good) and that women are doing so well in college and jobs. The media among others are trying to paint a portrait of a feminist movement that has ended and should continue to be dead because it no longer has anything to fight. Apparently, the only thing that the feminist movement should be fighting, are hideous "wife tests." Get rid of that, and everything is perfectly wonderful. I'm exaggerating, of course, but as we've talked about in our discussions, this is something that the feminist movement is struggling with: How do you fight sexism that isn't blatant--just subtle? In many ways, I think it's a harder fight to fight.
Any way, thank you so much for the "wife test," Mike. I appreciate it very much so.
http://flickr.com/photos/tiabla/sets/72157605047200616/
There is where you can see the rest of the test (husband & wife)
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