un: xx_heartoffire_xx; current dated (so before camping and anarchy)

[stavros]

I must say, while tradition is an important part of life at this school and in general... At times I wonder.

Were people in the 1950s quite okay?

And has anybody actually used this advice? I've been told not to heed the advice from teen magazines, but it must be better than any of this.

Comments

[nor_iron_bars]

ahahahahahaha GOD no, these ppl had like
SO much generational trauma and cultural sexism.

btw the teen magazine advice is literally just this kind of shit but modernized.
except for some of the tips about nail art, those are legit sometimes.
depends on the magazine.

[stavros]

The "45 Flirty Texts Your Crush Won't Ignore" at least all seemed to be sensible... to a point. Or at least they did not suggest reading the obituary to flirt with the recently bereaved.

[nor_iron_bars]

just cause they won't ignore 'em doesn't mean you're gonna get a GOOD reaction, if you get my drift.

[stavros]

Well, what would you suggest?

un: Galanthusnivalis

[buddinghopes]

... I'm not sure they were.

[stavros]

What qualifies one's roommate as a sad sack, exactly?

[buddinghopes]

I'm honestly at a loss for that one... Isn't that kind of rude anyway? Calling someone a name because they're sad...

Being nice to people is just being a decent person? Also, stumbling when you enter a room is just asking to actually get hurt...

[stavros]

I suppose. I've done that enough on accident, unfortunately.

un: Bekamari

[lifeforced]

what



[The same message is repeated, about three minutes later:]
what

[stavros]

I know not which is the worst part, but they're all pretty bad.

[lifeforced]

A lot of them sound like huge red flags to me.

[She's not even interested in looking and she knows not to do these, whether it's because they sound stupid, or blatantly inconsiderate, or both, or just plain weird.]

[stavros]

Do you suppose? Things like the dieting are a little suspect, at least because they might be dangerous... and pointless besides.

UN: ThreeCoffins

[improbablenotimpossible]

Half of these are basically how to end up as a murder victim.

[stavros]

That seems a bit excessive, does it not? Though I am unsure as to how any of them would attract someone.

[improbablenotimpossible]

Most of these... aren't that strange given Women have to play a passive role in their own courtship until fairly recently.

Constantly moving around to be in the company of strangers in an era with no personal phone is extremely reckless.

[stavros]

True, when one thinks of it that way. And writing one's name and phone number atop a building cannot possibly work. I doubt most could even get access to a roof that would allow for it.

un: ornithology

[hawkwardness]

Huh. I always just assumed even the authors weren't taking 'tips' like that seriously.

[stavros]

But if they were not, then why would they publish them?

[hawkwardness]

Easy money? Write nonsense and get paid for it.

UN: Ollin

[unpocoloco]

Everyone here has made points. When you press back into any time, there's bound to be things we find appalling. In fifty years from now, it will be the same.

For a long time, women were expected to take on certain roles and, even if they could find a job to mind themselves, it would often come with less pay or more stigma, forcing them to be dependent on marriage... and, you know, some people really do just want to fall in love. But you mix all that and it makes finding a partner suddenly the most important and stressful thing in the world, whether you want it or not. To the point, people would make it out like life or death and go to really crazy lengths.

Many years after that, especially following the major wars, there were more freedoms but people hadn't quite broken out of cultural norm yet, and, in some cases, didn't want to because so much of their world had already changed. And so, you get magazines like this. Some bought in and some didn't, just like any era really.

[stavros]

[Who... well, it's not as if she knows everyone.]

I understand. Even so, however... bandages and tax opinions?

[unpocoloco]

Heh. People come up with weird ideas when they're desperate and not much else has worked yet.

[ He... could relate. For different reasons than a 1950's woman trying to find a husband. ]

UN: JOJO2

[standless]

Oh my.

A number of these seem utterly tasteless...Precisely how did we move from expected courting activities to these?

(For that matter, how is it done now?? I've not paid much attention to these things I admit.)

[stavros]

According to the teen mags I've been reading, generally one attempts to gain someone's attention by finding things they like and talking to them about them, or attempting to be put in the same workgroup at school. According to the people I actually know... honestly, I know not how any of their relationships ended up the way they did.

[standless]

I can't imagine that I would be much more help. While I met my wife as a child, we only re-met years later through a hospital...

To be precise, she was my nurse.