The Good Wife’s Guide
Eileen received a copy of this, forwarded from a friend (click on the picture for a more readable version). I’m a skeptical old fart and headed over to snopes.com to see if Michael or Barbara had anything to say about it.
They do, but whether it’s for real is yet to be determined. Still, Eileen had a good laugh and I’m sure you all will appreciate it also… 
Popularity: 42% [?]
janet wrote:
I grew up with this. It took me a very long time to realize the damage it did to me and other women. I don’t laugh anymore although I understand why people think it is funny. It hasn’t gone away though.
Posted on 14-Mar-07 at 12:48 pm | Permalink
Emma wrote:
Ah. It’s the ribbon in the hair I’ve been forgetting…
Snort !
Seriously, someone I know got a booklet from her church, saying much the same thing, when she got married. In 1990.
A complete pile of sh*t, in my consideed opinion.
There are still young women who won’t let their partners see them without make-up or naked. That’s a tragic state for any relationship.
I have quite a bit to say about this, but I know you could say it for me.
Posted on 14-Mar-07 at 3:08 pm | Permalink
Jerry wrote:
I didn’t mean to offend anyone. The list is *so* outrageous, I didn’t think anybody still had to deal with these requirements. None of the women I know (and certainly the woman I’ve lived with for the past 25 years) would abide these rules.
Posted on 14-Mar-07 at 9:57 pm | Permalink
linda wrote:
Jerry, I had lost you for a bit, but have now caught up. I wanted to say I am sorry you have lost your little pet. I like your pictures of statues etc. and always enjoy your blog. All best to you. Linda in Ann Arbor who knits
Posted on 15-Mar-07 at 5:37 am | Permalink
Janet wrote:
You did not offend me.
It isn’t whether we are willing to put up with it (abide this). Many will not abide the attitude. But the attitude is always there–different form; same idea.
I thank you very much for your sensitivity and humor and wonderful pictures.
And I hope you go full time to be trained as a chef.
Posted on 15-Mar-07 at 2:49 pm | Permalink
Becky wrote:
My grandparents are from this time, I can’t even imagine! Women seriously followed these guidelines?
Posted on 02-May-07 at 5:47 pm | Permalink
Bruce Snyder wrote:
In my class today I used this bulleted list (purportedly from 1955) to set up a reading of Betty Freidan’s The Feminine Mystique, chapter one. One of my 21st century female students said she very much ascribed to these “traditional values”, which got me thinking: how is subservience a “value” that still seems attractive to a young woman? Could it be some kind of nostalgia for a past which actually never existed? I was a grammar school kid in 1955 and I remember my mother working like a dog around the house. Her work was never done. When my father came home, he “relaxed”. When we went on a family vacation he “relaxed”. When my mother “relaxed”, she was darning socks, ironing, cooking, hanging up laundry, knitting, preparing Sunday School lessons, going over Girl Scout meeting plans, sewing, canning, wring letters, paying bills, swweping, vaccuuming, washing floors, doing dishes. How can a 16 year old girl of 2007 say she wants that to be her life today? I mean I can understand a boy longing for the days when the man was the “master of the house”, but isn’t that sort of an adolescent masculine power fantasy? What benefits would a young lady see in those “traditional values”?
Posted on 05-Jun-07 at 11:33 am | Permalink