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Tonight's #VintageMagTweets are from a 1982 magazine called Options. It's not a title I knew.
A reminder that people did drink and drive, and initially found the new legislation an infringement of their social lives.
This was a surprise to me: a Fiat Panda where you could strip the seat covers right off.
(How flimsy does that look?)
But back then, being able to clean your seat covers was more important than the robustness and safety of the vehicle.
A reminder that the world has no difficulty assessing the sex of humans.
Boys preferred.
Is this true?? How would it work?
Women's lives worth less.
Hands up who had a Snoopy phone?
I love this image of a girl just having splashy fun. Would we see anything so gender-free in advertising today?
Ok, I'll pause it there because this the next section is about a survey the magazine did on women's attitudes and it needs to be tweeted in a block. More next week. X
Right, a bit more from Options in #VintageMagRweets. Here the magazine decided to ask its readers about the state of play for UK females.
Two interesting little snapshots there.
Two more. The standard inequality of insurance back then, together with the famous remark by a judge claiming a young woman was 'partly responsible' for being raped.
The latter - and more - is covered in detail in 'Misogynies' by @polblonde.
First indications of what the Options survey found.
That's a shocking figure, and almost certainly the portrayal of feminism in the popular press will have been a huge factor.
Many women of the early 80s not giving credit to the feminists who had fought so hard for their rights.
Yeah, who wants to be unattractive to men??
Pesky rights. Who needs 'em, galz?
At which point I shall pause and once again quote this brilliant paragraph from @BoozeAndFagz which is blu-tacked to the wall above my desk.
At which point I shall pause and once again quote this brilliant paragraph from @BoozeAndFagz which is blu-tacked to the wall above my desk.
This is interesting. That so many realised this key fact *then*, but apparently not now.
But getting a guy trumps everything.
Some interesting, and depressing, statistics.
'Agree' is the left hand column.
A quarter of women married to men who didn't like them going out on their own.
"What is femininity?" I hope you're taking notes.
That's the end of this block. I'll add some more next week. X
Right, a few more #VintageMagTweets from a 1982 edition of Options.
Firstly, this is what happens when you only have men planning a TV programme on healthcare. #MaleDefault #InvisibleWomen
Firstly, this is what happens when you only have men planning a TV programme on healthcare. #MaleDefault #InvisibleWomen
In 1982, two women out of a panel of fourteen felt like an amazing step towards equality.
Genuinely impressive move from Jeremy Isaacs.
When Channel 4 first appeared, it did seem to want to advance sex equality. These production houses were ground-breaking and important.
I'd love to know the stats on women in TV production now, @Channel4. Perhaps you stayed ahead of the game? Let us know.
Article on female tradespeople now.
'I wouldn't want anyone to think I was one of those nasty feminist types.'
Basically that wife erases every trace of her working day before her husband gets home to his sherry. It's as if she can only justify having her job if it's invisible to him.
I'd take issue with the verb "assumed" here. Many women were just told flatly to get out of the jobs they'd been doing. It didn't matter if they protested or not.
Girls as usual pushed out of the way of lucrative trades.
Imagine the courage you'd need to enter that environment.
I've read before how girls and women were kept out of jobs because 'there were no female toilets' or 'we don't make uniforms in small sizes'.
The stat for 1982.
Onto the new law. There was a time when nobody was required to wear a seat belt at all!
I did a first aid course in the 80s, and one of the commonest injuries (they said) was a stove-in chest where drivers hadn't worn seat belts then been in a bad collision.
Ah, look, @CCriadoPerez ! Even as far back as 1982, car designers were being told their safety features were not ok for women. And still it's an issue! #InvisibleWomen
Europe realised that children and back seat passengers needed specific protection before we did.
I think this still happens.
Finally, more comments on How to be Properly Feminine. Do yourself down, essentially.
And what the Sex Discrimination Act was supposed to do (it didn't).
That's the end of this thread. X
