More Magazine now alerts us to what they call “Fall’s Worst Trend: Sexist Nostalgia.” Spurred on by the rampant success of Mad Men, the show about a Madison Ave advertising agency at the start of the 60s, TV is now presenting Pan Am, a show about flight attendants, and The Playboy Club, a show about, uh, The Playboy Club.
Like Mad Men, both Pan Am and The Playboy Club are set in the early 60s (1963 and 1961, respectively). While some credit the early 60s as being the beginning of feminism, this is like saying The Dark Ages were the beginning of The Enlightenment. Betty Freidan’s 1963 groundbreaking book, The Feminine Mystique is generally acknowledged as the exact dawn of feminism. But, like any other revolution in societal thought, it takes awhile to catch on. For several years after the Feminine Mystique was published, women were defined more by Betty Crocker than by Betty Freidan.
Moving backward (like to pre-1861), there is also the return of Sister Wives, in which we can all live vicariously through the lives of people in a plural marriage. The family in question is Kody and his three wives (“I just fell in love. Then I fell in love again, and I fell in love again,” Kody says by way of explanation). All’s well with that scenario until Kody begins courting Robyn, a 30-year-old divorcee with three kids who is slim and pretty and brunette and the new hand-holding partner he hasn’t had in 16 years. Jealousies bubble up after a two-month courtship when Robyn declares, “Kody’s my soulmate. I love him.” In an effort to console herself over Kody’s latest “wife,” one of the non-hottie wives declares, “I’m glad he’s getting a trophy wife. He’s a great guy. He deserves a cute girl.” Rock on, Kody. You deserve it.
And then there’s Toddlers and Tiaras, the all time guidebook for life in a sexist society. Any sexist society needs training that starts at an early age, and this show delivers big time. Diapered Divas (the kind that haven’t been potty trained yet, as opposed to the kind that grace the pages of magazines wrapped in plain brown paper), prance across the stage in glitter and make up. Once they reach pre-school, they add hair extensions, fake teeth, suntans, and high heels. They jiggle, they gyrate, they pout, they strut their stuff, all to the back-of-the-room commands of the stage moms who say things like “My daughter and I are the same person. When she wins, I win. That’s the deal.”
Recent heartwarming episodes have included parents cramming endless packs of Pixy Stix and other sugar-laden snacks to sleep-deprived contestants, in an effort to have them flaunt their tiny bodies with wide-eyed abandon. Costumes have included a cone bra on a two year old, a hooker costume on a three year old, and fake boobs and butt on a four year old.
Women’s rights? Faggedaboudit, at least on TV. T and A is clearly what we want. All this takes us back to that old joke:
A boss interviews two women for the same job. Both are educated, have great references and can start immediately. Which woman does the boss hire?
The one with the biggest tits.
Life in the Boomer Lane 
BugginWord
October 4, 2011
*sigh*
OPPRESSORS!
Who knew there were shows that could make the cast of the Jersey Shore look enlightened?
Rita Russell
October 4, 2011
It’s insidious and pervasive – my 16 year old daughter told me that muscles on women are ugly ’cause women are supposed to be weak!? Not sure what planet she’s on these days, but I don’t like it!
lifeintheboomerlane
October 4, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane, Rita. What kind of message is society been sending to our kids that would result in your daughter believing that women are supposed to be weak? What have we women been fighting for all these years?
Lisa (Woman Wielding Words)
October 4, 2011
So depressing in a disturbing way.
Tom G.
October 4, 2011
God that depresses the hell out of me. I am always reminded of the disgusting sexualization of kids in this cesspool we call a culture when Halloween rolls around and I take my daughter out shopping for a costume. Let’s see… what should we be this year? a Princess Stripper, a Devil-stripper, a Pirate-stripper, a Little Red Riding hood stripper, etc…
lifeintheboomerlane
October 4, 2011
I’ve only seen the kids in my neighborhood at Halloween, and they are still wearing normal costumes. What you are telling me makes me sick, but it doesn’t surprise me.
Tom G.
October 5, 2011
OK, check out this link and you will think the Bunny costumes and attitudes look downright quaint.
http://www.spirithalloween.com/children_tween-costumes/
lifeintheboomerlane
October 5, 2011
Oh my goodness. I just looked. I’m apalled.
Lisa (Woman Wielding Words)
October 4, 2011
It is so disgusting. I always have to steer my daughter toward more appropriate costumes because the slutty looking ones are always “pretty” and colorful.
Laura
October 4, 2011
Agreed.
winsomebella
October 4, 2011
I read this morning that the Playboy show has just been cancelled. Hoooray. Now for the others.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 4, 2011
Fantastic!
Walker
October 5, 2011
I agree! Thank heavens rating were able to do what marketing/advertising couldn’t! I shudder for our granddaughters.
omawarisan
October 4, 2011
I think the people who put these types of shows on would argue that they’re just documenting how things were, or in some cases are.
History is what it is, but glorifying its low points like this causes a dangerous step back for the daughters of those producers and everyone elses.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 4, 2011
Agreed. I also think about food manufacturers who feed crap to kids. I wonder if they ever step back and realize that their own children are eating the same stuff.
Connie
October 5, 2011
Not to mention the chemicals on everything including childrens toys. Have you seen Bag It? Sickening what we are doing to ourselves and the environment with all these plastics.
Thanks for the interesting read!
lifeintheboomerlane
October 5, 2011
I’m afraid to see the film. I went into a real tailspin after reading Eating Animals. I could barely eat anything.
nrhatch
October 4, 2011
TV isn’t the only mass marketer of outdated stereotypes. Religion also accounts for much of the brainwashing we receive.
The bible is full of archaic nonsense and anti-feminist propaganda that encourages women to honor and OBEY the male figures in their lives ~ causing many women to feel that they should be submissive to men since that’s what “God” intended when “he” wrote the bible.
Ack!
I find it frustrating when otherwise intelligent people look to the archaic notions in the bible and use them as a framework for “feminity.”
For the history of this travesty: When God Was A Woman by Merlin Stone. Excellent book about the subjugation of women in churches, mosques, and synagogues.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 4, 2011
I’ll check out the book. I have always been surprised to read about the deliberate decisions made by early leaders of the church(es) to minimize the role of women and in some cases, to change history in order to demonize or to subjugate women. And in many cases, women, themselves believe this dogma and perpetuate the myth.
nrhatch
October 4, 2011
You got that right . . . some women not only buy into the notion that they should be subservient and submissive to men, but they actively encourage their “sisters” and “daughters” to join them in marching back in time 2000+ years:
http://thegentlehome.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/the-journey-to-reclaim-godly-femininity-part-i/
Her responses are “eye opening” to me. Very scary, indeed.
Vonnie
October 9, 2011
Ladies and gentleman, while I agree with most of the responses to this blog post about the media taking quite a few steps backwards in both creating and airing the two shows (The Playboy Club & Pan Am), I feel compelled and impelled to step in and put mt two cents in when you “attack” the Bible.
The issue is not the words contained within but how some men have chosen to interpret and apply them. While there have been misuses and abuses in some churches, that has not been true of ALL! For example, the Catholic Church has always venerated the role of women. Take the following common prayer:
Hail, Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
To borrow a phrase from a favorite song writer, “love is the victim not the crime”. I AM a true feminist, in that I believe in the power of the feminine and our need and responsibility as women to value our worth and voice in our homes, our communities, our country, and around the world. I also believe that GOD is the source of that value and I hold to the TRUTH be it in the Bible, the Talmud, or the writings of the Buddha. The truth is the truth whether man screws up the interpretation or not.
Oh and try this for reading on the bible and women: BEYOND SEX ROLES by Gilbert Bilezikian. Be warned! It is not a book for the faint of heart or for those who get most of their information out of magazines.
Patricia
October 4, 2011
I am happy I do not have a TV.
pegoleg
October 4, 2011
Maybe it’s human nature to look back at history, any time in history, and fantasize that things were simpler, easier and better then. Of course that isn’t true. But some was in the 60s. Frankly, feminism didn’t turn out to be all a good thing for us women.
That being said, while being physically attractive is certainly nice for either sex, it seems to be a constant struggle for women to ensure that we are not judged as people solely on that basis.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 4, 2011
I think all of us tend to idealize the past, and yes, feminism isn’t the be all and end all for women. But to this day, women continue to be evaluated on a different scale than men, one that depends heavily on physical attributes. And the popular culture has done little or nothing to change that.
atticannie
October 4, 2011
I’m afraid it will get worse before it gets better. My son, An American living in China, wanted a submissive wife who will stay at home with any yet to be conceived children (ala 1950s and 60s). He comments if she buys any tops which show cleavage. I wrote to her after the wedding since her facebook page lists her as working. I asked her about it. She said “No, I’m just taking care of N******. Where did this chadult of mine come from?
atticannie
October 4, 2011
PS He intentionally sought out an Asian wife for that reason.
atticannie
October 4, 2011
Talk of submission reminds me of the recent comments of Michele Bachman. Her definition of submission is “respect”. The first thing women have to learn is that those two words are NOT synonyms. She still evades the question of whether she would still be submissive to her husbands’s wishes should she be voted as President. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/12/michele-bachmann-deflects-submissive-question-at-gop-debate.html
lifeintheboomerlane
October 4, 2011
I’m thinking she’d have an even tougher time being submissive to male members of Congress and her Cabinet. How does one be President like that?
atticannie
October 4, 2011
One doesn’t!
Kathryn McCullough
October 4, 2011
Okay–something is VERY wrong here. The cone bra pushed me over the edge. Our culture may be irredeemably sick. Though I must admit–I laughed out loud when you suggested calling the early 60s the birth of feminism was like comparing the Dark Ages to the birth of Enlightenment–too funny–in a weird, weird, only-in-my-life, kind of way. Great post, Renee!
Kathy
lifeintheboomerlane
October 4, 2011
Thanks, Kathy!
georgettesullins
October 4, 2011
Great post! Once again you have your fingers on the pulse of what’s going on…sexist nostalgia…My daughter chirped the other night about how I have to watch PanAm. I wasn’t interested in watching it, but if she was that excited about recommending it…it will bridge some conversation.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 4, 2011
Thanks, Georgette. I’m not sure whether I have my finger on the pulse of what’s going on, or whether the worst our culture produces keeps smacking me upside the head. Good luck with your daughter!
k8edid
October 5, 2011
I’m thinking it is a little of both…
Amy
October 5, 2011
That Toddlers & Tiaras show causes me actual physical pain. I’ve never seen a whole episode but the previews and clips on other shows are enough. I can’t even express how fundamentally wrong the whole concept is.
The fiction shows I can brush off, but those reality shows are truly disturbing.
livelaughloveliquor
October 5, 2011
Renee, you are so wise and such a great writer! Everything you said is so true. I refuse to watch any of the shows you ,mentioned, just for the vomit factor alone. Hollyweird has always tried to manipulate us on a moral/sociological level, but the reality shows almost make me ashamed to be human. What a disgrace they say about us as a culture.
For the record – I am not a TOTAL feminist. I am a SAH mom and I like it that way. I *almost* feel sometimes, that being home with the kids and raising your family, taking care of your home became out of fashion sometime in the 80s. That’s a damned shamed too. Either way, we cant win.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 5, 2011
I have always believed that the essence of women’s rights is about choice: the choice to work outside the home or in, the choice to spend all of one’s time raising a family or part of one’s time doing so, the choice to bare children or not, and the choice to be sexy at times or at other times to be far more than a sexual object. Many of the moms who are raising these little girls to compete in pageants delude themselves on several levels, primarily that the competition is more about talent than about exploitation. Sadly, these women are teaching their daughters that a woman’s choices in life are narrow, indeed.
My Inner Chick
October 5, 2011
—I am offended and appalled by the photo of the little girl above. This is sexual abuse at the fullest extent…..& I’d like to slap the mothers silly. I’m sooo disgusted.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 5, 2011
Amen.
SisterMerryHellish
October 5, 2011
I feel completely oppressed as an administrative assistant to spoiled, rich men. i cna’t even imagine how bad it would be if we were back in the days of getting an attagirl smack on the ass for a job well done! Just thinking about it makes me want to burn things!
lifeintheboomerlane
October 5, 2011
You know, bras were never actually burned (Draft cards were). But, seriously, other things should have been.
Carl D'Agostino
October 5, 2011
Ann Hutchinson (1600’s Mass) first great American feminist. Check her out. Have 5 books my library on her.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 5, 2011
Go, Ann! I’ll look her up.
TexasTrailerParkTrash
October 6, 2011
I second the motion! Here’s a good one about her that I read last summer:
American Jezebel : the uncommon life of Anne Hutchinson, the woman who defied the Puritans
by Eve LaPlante
TheKitchenWitch
October 5, 2011
Just reading about Sister Wives and Toddlers in Tiaras made me feel dirty. I need a shower now. Eww.
I’m going to be interested to see what goes on in Pan Am. I’ve seen the first two episodes and wonder when the spunky redhead and the mouthy Christina Ricci will dissolve into puddles of tits and ass…
lifeintheboomerlane
October 5, 2011
Toddlers and Tiaras has to be some kind of TV low. I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch Pan Am. Christina Ricci is such a good actress, but I’ve only seen her in serious roles. I can’t imagine….
Deborah the Closet Monster
October 5, 2011
Two A’s come to mind here: “Agreed” and “Aurgh.” I recently read a discussion about how we’re “post-feminist” now. When there’s equality everywhere and no one suffers repercussions of what they (versus who they are), then we’ll be post-feminist. But in this world, where diapered divas exist? There’s still a clear need for feminism.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 5, 2011
We, as a society, are as “post-feminist” as we are “post-discrimination.” Methinks there is a need for “humanism,” for a society that values all people and places people above monetary gain. So far, we fail in both areas.
k8edid
October 5, 2011
No truer words were spoken than those.
Stacey
October 5, 2011
Ah yes, there is certainly a very dark side to vintage. The good news is that The Playboy Club has been cancelled, so I read. I cheered!
chlost
October 5, 2011
I am so depressed that feminism is still a bad word for some people a la “I am not really a feminist”. It makes me angry that.Bachmann. Palin and other ultraconservative women complain about the women’s movement….they would not be able to be in their positions of power were it not for the women’s movement. It is unbelievable to me that we are going backwards, looking at the 60’s as “the good old days”. Sexism is not good. Society needs the talent and intelligence of every person (male, female, black, white, green, purple, gay, straight, bi or trans, to have any hope of solving the problems we face. I had thought that the retro shows-Madmen, etc.-would make the young people appreciate where things are now in comparison, help them realize how far things have come. Guess not. Toddlers and tiaras should be used as evidence in child protection cases against every one of the parents involved. We are sick.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 5, 2011
I do believe society is sick. We poison our environment and our food and the brains of our children. We consistently place monetary gain above the welfare of people. We continue to put children at risk. We voice secondhand (and usually erroneous) opinions of issues because we refuse to take the time to educate ourselves in the proper way. We hide in our small lives because to take a stand is scary or unprofitable. We refuse to take responsibility for the ills of the world. We delude ourselves that our families and our children and our lives will be safe. We are wrong. Aaargh, now I’ve sunk into a depression.
Vonnie
October 9, 2011
For Pete’s sake, quit blaming the”conservatives” and the “Christians”. I AM both and hold to a belief in the highest expression of what is masculine and feminine. As long as people point a crooked finger and pass the blame, we get nowhere! Take responsibility for your life and what is happening in the world immediately around you. Catch yourself in your own personal biases and endeavor to be different the next time. This world can be healed one life at a time when each individual steps up to “live his/her BEST life”!
ifiwerebraveblog
October 6, 2011
I recently had to buy costumes for my 7 and 9 year old girls. I cannot tell you how slim the pickings are. More than half are slutty. Our only option is to be as kickass as we can be. Flood the world with lots of examples of what a strong, smart woman really is.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 6, 2011
Agreed. And go to the managers of these stores and tell them you will no longer buy there because of the costumes. Parents need to speak up!
Tori Nelson
October 7, 2011
A testament to my dumbness: I was thinking “Ugh. Men suck. All the objectifying of the womenz and all that”…. while also making a mental note not to miss these shows next week 🙂
lifeintheboomerlane
October 7, 2011
Listen, I was a real fan of Mad Men, although Draper’s treatment of women was gross. But I still watched.
lynliam
October 7, 2011
Im thinking isnt the nostalgia because we have become obssessed with consumerisim and being independant working women and are looking at the simpler life, i sometimes day dream of a husband and not working and being able to be a stay at home wife, ive never been able to try it so maybe its just an idealistic dream, but being a single parent working 2 jobs to survive is tough some days. My mum was a housewife with a good husband and she was happy so it cant have been all bad.
Im dont know much about feminisim, and im no fan of dressing little girls in adult clothes either.
lifeintheboomerlane
October 9, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane, Lyn, and for your comments. In a perfect world, all women whould have the choice to work outside the home or not. In a perfect world, all men would be open to staying home to raise the children if a woman’s career was the more important. In a perfect world, choices would be made base on the well-being of the children, rather than by economic considerations. And yes, I think we do tend to idealize what we consider a simpler time, when roles were defined and life seemed to involve fewer choices.
Vonnie
October 9, 2011
DAH! HELLO! The feminist movement was all about women being able to make their own choices. Or so that is where it started. I CHOSE to leave a great job to stay home with my first child. My husband and knew we were making a difficult choice and we struggled for years. But ask my two grown children and they will tell you they would take having mom at home over new cars, bigger houses, and expensive vacations any day!
But the movement over time was not very supportive of my choice, and at-home-soccer-moms were made the subject of jokes and political jabs at conservatives. Then the movement became “we can have it all” and women began to burn out and girls went wild and boys shot their classmates and then shot themselves. Our world has turn to insanity.
TV is not the problem per se.
Hollywood is just a pawn in a much bigger AGENDA. There are those in places of great power who do not like the concept of freedom, who believe the average human being is simply too stupid to knew what is in his/her best interest. Do you young mothers not realize that your children, our future, spend more time each day being influenced by people you do not know than they spend with you, learning your truth and your values? Our public school system now takes 4 year olds for 8 hours a day programs!
Pick up one of your children’s text books and read through it. You will find a changed history full of half truths and full out fabrications. Your children are being systematically brainwashed to even question you as parents. Most of you are too busy to even be involved in what is going on in school. Yep, I was an at home mom and I know the vast majority of you were not present for teachers meetings.
This fact alone should scare the sh-t out of each of us! And the REALLY scary part is we may be too late to stop this run away train! We may all have to deal with the aftermath of an enormous, catostrophic CRASH!