JORDAN BAKER 1977 -
In one respect, my rules seem much stricter than those of my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. There seems to be much more crime and danger in modern society, and my rules reflect this. I am not allowed to walk by myself or catch the train in the dark, to go into the city alone, or to go out without telling my parents where I am going, who I am going with, what I will do there, how I will get there, and when I will be home. These rules didn't seem as important in the past, in times when crime rates were lower and the streets safer.
Chores now are a lot easier than those in my grandmother’s and great- grandmother's childhood.
We have modern appliances that do the work in half the time and with 10% of the trouble, whereas my great-grandmother didn't even have electricity. My chores only consist of making my bed, tidying my room and unpacking the dishwasher.
Girls in my generation are not prohibited in any way from seeing boys. Rather, it is unusual if a girl doesn't socialise with boys on a regular basis before her late teens. Parents now could not attempt to segregate the sexes or forbid them from seeing each other; it happens too casually and too frequently for this to be practical.
Expectations of women have changed a lot from my great-grandmothers and grandmother's time. Then women would only ever work until they were married. They would seldom have tertiary or even secondary education, which were seen as unnecessary for a woman, as she would only be keeping house and raising the children. Now, it is just as common for a woman to have university qualifications and an influential, powerful job as it is for men. Now, women don’t just work to fill in time between school and marriage. They work because they know they have the talent and potential to be what they want to be, not just a housewife. Women are not only accepted, but expected to do well and achieve.
Libraries offer a far wider range of books now than they have ever done before. The subjects of books have become far more explicit and varied, so should parents wish to do so, there is more need for reading and viewing censorship and restrictions for children than at any time in the past. Until only a few years ago my parents were very strict about my viewing, and many shows were considered unsuitable by them. However my reading has not been restricted so much, partly because from an early age my mother has guided me along the paths that she followed as a girl, so I grew up preferring "Pollyanna" to "Forever". As a teenager, censorship for me is decreasing, rather than increasing as it did for my mother's, grandmother's and great grandmother's adolescence. My parent's view is that as I mature, I am more able to handle more sensitive issues.
There has never been a fashion revolution quite like the one in the 60’s since then. Fashions for young people today are relaxed and easy; jeans, jumpers, shorts and T shirts. Skirts are becoming shorter, and clothes are becoming more daring.
There is a great contrast between the fashions prescribed for my grandmother and great-grandmother and those which I wear. Then it was shocking for dresses to be knee-length, now it is common for them to be halfway up the thighs. (However, we teenagers of the 90's cannot compete with the shortness of the skirts worn by our mothers in the 60' sand 70’s, when skirts barely covered the backside.) Then it was unusual for women to wear trousers, now more women wear them than shorts. However even in the seventies, my mother was forbidden to wear trousers to work. Then women wore hats, gloves and suspender belts; now few women even own any of these articles.
The biggest change that has occurred between my great-grandmother's youth and mine is technology. Then, they didn't even have electricity. Now, they have everything from microwave ovens to mobile 'phones to live satellites. The nature of the people has not really changed; this is demonstrated by three generations all devouring prohibited reading. It is just the circumstances that are really different.
THANK YOU TO;
Molly Ellson
Joan Smith
Wendy Baker