1954 Video: Socially Acceptable Behaviors for Young Women
Tuesday, November 2, 2010 at 7:37AM
By Jill—Unnecesarean
In this 1954 educational film, Barbara is a teenage girl who learns from the narrator that she is a lazy piece of shit, inferior to her perfect neighbor Helen and destined to wear sweaters with stains so big that people will think she got shanked in the washroom by one of those “long-hairs.” [“Long-haired” is used in the film as a pejorative.]
Thanks to this paranoia-inducing lesson from a faceless moral policewoman, Barbara learns that “[i]f you try, really try, you can root out the poor, accidental habits and establish in their place the good habits approved by custom, accepted by society.”
I’m ready for your best sociological analysis of what this teaches us about gender roles and cultural expectations and norms in the U.S. in the 1950’s. Go!
Reader Comments (35)
I just want to point out that if my friends found me socially unacceptable every time I had a stain on my clothes, I would have no friends.
Do they live in a lighthouse? What the hell kind of creepy staircase is that??
About the rest, I just have nothing to say. Gah.
That was a blood stain...I think they are missing the significant signs of a blood thirsty serial killer amongst their midst.
I didn't find so much wrong with this video. I think a little lesson in manners and being prepared would help a lot of people. It certainly is dated, but manners and cultural standards help people interact with ease. I know I wish I would've developed better habits when I was younger. It's more difficult now that I have my own kiddos and a home and husband.
Her eggs were cold because they are RAW!
Overall good rules for living - eat regular meals, get enough sleep, keep good hygiene, plan your day, get into good habits. I'm not having a real problem with this. Maybe b/c I have talked myself hoarse with my older kids.
Welllllll.... firstly, the overall point - of setting habits (which I believe they are using in a way that would be interchangable with the currently used word routines) helps make your life easier so you'll be less frazzled - is a good one.
What wasn't so good was the way that message was conveyed - by the narrator who was continually talking down to Barbara. Barbara may have had some organizational troubles, but none of them insurmountable.
I found the (continually repeated and thinly veiled) message that how you look is what's most important, to be tiresome & disturbing. They briefely mentioned reading, studying the arts, but all in an effort to please those around you, not in an effort to be more educated & forwarding personal growth.
As for the gender roles: brother had good habits & got to school on time, Barabara did not. Father goes to work, Mom stays home & fusses over the kids. Thankfully, this was made in the 50s. what would be interesting is to see a current film about establishing good routines to help organize your life.
Thanks for sharing; nice peek into the world of our mothers.
I really like how everyone in Helen's family enjoys the father's comments on the news - yes we women just luuuuurve to sit down and shut up to let men pontificate on current events and issues. That's what good women do!
Also, great that nobody is questioning whether or not you should compare yourself to others, or do what "custom and society" approves of. No wonder parents never did anything about bullying, they think it's a matter of course!
Argh, no Youtube allowed at work!
Watching videos like this makes the 60s so much more understandable; who wouldn't want to grow out their hair, forego washing, and get stoned after sitting through that?
Hmm...I dunno, I'm a little too much like Barbara, and I'm trying to make my kids form habits & routines more like Helen's. ;)
I love how the whole purpose of her cultivating good habits was supposed to be so that she might better have fit in to the popular crowd. I mean, what else is life about, right?
I was just like Barbara. Turns out, I was also ADHD,...
well, i wasn't born then, nor is my name Barbara, however, i am shocked that they made a movie about me without my permission. :P
My question is, why didn't Helen pee first thing after getting out of bed, like the rest of the human race?
Also, why doesn't she wash her clothes when she takes them off? That would be a good habit to get into.
In that era, it was common to get several wearings out of your clothes before you washed them, moreso than it is today.
I was thinking ADHD on a lot of those issues, as well!
I found it HI-larious! I mean,"setting good habits" is important, and I try really hard to be organized, simply because it makes my life run smoother.. with 4 kids and one on the way, I have to be reasonably organized. But if I had to go to a party like that one, I'd either run screaming from the house or drink enough to pass out so I wouldn't have to hear that crap! What teenager wants to go to party like that? And, I have several stains on my shirt right now! I agree that we need to help our kids learn good habits and routines, but the inherent biases in that clip are good reminders of how far we've come. That said, we don't see training films like this for our kids now... how to behave in public, how to be organized, neat, on time. These are still important things, and I see full grown adults who can't get it together. I know MANY people at my place of employment have lost their jobs simply because they either were late too many times or called in "sick" too many times. Totally irresponsible. I have a rather good paying job for the area I live in and I can't imagine losing it simply because I was late too many times! How childish is that!?! I know quite a few people who can't carry on a conversation unless it's all about them, and whos personal grooming habits are bad enough they've been sent home or sent to the "back of the house" to correct the problem at work! Imagine, showing up to work too wrinkled or dirty to do the job?!?! Gross!
The video isn't using the term "long hair" to refer to hippies- it uses "longhair" to refer to classical music; as in, all the great classical composers had long hair. It would have only been pejorative term to teenagers!
I'll have to go home to see this one; can't see it here at work. Maybe I will find out it was shown to me in homemaking class!
But I wonder if you have the one where the girl is too "easy" so no one likes her, even the boy who took advantage of her. It was from this era.
Susan
@ Susan- oo! I wanna see that one.
I found this both hilarious and disturbing. The main message seemed to be "get in your damn sheep suit and follow the herd already!" I see now why the 60s were necessary.