Looking Back: Does looking after your man give you immense personal satisfaction?
A far cry from the old days in the 1950s when a wife particularly was told ‘If you make your bed, you must lie in it!’ if making any complaints about her relationship.
Mothers were always ready to give their daughters good advice. ‘A good wife always knows her place’ was a frequent maxim.
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Hide AdEven at secondary schools girls could be encouraged to concentrate on subjects like domestic science and needlework, whilst learning shorthand and typing after leaving school could lead to a coveted position as secretary to the boss and possibly romance and marriage. What more was there to aspire to?
If a wife was unhappy and shared the fact with friends or family, she could be told ‘He provides for you. Where will you go?’ which actually was a valid point then with women having few rights.
It did seem to many women that their man was their sole purpose for living at that time.
Wanting a job could be thought of as selfish when your role was to stay at home, look after the house and be a good mother. What else was there in life? You certainly couldn’t do both.
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Hide AdMagazines of the day like Woman’s Own gave advice on ‘How to please your man!’
It was important that you never bothered him with any petty troubles you might have. His day was much more important than yours, so you listened to his problems.
Your job was to provide a clean, quiet, and welcoming home, greeting him each evening looking trim and groomed, pinny off, lipstick on, and with a tasty meal ready to serve. Children invisible!
‘Be a little gay and interesting. He may have been surrounded with boring people at work.’
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Hide AdYou were there to boost up his ego, provide him with a satisfying sex life no matter how tired you were and let him think he wears the pants.
‘And remember, catering for his comfort will give you immense personal satisfaction’.
Do you think women actually believed all that? And still do?