Confession: I don’t get the 60’s. Of course there is music from the 60’s that works for me, and there is the mighty automotive theme of yesterday’s post, but as a decade, I’ve never really gained the pop-culture appreciation that most people of my era have. I realize that I’ll be raising hackles on many people, but I don’t see it as a magical time. And truth be told, I wasn’t there. I was born in February of 1970, so my only real experience with the 60’s was conception and gestation. So clearly, I’m talking out of my bootie on this one.
I think feminism has done as much bad as good. Not that feminism was created in the 60’s, but great strides were made during that time.
Yes, I appreciate being able to wear trousers without sidelong glances or presumption that I’m a lesbian. Yes, it’s great that women can go without the constraints of a brassiere. [As a side note: I’m very pro-brassiere. I’m 37 years old and still have high and firm titties. It works for me. I know plenty of women who don’t enjoy such a fate and even rue casting aside their bras as their udders sail to lower and lower latitudes of their anatomy. Having said that, I haven’t borne children either, so my bosoms have mostly been used as modes of seduction and toys for boys. I’m a giver.] Yes, a lady can work in a man’s field. I do. It has ups and downs.
The downside of feminism is that it has bred a climate of political correctness, especially in fields that have any crossover with academia, which disallows fun and off-color joking. Shameful. People seem to be constantly censoring themselves out of saying the fun and amusing things that would make them much more interesting. One of the saddest results of this feminist movement is men who have had the backbone bullied out of them.
The whole free love, hippie peacenik thing: it tends to overlook balance in favor of happy, pretty, peace. Peace is flat without some complimentary aggression. Balance, friends, it soothes my soul.
To give fair credit, lots of good came from the 60’s. Music, writing, sex, tolerance, and surely a bunch of political stuff that I know virtually nothing about because I’m admittedly horrible about paying attention to history. And that makes up the theme of this post: in the end, I may not know what I’m talking about, and I wasn’t there.
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7 comments:
Kids! Huh!
The Sixties WERE that good, Fresh.
Decade by decade things have been getting suckier ever since.
Oh, I don't know, Dive. Each decade has given us SOMETHING worthy.
Born in '66 and don't remember much before being horrified by flared trousers and the smell of patchouli. The 70's were pretty bad, but they did give us Starsky & Hutch and punk. Therefore: Redeemed.
The 80's were better for me because I could drink legally by '87 and the alternative music scene in Boston was pretty effing good, and man, did I partake of the bounty.
The 90's - I did too much 'growing up' for my taste, and the music was a bummer until alt country entered my consciousness. But great strides were made in paying off student loans and let's not forget clumping cat litter. Greatest invention of the 20th century besides the internet.
Re - Political correctness: Remember this, it's only sexual harrassment if the perpetrator is ugly or undesirable. If he's good looking and desirable, it's "playful workplace banter."
Dive~ Every generation has it's time in the sun, but I'm with Andraste on this one. Flair pants and patchouli are almost more than I can bear.
I can many things from each of the subsequent decades that is worthy of reverence, though the current decade isn't really impressing me all that much. I'm sure while I reflect from next decade, this one will have some stellar moments. I reckon that music is the constant, even when overall, popular music is sucking, I've always been able to find music that sings to my soul.
Andraste~ Clumping cat litter is all about bentonite clay. I don't know why it took so long for someone to figure that out, but I'm awful glad they did.
I could go for a little more "playful work banter".
I was around for most of the 60s, but I was a little kid trying to learn how to ride a two wheeler, so I wasn't aware of most of the stuff that went on around me.
Most change takes place in waves up severe ups and downs, and I think with feminism, we haven't settled in yet. When we do, we won't need a phrase like feminism anymore. When we find that balance, and men and women are more comfortable around each other (if that's even possible), we can lighten up, tell a wonky joke, and move on.
My Dad reckons the 60s didn't hit the north of England til the 70s, which would explain my brother and I being conceived in the 70s and our awful flared trousers.
England did win the World Cup for the one and only time in '66 though, so I do have a bit of a soft spot for that decade.
well, all i know, i remember some of the 60's, so i guess i was there..but most of that decade is a haze. . .
Scout~ Wise words on feminism and boys and girls co-existing.
Aliblahblah~ That's as good a reason as any to go soft on the decade.
Mrs. G~ I'm 37 for heaven sake, if I haven't had 'em by now . . .
Savannah~ knowing myself as I do, if I'd lived through the 60's my recollection would likely be vague at best. ;-)
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