More about the 1970s

[tiferet]

A few details about the 1970s, from someone who actually lived through them.

Comments

[chaosdancer]

Oh yeah...and "Gentlemen prefer Haines" and "That's the trouble, Ethel - you *smell* like a deodorant soap." They'd never be allowed on the air these days.

H.R. Puffinstuf - loved it then, love it still. :)

[chaosdancer]

Oh god...I remember Love's Baby Soft!! Smelled like licorice to me - fluffy pink licorice. I hated the stuff!

Geez, this was all so long ago. I'm so glad I don't have to relive those years. I'd be so tempted to knock some people's heads into walls. And yet the cultural programming is still lurking underneath it all. I see my younger friends thriving and wonder what it must have been like growing up without stuff like that in one's head.

[tiferet]

Uh, that's JK Rowling.

[tiferet]

It's okay. She usually looks nicer than that which is why we used it for that particular slogan.

[lareinenoire]

Thanks for posting this. Especially #3 and #5.

[kabeyk]

Yeah, totally. I wasn't even alive then, but I still always assumed pretty much all that you just said. Kids get bullied now for possibly acting a bit gay now, never mind 30 years ago.

I didn't realise there were “I’m keeping my baby because good people don’t get abortions” fics., but ugh! Don't ever want to read any of those.

Up womens' rights and mullets!

kxx

[tiferet]

There was a whole slew of pregnant Hermione fics a year or so ago because some whack chick posted that too many people ignored the topic of safe sex in their fics.

Because it's only logical, of course, that people who can regrow entire bones overnight can't figure out how not to get pregnant when they want to.

[kabeyk]

I don't mind a bit of safe sex talk in fanfic, but yeah, magical contraceptive will be some sort of potion once a month, and Hermione is far too sensible not to know everything about it if she was having sex.

One thing that annoys me is when people have their characters cast a contraceptive spell on themselves or their partner, it weirds me out.

kxx

[tiferet]

I don't mind--I figure there's more than one way. For instance if you haven't been in a relationship and haven't had a potion (maybe you have to take it at the right phase of the moon), it's an emergency spell, like using a condom if you're not on the Pill.

What weirds me out is wizards using condoms. Latex condoms. With Astroglide. And they're not Muggle-born.

If I didn't have to use condoms to preserve my health, I wouldn't--most people wouldn't.

[gillieweed]

Amen to this! (From someone who also lived through it)
You might want to throw in that computers took up entire rooms back then and there was no such thing as instant messaging!

[tiferet]

Someone did IM in a MWPP fic?

Okay, in 1980 I used to stand guard over the university computer room (I got paid $3 an hour to do it) for my dad who was a university prof.

And we had the Control Data PLATO system with terminals not too much bigger than they are now. And I think that's when my mom started using the WANG word processors. But...yeah. In 1977 I was so excited, I got to make punch cards!!!

[mrs_muggle]

Yeah, and computing lessons meant learning to read and write punch-tape (and then it got sent to the local Poly to go through their computer. My best friend's dad lectured there and we used to go and gaze at it.)