The Good Old Days

People refer to the 1960’s as the "good old days." If you really stop to think about that you must ask whom they were truly good for. I’ve come to the conclusion that they were good for white men. They certainly weren’t good for women. Women couldn’t get jobs, their identities were intertwined with their husbands, and sexual harassment was tolerated. Only then being called, "sweet heart" or having your ass grabbed wasn’t sexual harassment. Joy Behar, from the View, has been quoted as saying that while in high school in the 1960’s she was giving a presentation on subject/verb agreement. After class she asked her teacher how she did. He said, "I don’t know, but I could have nailed you right then against that blackboard." She thought he was repulsive and went and told her girlfriend and that was the end of it. She said she never even thought to report it. If that were to happen today that teacher would be arrested, as he most definitely should be. The 1960’s also weren’t good for minorities. They couldn’t vote, had a hard time finding work, and were treated like second class citizens at best. People have a tendency today to view those times with this weird haze of nostalgia but forget all the struggles people had. They are people who have a delusional sense of what the true reality was back then. People mostly equate that time with good family values but forget about the suppression of rights that went along with that.

There is a series on AMC called Mad Men that is supposedly about the 60’s and the struggle people went through. I have not seen an episode, but I’d like to. I think it is interesting how decades after the fact certain time periods are glorified but those that remember living during that time period often do not look back on it with a sense of great joy or nostalgia. They remember it for what it was and often times what it was was difficult and tumultuous.