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There is not one single person in my family or in my acquaintance who looks back fondly on the 1950s. Not one.
Probably because they are looking at the 50's as only a time when there was discrimination. As I have already said, there was a lot more good about the 50's than bad and the poster you replied to is right on about the good things.
I believe that there are many here at CD that believe we are doing better in 2012. Most of these same people are those who are still living off mom and pop into their 40's. Some have $100k in educational loans and can only find a job at MickyD's or Starbucks if at all. In the 50's there were no electronic games to spent countless hours wasting time. I would have to say that if an individual could spent half their lifetime living off their parents then sure they believe they have it better.
In the 50's when men graduated high school they went to college, enlisted in the military, or had a decent paying job and began raising a family. Most men were out of the house by the time they were in their early 20's at the latest. Many had to assist in supporting their parents into their senior years unlike today where senior parents are forced to support their mature children.
1950's was a time when men were men and women were women. The music was great. People actually talked to people face to face. Businesses were run as a sustainable entity providing a profit as well as good jobs instead of the "scorched earth policy of todays businesses." Loyalty to an employer was commonplace and reciprocated by having lifelong employes who were able to retire with a decent pension and benefits. Food was real food in the 50's not like the chemically processed swill of today.
If you lived in the 50's you enjoyed one of the best era's. It is too bad we can't go back.
Probably because they are looking at the 50's as only a time when there was discrimination. As I have already said, there was a lot more good about the 50's than bad and the poster you replied to is right on about the good things.
But if you're being discriminated against all the time, the rest doesn't matter because YOUR quality of life is infinitely lower than the rest of the population, and it will be all over the nation, varying in certain degrees.
But if you're being discriminated against all the time, the rest doesn't matter because YOUR quality of life is infinitely lower than the rest of the population, and it will be all over the nation, varying in certain degrees.
But all those other things mentioned were true of everyone who lived during the 50's. Why look at it through a prism and not acknowledge all the good things for example people were eating healthier, morality was higher. I could go on and on but those with a victim mentality act like those things didn't apply to miniorities back then when they did.
I can understand you well. I was also skinny and bookish(I went to high school from 2000-2004 though, class of 2004) and was often bullied. I also got called names like "oreo", "white boy"(ironic because I'm Black), and even got shot with a paintball gun(in middle school). The bullied have a very long memory.
I could imagine bullying taking place in 1950. If you were different in some way, you could get bullied for it. Janis Joplin went to high school during the 1950s, was overweight, had acne, painted, read books, wasn't a racist(she went to high school in 1950s Texas), and basically stood out. She was basically an outcaste.
Or just being the new kid on the block was sufficient to attract the attention of bullies. I found that the best solution was a preemptive attack. Find the biggest, meanest, bully in school and deliberately pick a fight. It did not matter if you won or lost. Some thought you were crazy, others gave you more respect. Either way, nobody picked on you after that.
Probably because they are looking at the 50's as only a time when there was discrimination. As I have already said, there was a lot more good about the 50's than bad and the poster you replied to is right on about the good things.
That tells you that that discrimination, as well as the discrimination of earlier times, was so oppressive that it overshadowed any other aspects of living in that era. But we've told you that repeatedly.
But all those other things mentioned were true of everyone who lived during the 50's. Why look at it through a prism and not acknowledge all the good things for example people were eating healthier, morality was higher. I could go on and on but those with a victim mentality act like those things didn't apply to miniorities back then when they did.
What was true of everyone in the 1950s?
And btw, I'm not here to push the victim mentality. I'm just citing reality. It was like that back then. My point is that I'm thankful that I live in 2012.
Or just being the new kid on the block was sufficient to attract the attention of bullies. I found that the best solution was a preemptive attack. Find the biggest, meanest, bully in school and deliberately pick a fight. It did not matter if you won or lost. Some thought you were crazy, others gave you more respect. Either way, nobody picked on you after that.
I don't know if I would have thought of that. I was often the new kid on the block. When I moved, my first thought was "how can I make new friends? I have to start over, so first order of business, make new friends, make new memories".
I went to 4 different elementary schools, and the last time we ever moved as a family, it was 12 hours before I started 6th. 6th grade was horrible. I was brand new. I was the shortest kid in my homeroom. I was skinny. I was the only Black kid in my homeroom(and one of maybe a few Black kids I ever saw throughout the whole day, in 6th grade anyway). I was in a culture that I knew nothing about. I knew nothing about the place we were living in. Being the only Black kid in my homeroom shocked me a bit at first, but I moved on. It didn't matter after a day. I could deal with being the shortest, the skinniest. Being small and being one of a few Black kids in my middle school was fine by me. It was the culture shock and constant bullying that was disturbing. I was basically nerdy, bookish, and I rooted for an out-of-state baseball team(the Seattle Mariners). I got bullied alot in middle school, and it got to the point where some teenager in the neighborhood(the older brother of one of my tormentors) shot me with a paintball gun for no apparent reason. I could only imagine how much worse it would be in 1950 if I did the same things aforementioned. Actually, I might have not been welcomed to live in the subdivision I was living in at the time.
Basically, bullying turned me, an naive, nerdy 11 year old into a depressed, hateful, belligerent 14 year-old. I think one thing in high school that put an end to some of the bullying was that some of my tormentors left the neighborhood. Other kids went to other high schools and I ran into new bullies, some of the Black, and there was also a "redneck" contingency in my high school. I still remember some of the kids who threatened to "lynch" me. Another thing that put an end to it was some kids dropped out of high school. A few kids were finding out slowly that I would fight back eventually. It was the 11th grade that I learned that I could fight back once the teacher's back was turned.
I thank you two for providing some examples. I won't rat out my brother, but he was a bully, along with certain of his friends.
At first I thought your comment about going to a "better" school was a joke, VMH, but now I think you actually believe it. Perhaps you were part of the bully crowd. Maybe you were part of the "mean girls" group?
As I said in an earlier post, I was painfully shy and wore glasses until my junior year, so definitely was not a bully. If anything I don't think many of my classmates even knew I existed, but definitely was not bullied or a bully. I did have a small circle of friends who I reconnected with recently at my 50th reunion. As a side note at a previous reunion I was given an award as the classmate (out of class of 350+) with the most interesting job. So much for a female from the 50's/60's not being able get ahead in the workplace.
As I said in an earlier post, I was painfully shy and wore glasses until my junior year, so definitely was not a bully. If anything I don't think many of my classmates even knew I existed, but definitely was not bullied or a bully. I did have a small circle of friends who I reconnected with recently at my 50th reunion. As a side note at a previous reunion I was given an award as the classmate (out of class of 350+) with the most interesting job. So much for a female from the 50's/60's not being able get ahead in the workplace.
OK, I apologize for thinking you might have been the bully.
As for your award, that's great. Career opportunities for women really took off in the 60s and later, thanks in part to the women's movement and early feminists. I know a number of women from our era who have done really well for themselves, gotten advanced degrees, etc. Women of our age in the 50s weren't out doing that in any kind of large numbers. My mother was actually 29 in 1950. She was one of the few women of that age I knew who had any education beyond high school. One of my friends' moms was a teacher, that was about it.
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