Results: The "Not So Good" Good Old Days
1.
1.
A few days ago, we had a survey on here asking if any of us had ever seen the TV show "Leave It To Beaver", which of course prompted a deluge of comments bemoaning the good old days, a time when life was so simple and uncomplicated. What slices of life in the good old days of "Leave It To Beaver" circa 1957 - 1963 do you fondly remember?
It was an age just after the great evils of the WW II era had been dealt with, and as the Baby Boom took place, the economy boomed as well.
19%
•
370 votes
It was much easier for a working class family to be able to afford a home, and support a family
34%
•
649 votes
Crime rates were low, some of the lowest in history
31%
•
587 votes
Children could play outside without any supervision, and everyone watched out for each other's kids
42%
•
802 votes
Television was seen as a means of bringing people together, as families would gather around for Ed Sullivan or Leave It To Beaver
33%
•
629 votes
Children respected their parents and elders, teachers and other adults in their life.
37%
•
704 votes
All of these
26%
•
494 votes
None
27%
•
522 votes
2.
2.
Well, maybe I'm in the minority, but I do not think the "good old days" were all they were cracked up to be. In one episode of "Leave It To Beaver" Ward, the father of the Cleavers says this line to his son, "You know, they say a woman's place is in the home. I suppose as long as she's in the home, she might as well be in the kitchen." Yes, indeed, this era was not all that great for many of us. Which of these do you agree were not so good?
In these so called "good old days" women were not able to take out a loan or have a credit card in their own name
31%
•
599 votes
If a woman wanted a job, she would have to turn to the "Help Wanted -- Female Section" of the want ads, where she may see job requirements like "you must be really attractive" or "you must wear high heels"
27%
•
521 votes
In 42 states, a woman had no legal claim on the earnings of her husband
23%
•
437 votes
A woman would have no legal recourse against marital rape -- in fact, it wasn't even considered rape then
28%
•
539 votes
If you had a disabled child, with autism, down's syndrome or any number of other disabilities, they would most likely be institutionalized, perhaps in the (long closed) Asylum for Idiotic and Imbecile Youth in Winfield, Kansas
28%
•
530 votes
Black workers would be making 40% less than their white counterparts, doing the exact same job, if they were even hired in the first place
28%
•
533 votes
Restrictive racial covenants largely prevented blacks from buying into suburban subdivisions built for white working class families
24%
•
456 votes
Country clubs, universities and other institutions were also restricted to white members or students, actually posting signs that said "No Jews" or "No Colored"
27%
•
513 votes
It was virtually impossible to get a divorce -- not surprising suicide rates and domestic violence rates went down significantly when divorce was easier to get
21%
•
399 votes
Gay men and women were often pressured into sham marriages, or certainly loveless marriages
23%
•
434 votes
Victims of child abuse and domestic abuse had no a avenues to escape their torment
27%
•
522 votes
All of them
34%
•
658 votes
None
28%
•
543 votes
3.
3.
The sixties was seen as the beginning of social revolution and unrest, when people just became more aware of all the injustices in life. What began as a time of innocence and hope soon began to look like a time of change and protest. More Americans protested to demand an end to the unfair treatment of black citizens. More protested to demand an end to the war in Vietnam. And more protested to demand full equality for women. Every aspect of our life mirrored it -- the movies, the music, the fashion, the sexual revolution. Some would say this was the end of an innocent era and some would say the beginning of a better one. Which do you side with?
The end of an innocent era
17%
•
317 votes
Beginning of a better era
17%
•
330 votes
Not sure -- maybe a bit of both
50%
•
952 votes
Too young to answer
16%
•
313 votes
4.
4.
Which of these social change and revolution songs, movies, and books do you remember from the 60's?
Turn! Turn! Turn! by the Byrds
42%
•
802 votes
Blowin' in the Wind by Bob Dylan
46%
•
885 votes
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (book)
10%
•
198 votes
Universal Soldier by Donovan
16%
•
300 votes
A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke
21%
•
401 votes
Doctor Strangelove
26%
•
499 votes
The Graduate
39%
•
739 votes
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
26%
•
497 votes
Easy Rider
41%
•
787 votes
Hair (stage production)
31%
•
584 votes
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe (book)
7%
•
141 votes
None of them
25%
•
476 votes
All of them
11%
•
217 votes
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