Things you were told weren't ladylike

Eating drinking or smoking while walking, any sort of self grooming so makeup/hair/nails in front of anyone else, farting burping, swearing.

Frizzbonce That deserves and

Brushing your hair in public, wearing short skirts, wearing trousers, eating in public.

Also -- doing my own DIY and heavy digging in the garden. This is what men are for.

Gum chewing
Sitting with legs apart
Getting a tattoo
Smoking anywhere
Going to a pub -- completely unacceptable for women in Ireland when mum was young so not ok for us either decades later
Going to a certain disco that had a bad reputation when she was young and it was a dance hall
Drinking anything other than a demure glass of white wine or sherry
Using tampons
Addressing topics directly -- the idea was to hint and speak discreetly and always indirectly
Eating a lot (meaning 'eating enough')
Fighting with boys in the street
(I can explain -- at age 10 I had a huge knock-down drag-out fight in the middle of the street with a neighbour boy who hated me and whom I hated right back, cheered on by all the other children on the road, who also hated this particular brat. I was winning until mum came out and dragged me in )

My sister still tries to drive with her knees glued together. My mother's youngest sister laughed all the way to Cork at the good of that.

I wasn't allowed to learn the cello because sitting with your knees apart was unladylike. Years later on top of the pops there were wild-haired women in high heels rocking their cellos and I felt bereft in an it-should-have-been-me kind of way.

Like a lot of you -

Drinking from a pint glass.
Alone in a bar.
Anklets
Dangly earrings.
Painted nails, especially red.
Rouge as DGF used to call it was a no no
Sitting or kneeling with legs open even while wearing trousers.
Speaking while eating.
Drinking from bottles.
Climbing, running and playing football with boys. Actually anything to do with boys really - I never understood why DGF used to say ''they'll get you into trouble'' :)
Gulping drinks - Ladies should sip.
Burping
Farting
Being from up North where 'Aye' is an acceptable form of Yes - I was corrected constantly for saying it.

Going into what turned out to be a men only bar in a working men's club - I was with my father and we had been invited by them to collect for a local charity. I was told only a 'certain type of woman would enter such a bar! tut tut!

For the Scots on here, were you ever told not to do some of the above because you would be like a 'floosie from the Gorbals'? This was from my beloved nana who grew up in them.

eating outside
drinking from pint glass
drinking from a can or bottle
whistling
spitting
breaking wind
painted toenails or brightly painted nails - pale pink/peachy was Ok
drinking whisky/brandy/rum
speaking with food in your mouth
ankle chains
big earrings or pendants
sitting with legs apart or crossed, except at ankle
piercings
dunking biscuits in your tea
skirts above knees
short hair
stuff like skate boarding/roller blading
fighting
being drunk, especially if anyone could see you
smoking in public
shouting or raising your voice

I'm nearly 50 and the list of unladylike behaviour was endless, those are just the ones that I can get off the top of my head. Mind you, when I went to secondary school, only girls did home ec and part of it was about things like etiquette, posture, table laying and the like and womanly tasks like bed making, ironing and loo cleaning. We even had a small self contained flat in the HE department for us to practice on.

My grandmother used to say 'a lady never touches her face'?!

My Nanna told my DM and me off for going to a pub. She said it was awful that we went without our husbands. I was about 25 and DM in her mid-50s!

With DM, DH and DSDad I merrily drink pints if I fancy it, but never in front of ILs or my Dad.

I love my dad, but he's terrible with this.

Not "ladylike"

• having a messy bedroom
• swearing
• tattoos
• non-earlobe piercings

I know there are more, but those ones stand out. Fine with teaching me the first two - but has nothing to do with being a lady!! Brother should have had the same lectures. I don't agree with the last two, they're his opinion, but brother has loads of tattoos and my dad doesn't approve, but doesn't fuss either. Still tells me anytime something about tattoos comes up how'd I'd better not ever get one. I'm a grown woman ffs.

And have three tattoos planned for when I can afford it, he just won't be able to see them!

Frizzbonce

My mum was a radfem lesbian so none of this shite ever cropped up in our house. I did get the flipside though, which was things that were unsisterly e.g. shaving my armpits, wanting to do ballet, wanting to be a film star instead of a welder.

Don't say off of
Don't rub your hands over your jeans (???)
No eating in the street
No pierced ears
No red nail varnish
No ankle chains

A wankstain of an ex said to me once that he didn't like women who had 'noisy orgasms'. I told him I'd never had that problem with him.

He didn't get it. He was a thicko as well.

red lipstick are apparently for whores only.

I wear red lipstick if I want to look really good, because it suits me.
[not a whore]

Anklets.

My DF was disgusted by them (still is) and told me in no uncertain terms that they were popular in the days when women wore long skirts and were used to advertise the woman's... ahem, profession.

My grandad was of the age where women drinking pints did so by pouring it into a half pint glass. He could never bring himself to get me a pint without asking for a half glass too, but I think he was secretly impressed by the women he knew who were able to down a pint from a 'man's' glass.

• Tampons (who the fuck they are for then I have no idea)

• Chewing gum (kinda agree it's gross for all actually not specifically ladies)

• Large plates at tea (because it encourages one to be a glutton and potential husbands would be put off - WTAF?! surely you should encourage me to fill my mouth with cake because me talking is DEFINITELY GOING TO PUT THEM OFF

• Talking about intimate relations with ANYONE. (vague references are permitted to one's gynaecologist in extremis

• Proper making-you-sweat exercise - a gentle stroll is fine, kickboxing and spin class are a bit common apparently. Oh and muscles on women are an abomination (needless to say I've now got lots).

• Shiny fabrics which are not silk (my mothers face when I strolled downstairs to meet my boyfriend in a PVC catsuit was to DIE FOR ).

riding a bike
driving a go-cart
going on a motorbike
climbing

Anything remotely fun

Drinking a pint. I kind of adhere to this, as I don't like beer/ale/lager...I do drinks pints of diet coke if offered though

Walking and eating is another one.

Sitting with legs apart. Though, where skirts are concerned there is valid reason to sit with ones legs closed

I was encouraged to never wear a black bra or brush my hair in public as they were viewed as unladylike. I was howver taught how to exit a car with my legs together how to eat fruit with a knife and fork and the correct way to eat caviar. /emo/te/1.gif

aga the past ( in my case, the very distant past) is another country. Of course most of them are bollox, but the point is to show that life has changed. My gm was a Victorian ffs, so can you imagine what she told dm?Can't think that many of us here would even use the word lady.

I was told not to answer all the questions in class and make the boys feel stupid...

smoking outside
"judging" a man - ie being a driving instructor or a judging panel !!!

on a slightly similar note, when I told my Dad that I was getting divorced he said "it's probably because you didn't change your name" He didn't mention my (very ex) husband's adultery....