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Original poster

Bad things about the 90s?

140 replies

Sittinbythetree · 15/02/2021 07:39

In my mind the early - mid 90s were pretty good, I don’t mean personally, but generally, just largely positive and a feeling that things were improving and the world was moving forward to a better future for most.
I’ve been listening to repeats of old comedy programs and the satire from the 90s seems so innocent and gentle. All about how boring John major was (little did we know about edwina) and late trains. And there were no phones or social media (sorry mn!)
What (lighthearted) reasons are there for not wanting to time travel back to the 90s?

OP posts:
TheQueef · 15/02/2021 07:40

Shell suits.

terribletea · 15/02/2021 07:41

Coffee shimmer lipstick

LadyGAgain · 15/02/2021 07:41

Homophobia and the fear surrounding AIDS was still rife.

But, I was a child/early teen and like you, have fond memories of the early 90's.

tonystarksrighthand · 15/02/2021 07:41

Ecstasy and raves

(I'm so boring)

terribletea · 15/02/2021 07:42

Oh come on Tony! That was THE best bit!

RhinestoneCowgirl · 15/02/2021 07:42

Casual sexism that was excused because the men were being 'ironic'. See Loaded magazine et al.

Original poster
Sittinbythetree · 15/02/2021 07:43

I’d forgotten about shell suits, that’s helping cure my sentimental nostalgia already!

OP posts:
Original poster
Sittinbythetree · 15/02/2021 07:44

Rhinestone- but today’s sexism / porn stuff seems much worse than the loaded stuff.?

OP posts:
Spudlet · 15/02/2021 07:45

Hipsters (the jeans as opposed to the people who live in Shoreditch). Thongs that we meant to stick out from said hipsters. The smells - Lynx, Charlie Red and Impulse in a toxic cloud every time you walked into a classroom. Hair mascara that sent your hair all crusty. Lip gloss that any remaining non-crusty bits of hair got stuck to.

OrangeGinLemonFanta · 15/02/2021 07:46

Racism, sexism, homophobia. Remember being a lesbian teenager reading in Just 17 that it was a phase, it was always just a phase. Almost no decent representation of anyone in TV other than straight white men. Smoking everywhere, boke. Couldn't go out for a bite of lunch without smelling like an ashtray.

RuggeryBuggery · 15/02/2021 07:47

Wasn’t there still a bit of a recession? Remember some friends with parents who had been made redundant and were struggling to get new ones.

Also - fhreat from IRA?

Gulf War

Spudlet · 15/02/2021 07:48

Oh god yes - showering the morning after a night out and getting the stench of stale smoke all over again. And alcopops - urgh, so sticky and sickly!

RosesAndHellebores · 15/02/2021 07:49

Matt Lucas in a Babygro
The Rise and rise of Manchester United
The Spice Girls

36degrees · 15/02/2021 07:50

CDs cost £15.99 but on the plus side you could see 100+ bands in a weekend for £60 at a festival.

RosesAndHellebores · 15/02/2021 07:51

There was a deep recession 91/2, and yes the Gulf War.

Goths

terribletea · 15/02/2021 07:55

Mr Blobby

RickiTarr · 15/02/2021 07:55

Being groped on the tube was pretty commonplace. There was still a feeling that certain ambitions were quite daring for a woman. The knowledge that some bosses weren’t safe to be alone with.

So sexual harassment, rape culture, all that stuff.

Funnily enough I feel like race relations were better then (at least in my corner of London) but racism in education, hiring and advancement was absolutely rife.

fluffygreenmonsterhoody · 15/02/2021 07:58

The Loaded, FHM years may not seem so bad now but they absolutely laid the ground for what we see now - the teenage boys who grew up with that are now the execs who oversee today’s media portrayal of women.

BrokenCircle · 15/02/2021 07:59

Mad Dog 20/20

GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 15/02/2021 08:02

We plucked our eyebrows into skinny little tadpoles.

MsMiaWallace · 15/02/2021 08:07

The lack of parenting. Being sent out to play all day long, no clue where we were or what we were doing!!

Fridainexile · 15/02/2021 08:11

I don’t know but... I look back on my teenage years in the 90s with absolute horror. We were bombarded with ‘ladette’ culture, pics of women with smeared lipstick and ‘bed head’ hair, falling out of clubs, zoned out on drugs and alcohol.
To our small town teenage brains, we tried to emulate this by downing five shots for a pound and taking drugs until we ourselves stumbled out of clubs, inebriated to the point of oblivion, having probably being sexually assaulted by older men the whole night long. It continued into the kebab shop where everyone would be snogging and men would be groping teenagers (of the hands in knickers variety.. very 90s groping method) and smelling of malibu and blue wkd and kebab and impulse o2, wearing sparkly lipsy lycra dresses and stripper shoes with six inch heels.
It took me a decade to get over the shame and trauma of my 90s teenage Saturday night sexual escapades, honestly.

merryhollybright · 15/02/2021 08:12

@RosesAndHellebores

Matt Lucas in a Babygro The Rise and rise of Manchester United The Spice Girls
The Spice Girls

You've got one of the best bits muddled up in there I think??

cluecu · 15/02/2021 08:17

Not being able to use the house phone if someone else was using the internet Shock obviously this was before mobile phones were widely used.

RaggieDolls · 15/02/2021 08:25

The situation in Northern Ireland although the 90's also brought us the Good Friday Agreement.