1975 diary shocker

[NorthernGirl1975]

As part of my PhD I'm looking at primary sources. I'm currently reading a diary from 50 years ago. The writer is obsessed with how she looks, what she eats and weighs and whether or not she's pretty.

There are lots of references to getting male attention. She goes to a summer gala with her friend and talks about the ice cream man being fit.

Then says she and the friend were chatted up on the bus and "Wolf whistled by two guys so that's not bad to say I'm a stone overweight". Earlier she's stated she weighs eight stone three. Says she's joining weight watchers as no guy would want to be seen around with a fat ugly girlfriend. Some guy who looks like Steve Harley keeps staring at her.

She went to buy a dress she liked but there was only one and it was a size 14 and too big. That's a 10 today isn't it? Christ knows what size she wanted to be. She's written measurements down as "35-25-35" and is obsessed with looking like one of Pam's People.

This is so depressing.

What’s your PhD in? Sounds very typical to me.

No, but they walked a great deal more and the snacking/coffee culture hadn't arrived.

At 15, I walked (half ran) a mile to the station, and about 0.7 miles at the other end.

I always assumed it came from the god, Pan.

Of course you’re right. I should have said that people didn’t think as much about being fit. But I think it’s true they were less toned, as in gym-toned.

Who is the god of sexual licentiousness, as it happens.

Teenagers are usually self focused so not much has changed.

I am, but I'm not convinced they have. Or if they did for a time the pendulum has swung back in some instances.

I chose 50 years ago as a starting point as that was when the Equal Pay Act came into force.

Reading magazines from the time aimed at younger women and teenagers you'd be forgiven for thinking the Swinging Sixties were a mirage. It was all about looking the part to get off with Phil from the youth club and then keeping him from being "stolen" by some other girl you had to compete with.

This meant a strict beauty routine and taking an interest in football, motorbikes etc or at least feigning it so he kept his interest in you.

Now I don't think you'd find such writing in a 16 year old's journal but the whole Love Island, influencers etc mindset has me wondering if things have gone back in time.

I’ve still got my 1976 diary. I was 16. There is no mention of how I looked or how my friends looked. It does say I thought Thin Lizzy were rubbish when I saw them at Brunel!

I used to look after a lot older ladies, even at 90+ they were still obsessed with weight and wouldn't hesitate to mention that you were a fat fucker
Yes, thats my nan who would have been 105 this week. She died at 94.
Absolutely no hesitation in telling me thst my bones were getting big, I looked as if I enjoyed my food, its nice to see that I have plenty of food in etc. To think I was the favourite grandchildren. God knows what she said to my sister who she didn't like! 😆

my 13 year old diary was probably boy obsessed
i had a boyfriend at 16
no idea what my obsession was then.

Apologies, I sent that too quickly ...

PAN'S PEOPLE
Dancers. Andi, Babs, Cherry, Dee Dee, Flick, Louise, Lee, Mary, Ruth and Sue

Pan's People - Top of the Pops Archive

I'm around that age. About two years ago I was quite poorly with an infection I couldn't shake off. Felt terrible but by the time I began to feel better I was delighted to find I had lost half a stone. I guess I just haven't ever lost the obsession with weight that was prevalent when I was growing up.

I was born in 1975 and although being desperately skinny my entire life, I still thought I looked fat. Especially after puberty when my hips and bum arrived.
People now pay for what I spent years trying to hide.

Our Ice cream man was a drug dealer and a paedophile. Until he was arrested late 80s, we didn't know about the drugs but we knew he liked children. It didn't stop us buying ice cream. Strange days.

Legs and Co... Pans People with sex. It was everywhere. Top of the Pops for men. Everything for men. Art classes, table covered in newspaper, there'd always be page 3 or tits. Porn mags discarded in alleyways.

I think we grew up in that age thinking that's what we should aspire to be.

Nothing has changed. Girls want to be on Love Island, they want their tits, lips or arse done depending on the current trend.

Nothing has changed, we might not have page3 etc but the constant delude of pressure on young girls is immense. Boys and men now too, one thing that has changed. Not for the better.

This is interesting, I am a dietitian and cover several care homes. Patients are often referred to me because staff are concerned about their low weight. It’s gradually dawned on me that several are consciously maintaining a low weight and have no intention of increasing their food intake. I think the restrictions on food intake can be quite enduring. Not bad enough to present as an eating disorder but still quite restrictive. People don’t think this is an issue in older women but it can be.

I was cabin crew back in the 90s. They weighed us and if any girl went over the recommended weight for your height you could be grounded until you lost the extra lbs.

I was also told at an interview for British Airways in 1996 that they were really keen to offer me the job but I had to lose 7lbs.

This was a time of aerobics, low fat diets, pinch an inch, special K diet, slimming clubs and anyone over a size 10 was considered fat.

No wonder so many women and girls have eating disorders.

I was born early 70s - v slim up to age 19. I could get in a size 8 - waist was 24 inches. Now I’m early 50s, waist is 30-31 and I’m a size 12 and sometimes 10 on top. I’m over a stone heavier but most of it on the bottom half!
Was def obsessed w looks/weight/boys in teen years. Par for the course, surely. Whether that’s right or wrong.

I was born late 1960s and, by reading this thread, realised that I was slim for most of my life until my parents died. I thought maybe grief eating plus menopause was to blame but thinking about it, they were very scathing and judgemental about people's weight so maybe I got fatter as some kind of subconscious rebellion.....

Thankfully I've now lost most of the weight I gained but growing up in the 70s, 80s and 90s was 'different' for sure.

I do think attitudes have changed/are changing.

Previously, women relied on men.
Women were not allowed to work or had low paid jobs and it just wasn’t acceptable for a woman to be single.

Back then you had to do whatever you could to secure a good man.

Whereas now, less women (especially the younger generations) rely on men. They chose to be single and are often more picky about who they date.

When you’re not obsessing over getting a man then you start living for yourself and aren’t so focused about needing approval from the male gaze.

The media has a lot to answer for.
Female celebs like Britney were hounded for having a fat roll or cellulite but that doesn’t happen as often these days.

I did the same thing after I had my first DC except it was my early stage mat jeans that I got nowhere near towards the end!

How depressing that the first few replies are women eager to note that they too were very slim and weighed very little…
I don’t think all women were obsessed with weight back then? My nan was always short and round and I don’t remember her giving a shit about it. My mum wore a size 13/14 in the 70s ( I still have some of her clothes and they’d fit me at a size 12 so yes sizing has changed a bit). I don’t remember any of my friends being that obsessed with weight or bodies in the 90s, and certainly not as much as my teen sons are now! We did talk about boys a lot but don’t all teenage girls?
It’s true that women do more muscle building excercise now. In fact in the 90s clothing manufacturers changed clothing proportions to reflect the changes in women’s bodies.
It’s marvellous to be fit and strong and I’m glad that’s the trend now.

I was 14 in 1975 and in those days it was rare for anyone of any age to be large. As an aside, I don't recall the word 'fit' being used in that way, in those times. It's a much more modern usage for it to mean 'attractive' or 'good looking'.

dreaming of marrying John Taylor 😊

YEP! 🥰

I don’t think it’s ever changed. Beauty is power the young men compete for the best looking women with best figures. Biology. Should it be a main area of focus for women? - no - should IQ & character count for more. Yes. In reality the fat & plain have less choice re: dating and are often far less confident.

Obesity isn't the same as overweight though
Both are heslth risk long term.

Yes we are living longer, we are living longer unhealthily requiring more and longer care. The biggest cost to the NHS is diabetes management. Diabetes is a direct consequence of unhealthy eating ( to avoid the pointless fact for this thread, yes I know that tupe 1 diabetes is genetic and not related to weight, bit that only represent 10% or so of people with diabetes).

What we nowadays deem an okay weight from a cosmetic perspective is not a healthy weight long term.

Sounds about right for the time. That could well have been my teenage diary. I was about 7st 10 and obsessed about my weight and looks despite being in the the top class at school and achieving top grades.

I'd love to read your dissertation!