To ask if anyone else’s family had this belief growing up?

[Latenightthoughts111]

NC for this as it seems like all my threads lately have been about my family and don’t want them linked

late night thought tonight is about when I was growing up (late 80s born to a mid 40s born DM) I was told that drinking from a can and eating in the street was like being a prostitute

im not exaggerating I can clearly remember being about 10 and told that walking home from swimming with my hair down and wet and drinking from a can made me look like a prostitute! What was this about?? Where did it come from?? Even now I struggle to drink from a can and I don’t think I ever eat whilst walking!

Wtf, no wasn't told that.

I was told that eating and drinking whilst walking in the street was 'common' - wasn't on par with prostitution though

Maybe told it was common but links to the sex industry were not made 😂 not sure how my DS would take it if I said the same to him... in fact he doesn't even know what a prostitute is (long may that last) 😁

I remember a moment when my niece was about 12. We were at a family reunion and a group of women across the age span were sitting together and my niece was there. I can't remember what started it by suddenly every woman was lecturing my niece about the proper way to behave, including mostly things they believed would make her look cheap, trashy, slutty, etc. I made a contradictory statement, followed by a joke to ease the tension and then hastily ushered my niece away. We went for a walk and she asked me about the pill and condoms. It's terrible the filth we put in girl's minds about this kind of crap.

We weren't allowed to be seen eating in our school uniform in public (girls school) - we were told this regularly in assemblies etc and definitely believed it would be a big deal if we were (somehow?!) found out

I was told eating and drinking in the street was common or 'rough'. Just like pp above.

I also think 'prostitute' was used as a another word for 'rough' or an undesirable person.

People didn't have the sympathy or empathy for sex workers back in the 80s and early 90s. Or rather most people didn't. And would quite happily use it as an insult.

Eating, drinking, or smoking in the street was common according to my mum.

And we didn't DARE brush our hair in public!...just pure common behaviour 😂
I dont know who we thought we were to not want to be called "common "?😂😂😂

I wasn’t allowed to do that because it was common.

Mentioning prostitution would also have been common so i was never told of that link! 😂

I'm of an earlier vintage, but eating on the street and brushing of hair, indeed any adjustments to ones toilet in public was "common".

So were pierced ears.

Same here, private girls' school, no eating / drinking (and chewing gum) on the street was one of their many silly rules was technically banned because it was seen as uncouth and if we got caught we would be on detention. We had a change of HT when I was in yr10 and she allowed us to eat in cafes etc in uniform, oh the luxury!

Everyone did it anyway, got the gum out as soon as we were round the block from the school gates

^ this.
Common.
I still don't eat in the street and wouldn't even consider eating outside.
I do drink straight from a can though...

you missed out smoking when outside 😁

I think is was a commonly held belief that eating whilst walking in the street was uncouth. Maybe they were terrified Peter Sutcliffe would strike. I grew up in Yorkshire .

Yes eating, drinking, smoking whilst out and about were common.
My mum still thinks it's vulgar and can't quite understand the appeal of eating a Greggs sausage roll from the wrapper in public.

@echt
Hahahalol..how could I have forgotten how common it was to have pierced ears?!

I work in a private school, and we still don't let the kids walk around eating!

They're definitely not allowed to walk into town and walk back munching on a sausage roll from greggs. Officially they find somewhere to sit down and eat (we have loads of picnic tables outside, and they have common rooms inside) but in reality they just make sure they've finished before they get back in sight of the school 🤣🤣

(Ps I thought this was totally bonkers at first, but actually if you're a visitor to a school, it really doesn't look good to see kids wandering around the place stuffing food in their mouths)

Defintely never eat or drink on the street, really bad manners. Prostitution was where people might end up if they allowed themselves to fall from grace so I'm not madly surprised that someone who was, say, a little keen in '' putting the fear of God'' into their child as a way to instil desired behaviour might say that. Bit ott by the standards of the day but not 'from another planet' ott.

Certainly told ankle chains were a Prostitute thing. My mum couldn't even let my dd, wear a loom band creation around her ankle without doing a bulging eyes pantomime.
Toe rings were also the mark of a 'woman no better than she should be'
It was all pretty joyless and today is framed as standards slipping, rather than the controlling older/younger post war moral judgeness.

Certainly not prostitution level but it was definitely viewed as 'common'. Where I lived it was seen that you would embarrass yourself and your family by doing either.

I was told that eating on the street was common. Prostitution wasn't mentioned.

I dont get why eating in public dosn't look good. It's not heakthy to walk and eat but it's not common.

I was told this. Going out with wet hair, eating/drinking anything in the street, smoking in the street - oh hang on - smoking full stop, applying lipstick in public, wearing red nail polish, having pierced ears, wearing an ankle chain.
These were all the definite hallmarks of prostitution.
Probably more examples I can't remember. Don't remember my brothers being told they looked like prostitutes funnily enough. They just got "don't be so common!"

What about picnics though?!

My mother would never allow drinking straight from the can, either at home or in public. And yes eating or chewing gum in the street were called uncouth, mother would never have used the word prostitute though as she would have to explain what it meant.