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Original poster

iisn't it a wonder that any of us brought up on Bunty and Jackie turned out vaguely feminist.

64 replies

hatwoman · 15/09/2009 10:23

free in the Guardian on Saturday and today. I'm still in shock. The pathetic look that we should use at the disco to bring out the protective instincts in boys; and the story today of the deeply misguided Mrs Ponsonby who wanted to turn her little girl into a boy. on the one hand it's no wonder that I felt deeply inadequate for not having a boyfriend aged 12 but on the other hand I guess I turned out ok in the end...

OP posts:
LadyGlencoraPalliser · 15/09/2009 12:35

Oh yes, Debbie. My sister got that one. Wasn't it fairly short-lived?

englishpatient · 15/09/2009 12:37

My sister and I had Bunty and Mandy; our brother had the Dandy. I used to read all of them from cover to cover!

CarmenSanDiego · 15/09/2009 12:39

Rather depressingly, US Cosmopolitan frequently has articles about how to pull men by looking helpless in electronics shops

fircone · 15/09/2009 12:43

For someone who is hoarding five years' worth of Jackies in the garage (?? I don't know why myself!) I was rather depressed by that Jackie in the Guardian.

It was a bit before my time, but still - it was so... grim.

Bunty, Mandy etc were fab, though. Good heroines giving rotters their comeuppance.

MaMight · 15/09/2009 12:44

Am I too young for Bunty?

I went straight from The Beano to Just 17. I feel I have missed out.

Original poster
hatwoman · 15/09/2009 13:08

bucharest - pmsl at your mum and the Bunty clothes thing. and at "my mother loathed the idea of denim even in paper form"

carmen - dh and I were talking about that this morning (not US Cosmo specifically) but whether or not the focus on snaring a man is in fact very much still there - but is much more subtle/insidious and more tied to selling us stuff. Rather than trying to sell the basic idea that if you get a man you'll be happy, we're now sold the idea that if we're beautiful/thin/have great careers/are creative at home we'll be happy (and get a man on the way). and, of course, the way to get all those things is to spend £100s on beauty products and £1000s on enormous hand-bags.

I may be being unfair and not comparing like with like - I'm comparing a teenage mag with the overall message of lots of media these days. I don't know what the latest girl teen mags are like. would be interesting to know.

OP posts:
hairtwiddler · 15/09/2009 13:10

I had a letter published in Bunty... or was it Jackie.. I forget. It was about asking my dad for more pocket money.

ScaredOfCows · 15/09/2009 13:15

All that advice on how to give the perfect 'moody' look - do you remember how no-one was allowed to smile back then?

Blackduck · 15/09/2009 13:23

I think it was BECAUSE of Jackie that I became more than vaguely feminist..! I used to read it and just couldn't relate to it in the slightest! (no hope for me)

lucysnowe · 15/09/2009 13:31

I used to love Misty. I think it would do well with current Twilight-obsessed tweenies...

The Jackie mag in the Graun was ace. I loved the ad for the 1000 calories a day diet which comprised shortbread biscuits for breakfast (?), vegetable soup and 'beef flavoured' rissotto.

fircone · 15/09/2009 13:33

Apparently Misty is about to make a comeback!

Acinonyx · 15/09/2009 14:06

I still have a couple of old Bunty annuals and sometimes read them to dd (4). She prefers my Twinkle annuals though......

abra1d · 15/09/2009 14:24

'The Cathy & Claire advice about going to discos and using the less popular and less attractive boys to build up your confidence and get the good looking popular ones flocking was incredible.'

I dunno. I think that still goes on at my children's schools.

I think there was much less hard selling of consumer durables to children and teenagers back then. That's one thing I'd quite like to bring back.

NormaSnorks · 15/09/2009 14:31

I remember someone from our school appearing as the 'model' in one of the photo-love-stories in Jackie...

paisleyleaf · 15/09/2009 14:32

The print was small enough wasn't it?! (Jackie - I've not looked at the Bunty yet),
Yes, there was a thing in Saturday's paper about Misty coming back - I think that'll be great. The stuff on the shelves for young girls now is a load of toot.

weblette · 15/09/2009 14:34

Oh that Bunty has given me such a laugh today, especially the 'Emergency 666' story. Truly horrendous stuff.

southeastastra · 15/09/2009 14:34

from jackie though we went on to read cosmopolitan which seemed completely aimed at young feminists in the 80s

MrsEricBanaMT · 15/09/2009 19:51

lol hatwoman. Just demonstrates what a nonsence cultural determinism is

SolidGoldBrass · 16/09/2009 00:38

Oh, all the women's mags were feisty/feminist in the mid 80s. She and Honey in particular were gloriously bollock-biting. And there was a fair bit of kick-arsery about Just 17 and Mizz. MIZZ FFS, the very name was deliberately feminist!

TheOldestCat · 16/09/2009 00:44

Oh, Mizz was fantastic (at least in my memories).

CarmenSanDiego · 16/09/2009 06:51

I loved Mizz and More. Position of the fortnight seemed gloriously obscene at the age of 13 :D

MrsEricBanaMT · 16/09/2009 09:54

Mizz wasn't Ms Solid

I think the world is very confused about feminism.

TwoIfBySea · 16/09/2009 21:48

Does anyone else remember Twinkle, for younger girls? Nurse Nancy ran her own hospital after all, okay it was a toy hospital but still!

Acinonyx · 16/09/2009 21:50

I still have 2 Twinkle annuals and dd (4) loves the Nurse Nancy stories - and Tiny Town and Patsy Panda..............

VulpusinaWilfsuit · 16/09/2009 22:17

God what was that feminist comic from the early 80s. I think it was produced by the Spare Rib collective...?

Lasted about 4 issues.

I escaped into Bunty and Jackie to get away from all my Serious Feminist family.