Mumsnet paused a “boomer” thread this morning, and…

[CurlewKate]

…just for a second I thought ageism was being taken seriously. Sadly, no.

The point is, things were improving rapidly throughout that period - the laws you mention were both repealed in the late 1960s - things were going in the right direction for most of those people's lives, not going downhill as they have been for the last 20 or so years.

At no point in history has everything been perfect for everyone, or even for a particular demographic, what's important is the general direction of travel and prevailing zeitgeist.

Your last paragraph I would agree with, absolutely. The problem is people imagining that these were some sort of halcyon days of cheap property and full employment.

That doesn't make any sense.

Well yes, we know that. But since the the word is almost invariably used in a derogatory and offensive way, it has more or less morphed into an insult. The few exceptions being academic or statistical articles where the correct term of "baby boomers" is generally used rather than just "boomers".

The laws were changed on both but the age of consent for homosexual sex acts was 21 rather than the 16 year old age of consent for heterosexual sex acts for many years after (I think it changed in the 80s?). Abortion was legalised but difficult to obtain (unless you had money - every generation’s answer) for many years after the legislation.

There has never been a perfect time and place. There have always been haves and have nots.

You beat me to it. If you were female back then, your choices in life were incredibly limited. And you'd have none of the modern appliances to do all the housework with, all those tasks that were yours alone. If you had a mangle to squeeze the water out of the laundry that you'd washed in a boiler with created batt soap, you were doing well.

Even when I left school in the early 1970s, pretty much the only careers for girls were nursing, teaching it being a secretary. It is you were adventurous, joint the women branches if the forces. That was basically the entire careers advice we got.

Every young women today benefits from the feminists of the 60s and 70s.

Exactly. 💪

you'd washed in a boiler with created batt soap,

Aaaargh! Grated bar soap!

Was rushing to get my granddaughter to ballet class and missed the mad autocorrect!

I say again, they were not perfect but they were moving in the right direction.

This comes up everytime tbis is raised by 1970 when the post war generation were raising their children most houses had washing machines.

If it's the one I'm thinking of it had boomer in the title. I found it to be ageist and unnecessarily goady.

Ownership from 1969-1981

Every young women today benefits from the feminists of the 60s and 70s.

This, 1000 times.

Of course they were lucky. But so what? So that means it’s okay to vilify them and froth at the mouth, just because they benefited from what was happening at the time? This generation coming through will then benefit when they inherit.

Do you know what a post war generation washing machine looked like? And it wasn't in the 70s

I do because both my grandmothers, my mother and my aunts had one. There was a hose to attach to the tap and another draped over the sink to drain it. There was nothing remotely automatic. It was:

'fill with water and bar soap;
put washing in,
let the machine agitate it
drain
fill with water to rinse
agitate
drain
fill and rinse again
agitate
drain
put each individual item through the wringer
All those processes meaning that the woman could never leave the machine.

Then she'd attempt to dry clothes without a tumble dryer, radiators, or any heating other than the fire in the main room

So come on now. Don't pretend that a washing machine means the machines were have now

By the time I had a washing machine, it was a twin tub. So similar, but with the luxury of a spin dryer instead of a mangle. And I had central heating.

Livelovebehappy

This generation coming through will then benefit when they inherit.

According to a lot of MN threads, many don't want to wait.

saraclara

Don't pretend that a washing machine means the machines were have now

Just what I thought.
My mother had a washing machine in the 70s exactly as you describe.

Yes post war the '50s when tbe baby boomers were children. That was not the typical experience of some body born between 1946 and 1964 who were adults in 1970s.
/80s. I remember washing machines of that era because I was a child.

@saraclara that's exactly the machine my mum was using, all through the 70s, until about 1983. The one latterly had it's own spin cycle, which was an improvement, but it was still laborious. The clothes were hung up on one of those racks that was on a pulley in the kitchen ceiling.

I have one of those pulleys now, very practcal it is too.

Yes! The heat from the cooker helped to dry everything, but it was steamy!

Don’t be so ridiculous. 🤣

It’s used with the same intention as the term “Karen” - i.e to shut out people from a certain demographic.

Yes, another term I absolutely hate and always make sure I say so when I hear/read it.

If MN were going to crack down and delete posts making disparaging, stereotyping comments about old people (or young people) as a class, there would be no excuse for them to not also crack down on posts making disparaging, stereotyping comments about men as a class.

At that point everyone might as well pack up and go home as all we’d have left are parking threads, inheritance battles and poo trolls.