What is the appeal of the 50s housewife thing?

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Was thinking about this today. What is so appealing about the 1950s stereotype of a housewife? It seems like there is a return to old fashionedness and sort of twee stuff. Kirstie Allsopp and her craft bits and comments about putting husbands first and all that.

It just seems like you would be dependant totally on someone else and if they left you would be stuck!

I think part of the appeal is the lovely clothes (Dior's new look which was softer and more feminine after the masculinised clothing of the war years) and the 'luxury' of time to spend on beautification plus the availability of more products. During the war years there was so little and rationing continued and the effects were felt for a long time.

A lot of this women did themselves - the availability of more fabric meant that you could have full skirts and petticoats - there was a revolution in dress making across all classes.

What isn't appealing about women leading the way - the fashion isn't just about 'fashion' it's about self-determination and choice.

Capitalism is often at women's expense - many examples are cited above - the stress, having to do everything (job, home, children et al), lack of part-time work, the still unremitting drudgery of life, the lack of respect (and remuneration)for jobs that are mostly done by women.

There is a lovely thread on mumsnet at the moment about the tiny joys in life - and that's what women often focus on - we live in a patriarchal capitalist society that fucks us over in many ways - no wonder we take tiny joys where we can get it.

i genuinely dont recognise your description of a womens lot
i dont do everything domestically etc.im not that fucking stupid
i dont feel put upon

Yes there are societal and structural inequalities but no dont share your gloomy description

sometimes you get what you settle for
if a woman does find shes doing everything she needs to have a moment and think Why?
and then stop doing everything

My mother was a 1950s housewife - she couldn't wait to get back to work when we were both at junior school. She was a very efficient house wife and after doing the cleaning/making up the fires/doing the washing with a non automatic machine/preparing a "proper meal"/ the eternal shopping /(queueing in the grocer's/greengrocer's/butcher's pretty well every day she was very bored. She was so much more happy when she went back to part time secretarial work and had enough money of her own to be able to afford tennis club membership and the occasional splurge on nice clothes/shoes.

My gran was a '1950s housewife'.

It was a bloody hard slog; not the silly wafty cup-cakes and present wrapping fantasy lifestyle promoted by Kirstie Allsop and her ilk.

Not only that but back then there weren't the opportunities women have now. If you had a husband who treated you with kindness and respect then you were one of the lucky ones - she wasn't, unfortunately, and there wasn't much redress.

Laurie, am I the only one that really hates the whole New Look fandango, with all its attendant faff and discomfort? I love 40s Utility clothes - clean lines and classic styles, and shapes that came back in the 60s and 80s.

Something bugs me about the way women are always sold fuss and froth as a lovely choice, and a treat, when all it really is is bother.

Nope TheSmallClanger, I hate it too.
In my head I look like Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story (palazzo pants and white shirt)
Or Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday.(Sharp lean suit and killer shoes).
The whole Doris Day thing does my head in, fashion-wise.

Yes Jenny absolutely right, well said

I can't pull off the Katherine Hepburn look - too many curves!

" However, relying on a career for security is no less risky than relying on a partner - a person can just as easily lose a job as they can lose a partner."

Sorry, I don't agree with that. As a SAHM you rely on a DH/P who relies on his career. So 2 levels of dependency - 2 potential things to go wrong, yo could lose him or he could be made redundant. the chanches of either of two things happening are higher than the chance of just one (own redundancy if you work).
I'm not saying though that I disagree with the decision to be SAHM.

The days hen women didnt talk back - easy for men.

Women had it easy, too, for a price. They could remain children all their lives, relying on a man's money and decision-making.

Thank God its not the 1950s!