I miss the casual sexism of the 70s & 80s

[SpareRibFem]

Finally got the the end of Mad Men which displayed the sort of sexism I remember as a teen and early days of working, and I realised unpleasant as it was at the time during the 70s and 80s we had optimism that things would only get better and for a while it was.

Now I've realised women been silenced and -boys- oops not allowed to say that, transwomen dressed like female porn stars that hate women have out manoeuvred us and now have the right to speak for us and determine what we're allowed and not allowed to do and say.

And I find that so incredibly depressing 😢 In the 70s and 80s I had hope

They haven't out maneuvered us. Its just demonstrated that we never had equality, we had a facsimile of it.

Netflix's algorithm suggested 'Prime Suspect' to us last week. It's quite thought provoking and shocking to realise that it was only 1991 when the first series aired. I'm slowly watching the subsequent series and there's a great deal in all of them with regards sex/gender and social issues which is relevant in today's context.

I know exactly what you mean. I was thinking the other day, I miss the old fashioned sexism - rather than dealing with this bizarre fight against self ID, men declaring themselves women, that we're dealing with now.

Hankering back to the simpler days, I suppose. The days where men weren't trying to either be us, or erase us. Notable exceptions excepted, of course.

No one ever gives up power easily. Women won't really be equal for a long time - if ever.

I agree it was more distinctly obvious in the old days and it's harder to tackle now it's more insidious.

One key difference between the 70s/80s and today is the advent of social media and the resurgence of shaming as a social tool to enforce conformity in women.

Let's say some creep gropes you on the bus. In the 70s/80s you could turn around and give him an absolute verbal serving to your heart's delight, in the knowledge that any judgment over your (justifiably) angry reaction is limited to the persons riding on that bus.

Turn it around. We're in the year 2018. Some creep gropes you on the bus. Now, young women know very well from bitter experience that they have to be careful. Because everyone has a smart phone on that bus and any verbal serve given to the creepy groper is only two clicks away from becoming high quality video and being uploaded to youtube or facebook to universal comment. Of course, the initial act of harassment will never be on film. What do you do? Are you willing to "make a scene" knowing that you could be filmed and uploaded?

In a sense, while social media has given everyone more of a public voice, it has also made publicly expressing ourselves - especially as women - so much riskier. This results in making the fight for women's rights more difficult and more precarious, as we have seen from social media battles around a variety of recent feminist issues.

I feel there's been a generational shift throughout the West from personal responsibility to the mindset of children in school. Things feel more oppressive, more authoritarian than they have for a long time. We live in a culture where everyone feels they have no power and if they do, they dare not use it and everything now is about using the power of society against someone. That means that the tactics have become lies, informing, shaming, no platforming and destroying debate.

Someone mentioned being groped on a bus. Not only would a woman of the time yelled and quite possibly slapped the man, others, especially men, would likely grab him and throw him off the bus. These days if you touch someone on the shoulder it's assault and they'll try and get something on your record knowing it will ruin your career.

We have become a society of unpleasant school children whose every tactic is based on getting others to hurt those you hate for you, by whatever means necessary.

I wonder if in the older days the social rules were clearer too, and it sometimes felt safer in public because of it? Since the basic rules have changed (as in, increasingly there aren't any), no one seems to have any authority any more either.

For example, I vividly remember bus drivers kicking people off when I was a kid, and these days they never seem to dare do so for any infraction. Or noise-nuisance neighbours, were they always there but just held back by technology of the day?

Maybe this is all just false nostalgia for youth since that does happen as you get older and no one's immune, but to me, society does seem scarier then it did back then.

The shaming of women using social media is not a change for the better. Recommend reading Jon Ronsons book 'So you've been publicly shamed' it has some interesting insights.

Back but n 70s & 80s and right through the 90s and even 00s I was optimistic. The current problems really bring to mind the Germaine Greer quote 'Women have very little idea of how much men hate them'