Dating Tips...

Wanna know how to date right?

http://pbh3.tumblr.com/post/390543309/1938-dating-guide-for-single-women

This link was sent to my girlfriend by her sister. I feel like I encounter something like this every six months where people look at old dating advice for women or old advertisements and go "oh that's scary; things used to be so different back then." Bullshit! This kind of stuff is everywhere still. Every magazine advertised to straight women HAS to have some sort of list dating tips or ways to "please your man." You can easily google search "dating tips" and find contemporary lists that are more conservative than this one. (I found one that encourages women not to act so "butch" and never to be the first person to say "I love you." I'd like to give men a little more credit than these stereotypes that so many self-help articles do.)

We should do our best to avoid these false narratives of progressive gender politics. In cases such as "dating tips," the tips are often removed from their specific contexts: was this from the Glamour of the time, or from some gender-conforming propaganda? We also cannot assume that tips directly correlate to customs of the time, although it is true that cultural artifacts such as this do influence the norms of the time. By painting these progressive narratives we often effaces our connection with the past, how the past still haunts and stays with us. We can shrug our shoulders and say "that was then, we're much more advanced now." Not only is it dishonest, but these narratives of progressivism underlie excuses for colonization (speaking of histories we often try to distance ourselves from).

I do think the photos are pretty hilarious though. Especially the one where she rubs the head of the person in the next booth. If a girl did that on a date she'd be a total keeper in my book. But that's just me.