Have you ever wondered what makes crabby old ladies crabby? Maybe they’re having a bad day? Maybe younger people are being rude to them and they’re speaking up for themselves? Maybe they’ve always been crabby? Maybe they’ve lived a long life and don’t give a shit what people think of them any more?
According to Sunshine Mary — “Christian, wife, mother, and anti-feminist” — the real problem is feminism.
And she’s got proof!
In a blog post today titled The coarsening effect of feminism on elderly women she tells the horrifying story of how she personally witnessed some crankiness from an old lady while she was innocently going about her business shopping for groceries and silently judging other people:
As I approached the milk cooler, I observed an elderly woman, probably in her late seventies, and her husband, who was probably around eighty. The woman was wearing brown pants that appeared to be Carhartts and rainbow colored sneakers; she looked ridiculous. I have been noticing lately that even elderly women’s appearance has worsened; they often wear their hair in short, mannish styles, as opposed to the short but feminine style that elderly women used to wear, and they seem to be wearing men’s clothing now.
Ok, so far the only crabby person here seems to be Sunshine Mary herself, working herself into a lather over an elderly woman’s short hair and rainbow-colored sneakers.
But wait! Sunshine Mary continues with her tale of terror in the dairy aisle:
As I stood patiently nearby waiting to access the milk cooler, I eavesdropped on the elderly couple’s conversation. I didn’t hear what the man had said, but the old woman was responding harshly with a nasty look on her face as she complained, “I want it, and I am going to get it. I need to because you don’t take me shopping enough!” They shuffled off down the aisle, she still crabbing and he pushing the cart silently.
I CAN’T FUCKING BELIEVE IT A WOMAN DEMANDING TO GET THE KIND OF YOGURT OR WHATEVER THE FUCK IT WAS THAT SHE WANTED TO GET, EVEN THOUGH HER HUSBAND FOR SOME REASON APPARENTLY THOUGHT SHE SHOULDN’T GET IT, ACTUALLY WHY WOULD THAT BE ANY OF his business why am I yelling?
Sunshine Mary wonders what kind of world could create crabby old ladies like this:
I thought about her unfeminine appearance and harsh behavior and also recalled … an article about how elderly women are divorcing and engaging in online dating and casual sex, resulting in a sharp increase in sexually transmitted diseases among the elderly, and I wondered…What has happened to our older women? Why have they become so unfeminine? Why do they revel in exhibiting coarse behavior and using foul language?
Elderly women didn’t use to be like this.
Huh. I’s sort of stuck on the sexually transmitted diseases thing, because unless all these old ladies have become lesbians — and I’m pretty sure Sunshine Mary would have said something about that if that were the case — then these evil sex-having, STD-spreading old ladies are having sex with, and spreading STDs with, sex-having, STD-spreading men. So why is it that the ladies are the ones getting all the blame?
Also, how did we get from cranky old ladies in the dairy aisle to sexy old ladies having sex?
Anyway, as proof that old ladies used to be nothing but sugar and spice, Sunshine Mary posts a picture of her grandmother in 1974, and she does indeed seem to be a very nice granny. Apparently she never swore or talked about sex, at least not in the vicinity of Sunshine Mary.
And apparently Sunshine Mary’s great-grandmother was a very nice lady as well — even though she worked outside the home!
So why are the old ladies of today such evil, crabby, yogurt-demanding monsters?
Oh, yeah, that’s right: feminism.
The women who are in their seventies now would have been young women when second wave feminism took off in the early 1970s, and it shows. There are exceptions, of course, but in general they are far more coarse and unfeminine than the previous generation, and this is almost certainly due to the influence of feminism. …
Feminism was supposed to empower women, but instead it has turned all women into mere sex objects; all they bring of worth now is their sexuality, and when their youth fades, they have nothing left of value to offer.
Uh, since when has feminism been all about turning women into nothing but sex objects?
This is why we see old women either pathetically trying to look like a caricature of a young, sexy woman or just giving up and looking like old men. If you have nothing beyond your sexuality to offer, if you have built no lasting family, if you have chucked your husband and devoted most of your life to a career, then you end up with no feminine dignity for anyone to celebrate.
Yeah, it’s not like having an interesting and/or accomplished life is worth celebrating.
We women who are not yet elderly need to think about this and consider our own conduct, language, and appearance. What kind of elderly women do we hope to be someday? The type who are desperately clinging to the hope that they are sexxxxay and hip in their dotage, looking and behaving just as crass as the younger women?
Sorry to break it to you, Sunshine, but when people live longer lives, their sex lives last longer as well. I don’t know if you realize this, but people you think are too old, or too unattractive, or too whatever to be having sex … are having sex all the time. That couple you saw in the grocery store may have had sex for three hours as soon as they got home. They may have even worked the yogurt into it.
I know that I don’t want to be that way. I hope that I will be more like my grandmother and great-grandmother – a dignified, feminine, woman who is both respectable and respected, who takes care of her family and does not embarrass them with outrageously coarse behavior.
Don’t worry, Sunshine. You’re already plenty embarrassing.
fixed some of that for you. The rest, I ain’t touching, bro. It’s too imaginary-land.
PS men harrassing women out of male dominated jobs is men’s fault. So… you kind of don’t really have a point there.
wrong thread, I am soooo sorry guys
“I don’t see why someone who talks frankly about her sex life (in relative anonymity) can’t also be a modest dresser in her day to day life.”
QFT!
As is news to few here, I have no shame. However, when it isn’t sweltering, I’m covered basically from wrist to toes — hands and from the upper chest up, if my undershirts went neck high and I covered my hair, I’d meet some of the most modest religious dress codes…while sitting around. Sweltering I ditch the long sleeves and just wear the undershirt (I have a thing against t-shirts usually, idfk why)
Yet here…TMI ALERT masochist and spanking in the dark is really dangerous since you can’t see the soft bits and if you’re going for the butt and the spankee straightens (maybe that last one kinda hurt) and you whack again…you don’t want to hit someone in the small of the back. But maybe they just mean hands and not paddles or floggers or anything, in which case it’ll just fucking hurt, not risk damage.
…crotchless panties…I have a pair, for wearing under my EA Victorian/steam punk costume, because the skirts are just so damn long and bulky and it’s impossible to pee otherwise and I’ve never been comfortable going commando. They are actually practical in limited circumstances. Give a sort of reverse wedgie though, it’s weird. (That costume, the full thing, is easily 20 yards of fabric, it really is a beast to try working around, even just getting the back up to get on a toilet is work [other things I have no shame about — which bathroom {assuming single stall, I avoid freaking people out}, standing/sitting…button down and tie…full length Victorian skirts with boned top layer…whatever strikes my fancy 🙂 ])
Nested parenthesis for the win!
Also, pecunium, his beloved and I went to the museum of natural history yesterday and he’s like a kid in a candy store around dinosaurs (and then we did the ocean hall and it was my turn to oh and ah and bounce around and go “they have a one of those!?” and pecunium “what’s that?” “A baby whale shark, I think” “hm, you might be right”…anyone know how many gallons a blue whale’s heart holds? We were debating this while sitting in a model of one)
That got long. Sorry. Lack of shame and squee about being at pecunium’s…
And an oarfish…he likes that eel…and a moray…he likes that fish. Smart ass!
Heh, speaking of crotchless panties, I’ve got this pair of… I don’t really know what to call it… a buttless thong? Which doesn’t make sense, but really, it’s this little scrap of panties with two skinny straps in the back instead of one, which I assume are supposed to kind of cup the buttocks? It came in a package with a corset that a friend gave me (the costume lingerie kind, not the legit kind), and I’ve still never figured out what the fuck. Also it doesn’t fit at all, but hey.
In related questions: Why are panties and underwear pairs, but thongs are just singular?
I know when I get to be that age I won’t give one crap about how people view me. Not that I do now. And please, many elderly people don’t want to deal with super long hair. It’s easier to manage short.
I think because the word “thong” (in this context) came about relatively recently, whereas panties and underwear started out (just like pants) as two leg-pieces that would be tied together at the waist. Women’s undergarments didn’t actually have a closed crotch seam until the 1920’s. There are lots of hilarious examples from the 20’s of closed-crotch underwear being portrayed as signs of moral degradation and looseness.
I didn’t read back far enough to see if this had been mentioned, but olde-timey pantaloons were always crotchless, so I guess it’s historical accuracy not just weirdo CDD stuff?
😀
To be clear: I think it is ALSO creepy CDD stuff, but you know, also historical.
Thank you for indulging my librarian’s need to explain things.
Another librarian! Hi there, Sarah. Did you get your welcome package? (I can’t ever be sure if people are new or if I’ve just forgotten their ‘nyms since I have a terrible memory.)
I’m a longtime lurker, but I saw an opportunity to talk about old timey undergarments an couldn’t help myself.
Have a librarian fist bump, and a welcome package:
http://artistryforfeminismandkittens.wordpress.com/the-official-man-boobz-complimentary-welcome-package/
“Heh, speaking of crotchless panties, I’ve got this pair of… I don’t really know what to call it… a buttless thong? Which doesn’t make sense, but really, it’s this little scrap of panties with two skinny straps in the back instead of one, which I assume are supposed to kind of cup the buttocks?”
Do you mean like this? http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kng9nNTclfs/TFmO-rY-7_I/AAAAAAAABWU/_XiFo9JIKw8/s200/biniki_buttbra.jpg
The dude version is a jock strap: http://images.asos-media.com/inv/n/98/890/282267/image2xl.jpg
“Do you mean like this? http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kng9nNTclfs/TFmO-rY-7_I/AAAAAAAABWU/_XiFo9JIKw8/s200/biniki_buttbra.jpg”
Holy fuck that looks uncomfortable. =S
I don’t understand… like, why the straps?
I was thinking more like these — http://www.blackbookmag.com/fashion/a-bra-for-your-bum-meet-the-brum-1.25442
Where there’s a certain degree of sense to it, at least as far as sexy underwear goes. (Those straps really make no sense, and this comes from someone who has a thing for both sexytimes bondage, and goth bondage pants and similar…I just don’t get those straps)
Oh, that’s not excellent SFW, could be worse, does stop at an ass crack, but yeah, ass crack and much of an ass.
Excellent => exactly
I’m tired apparently >.< (wow, small wonder, pecunium and everyone else here went to bed three hours ago…I should prolly follow suit huh?)
Chie –
Why do I get the feeling Owly’s been on that thread?
You’re up early, blockquote monster.
No, they’re not.
I feel almost bad for saying this, but… they’re just DIFFERENTLY CONFIGURED UNDERWEAR, I don’t understand what the big deal is. They won’t squeeze your ass off, they’re just cut differently.
And yes, the straps are there to frame the butt. And it makes lots of butts look GOOD.
This grump has been brought to you by people being confused/horrified by nipple-less bras higher up in the thread. I mean really, people wear full latex animal costumes to bonk in, bras with holes for the nipples cut out are just the BEGINNING of impractical clothing people wear to enhance their sexual fantasies. 😛
Yeah, my not getting it // I see no point =/= it should not exist // you should not wear that. My policy that if it pleases you, and hurts no one, have fun…it always applies.
Sexual kinks aren’t supposed to make sense. Your kink is not my kink and, well, some of my kinks almost certainly aren’t yours 🙂
Of course, this also means you shouldn’t frame any kinks as “objectively sexy” or “daring” or “edgy” or whatever. I don’t know if Sunshine Mary was doing this kind of framing with her pants. I can totally see how people could be biased with their own kinks, even ones that aren’t promoted in mainstream sexual culture. I’ve seen someone suggest that balloon fetish might be the next big sexual trend, for fuck’s sake.
On Male Gaze: If I understand the concept correctly, it comes to play in the cultural consensus where women’s sexy lingerie is regarded normal and cool and expected while men’s sexy lingerie is not so much a thing. That a sexy garment objectifies it’s wearer’s body in the eyes of another person is just what it typically means to be a “sexy” garment in the first place. Cultural pressure to over-objectify women’s bodies is a different issue.
Then in some cases clothes and accessories have a “sexy” function due to some fetish significance that isn’t directly related to objectification and doesn’t make sense to most people. (says guy who just bought a jockstrap and not for sports either <.<)