Some have said (meaning this is not my idea) that pop culture in the US was so prudish, even about sex during marriage, that violence, which Americans never have any trouble with, took its place as a titillating factor. Even sixties sitcoms and some movies kept married couples apart in separate beds. For maximum "excitement" they cranked up the violence. Sex itself became allied with violence--a double-whammy--in pop culture, especially the cheaper, more exploitative variety. Much can be extrapolated from this line of thinking. Your look at men's magazines ten years apart is really interesting, the details change, but the audience assumption stays the same. Men's and Women's magazines shared a bizarre assumption: men and women want and need to become "super" versions of men and women, part of an all-American drive toward perfection and perpetual self-improvement, almost as if pop culture's main message is "you suck, you could be SO much better." Mad men, of course, created this. Enough!
Ohhh, Merrill...the only thing better (shudder) than these awful revelations is your clear-eyed, hilarious commentary about them. Please keep them coming!
You might try sociology as a field. I remember seeing True and True Confessions on the news stands, but never Male, which looks particularly trashy. The year I was born, '53, I see that Playboy came out. It was glossy, but forbidden. Not something my dad subscribed to. He did once surprisingly mention that he had had the famous Marilyn calendar. But he was a true eagle scout and honest lawyer who never swore or played around. He did once pick up one of my Zap magazines and was really shocked and disgusted by the obscene antics of Wonder Warthog. It was a wonderful time of change and optimism. Now I just laugh bitterly to see that Earth Day still exists. The magats will probably ban it as DEI.
It didn’t seem like it was going in that direction but you-know-who is a Boomer. The Boomers begat MAGA. As a generation: started out hopeful and positive, ended up assholes anyway. Very sad.
Women were too busy reading Harlequin romances to be bothered with all that. In the late 60’s Harlequin heroines were still mostly nurses & secretaries who were expected to quit their jobs upon marriage - tho you might find the odd lady doctor, architect or executive among the thousands of titles. But regardless of the circumstances, you could still count on a proposal on the last page…wherein the Surgeon/Rancher/hotel magnate clears up the misunderstandings of the previous 229 pages & seals the deal with a passionate kiss. And a promise to raise her dead sister’s children as his own.
It’s a world of academia title - what you get after a masters degree. You write a thesis and defend it to a panel of older, widely published PhDs. Once you receive yours everyone gets to call you DOCTOR!
It’s for all the Jewish women whose mothers told them to marry a doctor. But those mothers were referring to medical doctors, not doctors of philosophy! 😱😎😎😎
I know what a PHD is, Amy….I meant to say “A phd IN what?” My very own brother, Dr. Glenn Markoe, had a PHD in archeology. What I was wondering is what department do you think these examinations of terrible mens magazine content from the mid twentieth century is going to step forward to award me this academic honor?
I was kind of sure you know what a PHD … as I recall you have a Masters,? Okay you can get the PHD in journalism and how men’s and women’s magazines fostered cultural and gender norms( or something akin to that). Or you could get the PHD in media studies or communications using similar thesis topic but including network television shows of the same time frame. There are also women’s studies departments which gives you enormous range of choice for your thesis. And !! Many reputable colleges have popular culture and departments - so your thesis topic would have a more cultural angle.
The journalism and pop culture departments give you a good way to get the thesis published by a mass market publisher. The women’s studies dept would also be good for publishing the thesis. A good example and I don’t know what department his PHD came from but I do have a copy of the book is Robert Vaughn, aka “The Man From Uncle” whose dissertation in its public book format was titled “Only Victims” and its one of the best books published on the Hollywood blacklist . :-) so yes he was a Doctor
That’s so interesting about Robert Vaughn. And thank you for making such a rational case for me doing something I do not expect to do again…go back to school. Again. I have been to A LOT of school. But you’re right. I probably could make this into a thesis.
And you could likely get it published AND get the PHD without going back to school … well you might have to go to a meeting after you sign the book deal and asking the head of the Dept of your choice read it, and then go back again to “defend” your thesis haha even though a big publisher is publishing it. And hopefully you would be able to illustrate some of it.
And then there would be a PBS American Masters documentary about you like the upcoming one this week about Art Spiegelman.
I fear that those particular mags are exactly what our monster-in-chief was reading instead of The Red Badge of Courage, Lad a Dog, et al.
Some have said (meaning this is not my idea) that pop culture in the US was so prudish, even about sex during marriage, that violence, which Americans never have any trouble with, took its place as a titillating factor. Even sixties sitcoms and some movies kept married couples apart in separate beds. For maximum "excitement" they cranked up the violence. Sex itself became allied with violence--a double-whammy--in pop culture, especially the cheaper, more exploitative variety. Much can be extrapolated from this line of thinking. Your look at men's magazines ten years apart is really interesting, the details change, but the audience assumption stays the same. Men's and Women's magazines shared a bizarre assumption: men and women want and need to become "super" versions of men and women, part of an all-American drive toward perfection and perpetual self-improvement, almost as if pop culture's main message is "you suck, you could be SO much better." Mad men, of course, created this. Enough!
Ohhh, Merrill...the only thing better (shudder) than these awful revelations is your clear-eyed, hilarious commentary about them. Please keep them coming!
That toilet bowl dancing girl looks like Maria in The Sound of Music.
Yes. From the original version of the show, before it hit Broadway.
I’m not sure I could respect, let alone envy, a buccaneer named Craig.
You make a very good point.
You might try sociology as a field. I remember seeing True and True Confessions on the news stands, but never Male, which looks particularly trashy. The year I was born, '53, I see that Playboy came out. It was glossy, but forbidden. Not something my dad subscribed to. He did once surprisingly mention that he had had the famous Marilyn calendar. But he was a true eagle scout and honest lawyer who never swore or played around. He did once pick up one of my Zap magazines and was really shocked and disgusted by the obscene antics of Wonder Warthog. It was a wonderful time of change and optimism. Now I just laugh bitterly to see that Earth Day still exists. The magats will probably ban it as DEI.
It didn’t seem like it was going in that direction but you-know-who is a Boomer. The Boomers begat MAGA. As a generation: started out hopeful and positive, ended up assholes anyway. Very sad.
Hey, I’m a boomer, I can’t stand the demented orange evil one in office. So don’t blame me! I didn’t vote for the Ass🕳️. 😹😹😹 #ImpeachTrump #DeportMusk
Well not all of us by any means, but I grew up in the Bay Area, where I have yet to see a gd magat hat.
I am from the Central Valley area of a little further north. I live in a red neighborhood. Just great. 😝
You are brilliant as usual. The subject matter is sickening.
It's a different world over there! I'm safely ensconced in Sonoma County. It's all unbearable though. 😳
Though the music in the sixties was above average, don the con was
throwing rocks at babies in carriages...you can look it up
Women were too busy reading Harlequin romances to be bothered with all that. In the late 60’s Harlequin heroines were still mostly nurses & secretaries who were expected to quit their jobs upon marriage - tho you might find the odd lady doctor, architect or executive among the thousands of titles. But regardless of the circumstances, you could still count on a proposal on the last page…wherein the Surgeon/Rancher/hotel magnate clears up the misunderstandings of the previous 229 pages & seals the deal with a passionate kiss. And a promise to raise her dead sister’s children as his own.
From Sadie: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/01/19/acquisition-part-i/
You are so totally nailing it…. This is like the initial research for a Ph.D.
THANK YOU!! 🙏🏻
Haaa. A PHD is WHAT?????
It’s a world of academia title - what you get after a masters degree. You write a thesis and defend it to a panel of older, widely published PhDs. Once you receive yours everyone gets to call you DOCTOR!
It’s for all the Jewish women whose mothers told them to marry a doctor. But those mothers were referring to medical doctors, not doctors of philosophy! 😱😎😎😎
I know what a PHD is, Amy….I meant to say “A phd IN what?” My very own brother, Dr. Glenn Markoe, had a PHD in archeology. What I was wondering is what department do you think these examinations of terrible mens magazine content from the mid twentieth century is going to step forward to award me this academic honor?
I was kind of sure you know what a PHD … as I recall you have a Masters,? Okay you can get the PHD in journalism and how men’s and women’s magazines fostered cultural and gender norms( or something akin to that). Or you could get the PHD in media studies or communications using similar thesis topic but including network television shows of the same time frame. There are also women’s studies departments which gives you enormous range of choice for your thesis. And !! Many reputable colleges have popular culture and departments - so your thesis topic would have a more cultural angle.
The journalism and pop culture departments give you a good way to get the thesis published by a mass market publisher. The women’s studies dept would also be good for publishing the thesis. A good example and I don’t know what department his PHD came from but I do have a copy of the book is Robert Vaughn, aka “The Man From Uncle” whose dissertation in its public book format was titled “Only Victims” and its one of the best books published on the Hollywood blacklist . :-) so yes he was a Doctor
That’s so interesting about Robert Vaughn. And thank you for making such a rational case for me doing something I do not expect to do again…go back to school. Again. I have been to A LOT of school. But you’re right. I probably could make this into a thesis.
And you could likely get it published AND get the PHD without going back to school … well you might have to go to a meeting after you sign the book deal and asking the head of the Dept of your choice read it, and then go back again to “defend” your thesis haha even though a big publisher is publishing it. And hopefully you would be able to illustrate some of it.
And then there would be a PBS American Masters documentary about you like the upcoming one this week about Art Spiegelman.
You do deserve one now. :-)
Damn, the future is looking bleak. At least the one these dudes promoting make energy seem to want.
Yikes. Thanks for the exploration, Merrill.
YES! I have been getting my Markoe fix from old bob costas interviews on youtube.
( well, chris connely subbing for bob) Thank you!!
This is one reflection of the ingrained male belief that a woman means Yes when she says No.
Wow! I was born in 1955 and I still find this so sad and hilarious at the same time! 🤯🙃🤯