Coming “of age” for a girl in the fifties was as difficult as it was for young women
from any previous decade, especially when hormones are raging and the desire to be a
self-reliant adult is so strong. I definitely found it complicated. Young women then
tended to be less aggressive and more subservient, because they had their mothers and
grandmothers as models. I was raised to be a conservative, well-mannered and upright
girl, one who wouldn’t bring shame to the family (even though the latter rule didn’t
extend to a few men in our family). Beverly Hills High School students were more
progressive in their thinking and the boys were more than willing to let their own
hormones rule their bodies. They were as aggressive then as they are today. How far is
the girl willing to go? Was their mantra, I learned very quickly that the best way to avoid
being tested was to remain a buddy, not a date.
Timid as a child, I remained so as a teen. This mindset carried over into my young
adult years. In particular, I didn’t want to be touched by a fellow, because I felt fat. I had
reached my sixteenth birthday and “never been kissed,” and that continued kiss less state
remained until after graduation and art school. Talk about being naïve! My mother and
several of her friends tried their best to introduce me to young men, and
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