JF Ptak Science Books LLC Post 914
[Continuing the posts "What Makes Human Robot Girls, 1941" and The Missing Pieces of Women, Pope Joan and the Proper Girl]
Do Boys Like You? is
the name-of-the-game for girls, evidently (“set out to make yourself worthy of a boy’s
affection. Just one boy—any boy…”),
brought to you as a part of a long, continuing series by Elizabeth Woodward in
the Ladies’ Home Journal in the early
1940’s. 
This installment is about getting a boy for a date, and how to make oneself getable and datable and boy-friendly, all while maintaining the thinnest veneer of self-acknowledgment ("be adaptable as a chameleon") as possible while staying true to "yourself". It is a cocktail of overall old-lady sense and deep ruffled bows writ by the hand of gender entrapment and not-so-subtle subjugation. Let’s get to it with some of the more archaeologically-interesting statements of this social-norms-establishing pamphlet:
Paragraph: (Intro):
“Do boys like you, or don’t they? Its as easy as that! Either you have dates and go places with lots of boys, or they don’t pay any attention to you at all.”
Paragraph: “A Female World”
“…the first thing is to find some men.” (Which is odd because “men” is used only one other time beyond this reference—its all boys and nothing but boys.)
“Short of throwing yourself on their (boys’) mercy, see if you can’t wrangle an introduction out of the girls who do know boys…”
“Your parents could invite their friends over for dinner and ask them to bring along their son. And you do a good job on him!” (I’m not sure what that “job” is.)
“They (boys) can’t find you if you’re packed away in a mob of females.”
Paragraph: “A Rank Outsider” (on being the new girl in a community):
“The girls have things under control and they don’t want any interference from you.”
“You might know more than they do, and you just might talk down your pug nose at them.”
“…you’d better get accustomed to traveling alone…”
“Give them every chance to find out that you aren’t high hat, that you like the same things they do, that you aren’t out to sniggle their men away…”
“When they (the girls) accept you, the boys will too…”
Paragraph: “an Old Story”
“(Boys) are so used to looking at you that they think of you as furniture.You’ve got to be new!”
“If you’re fat and pudgy, make yourself lean, sleek and smart.”
Paragraph “Take it Easy”
“…its going to take practice to make boys like you. Take it easy. Set out to make yourself worthy of a boy’s affection. Just one boy—any boy…”
Paragraph “A Few Gentle Hints” (Seems that we’ve gone way beyond this by now.)
“Don’t run around with girls who are dud.”
“Don’t go in pairs with a girl who is overwhelmingly popular…Better pick a girl who will give you an even break.”
“Don’t languish for some local ‘hero’ who is sought after by all the girls in town. He may be good-but he’s far out of reach…”
“Don’t pick on a lad who has never had a date with a girl.”
“Don’t be careless or sloppy when you’re talking with boys…”
“Don’t expect (or even hope) that every boy you meet will ask you for a date.”
And (not quite) lastly, but should’ve been:
“Don’t go around thinking about boys constantly.”
But lastly thus:
“Act as though you are having fun. Be alive, gay and enthusiastic. Be interested in what's going on. Be sweet, tactful, and adaptable as a chameleon. Have definite likes and dislikes, but don’t be so rigid that you are stubborn, opinionated and difficult to get long with. Be carefree, casual, easy, willing to play and fun to play with. And don’t be shy about liking the boys.
THEN THE BOYS WILL LIKE YOU! [Emphasis in the original.]
My poor mother would’ve been reading this…
(Thanks to Jeff Donlan for pointing out that the chap on the cover carrying the girl away has joined the fabric of her skirt to (1) hold onto and steady her and (2) make sure her skirt doesn't fly up and out and is not actually touching her thigh…)
“If you’re fat and pudgy, make yourself lean, sleek and smart.” Are we to assume that fat and pudgy goes with dumb? Or does the author mean "fashionable"?
“…its going to take practice to make boys like you. Take it easy. Set out to make yourself worthy of a boy’s affection. Just one boy—any boy…” Any boy, and then dump him when you want to move up. Life is short, and you may get fat and pudgy.
Posted by: Jeff Donlan | 21 January 2010 at 11:01 PM
I'm inclined to think IQ, but I believe that the author intended a fashion statement. It also means I guess that you can't be fashionable unless you aren't "fat and pudgy".
Posted by: John F. Ptak | 22 January 2010 at 08:41 AM