the 1950s Quiz That Proves You Are a Terrible Wife

[darkplumaged]

I got 43.5. (Yes, I did half points when applicable.) All that, and I am still only an average wife.

The quiz raises a lot of questions:

--Why would I wash my headship's hair? How and where would I wash his hair? He washes it himself in the shower in less than a minute.

--Why is it imperative to wash the top of the milk bottle? (Maybe this was important back in the day of reused milk bottles--but I'm not understanding why this is something only the wife could do or why it's so essential that it's on the quiz.)

--Why is wearing shoes in the house a sign of a good wife? Was there an expectation that wives dress up like Donna Reed every day?

[Bethella]

What about the fact that it is a merit to write to your in-laws but visiting your own mother too much is a demerit and makes you a spoiled child?

And the fundies are wrong (big shock, I know) but a good 1950s house wife is supposed to get a job to help support the home :o

[RachelB]

I got 43.5. (Yes, I did half points when applicable.) All that, and I am still only an average wife.

The quiz raises a lot of questions:

--Why would I wash my headship's hair? How and where would I wash his hair? He washes it himself in the shower in less than a minute.

--Why is it imperative to wash the top of the milk bottle? (Maybe this was important back in the day of reused milk bottles--but I'm not understanding why this is something only the wife could do or why it's so essential that it's on the quiz.)

--Why is wearing shoes in the house a sign of a good wife? Was there an expectation that wives dress up like Donna Reed every day?

My best guess is that it is supposed to give us a reason to vacuum every day.

[JesusFightClub]

:lol: I'd never have been eligible in the Fifties...

"Active member of some women's organisation" - I used to be a member of the local anarchist-feminist group, does that count? 8-)

Some of these are very weird. I'm not sure what "uses dope" meant to someone 60+ years ago, does it mean smoking weed or does it mean something a bit harder? Opening her husband's mail is definitely bad, but most blokes like red nail polish :) Discourteous to hired help, I would make that a super minus, not on the level of "cooking in pyjamas". :?

[penguinagogo]

Me and Mr P have had a go at the quizzes

he is amused by how many points he gets if he makes sure I orgasm

I think I should get more points for convincing faking

I got 20 points for my slatternly housekeeping and the fact that I am the main breadwinner/work mad hours

He gets 72 for being flexworking/SAHD

We have tried to have a movie star kiss this am but my seamed stockings were not straight

am thinking - Queen Helen! let us kiss with tounges!

[Handmaiden of Dog]

My husband gets more points for being faithful and giving me orgasms (30 pts total) then I get for being faithful and acting delighted in bed (20 pts.) He scored Very Superior while I am Poor. I note that there are no points for surprising him with BJs. What's strange is that if a woman is a good housekeeper and has small children and dresses up in the home and goes to church but is unfaithful to her husband, she can still be rated Very Superior.

Interesting that the only time smoking is counted is positive points if he doesn't smoke but negative points if she smokes in bed.

Also, why does he get a point for being interested in athletics? Does a guy watching baseball on TV make for a superior husband?

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

:lol: "Reacts with pleasure and delight to marital congress." Did Pete Campbell write this?

Also, what's the problem with red nail polish?

:clap: :lol:

[alchemy]

I posted this on FB, and a fundie friend and her husband both rated as Very Superior. I should probably feel ashamed by my piss poor ranking, but I don't.

[AuntCloud]

I got 43.5. (Yes, I did half points when applicable.) All that, and I am still only an average wife.

The quiz raises a lot of questions:

--Why would I wash my headship's hair? How and where would I wash his hair? He washes it himself in the shower in less than a minute.

--Why is it imperative to wash the top of the milk bottle? (Maybe this was important back in the day of reused milk bottles--but I'm not understanding why this is something only the wife could do or why it's so essential that it's on the quiz.)

--Why is wearing shoes in the house a sign of a good wife? Was there an expectation that wives dress up like Donna Reed every day?

"Shoes, Grace!" went exactly the other way round. Where would I go? how shall I turn? will Headships make up their mind if they want shoes on, off or dangling from the chandelier? My head spins.

DH is bald as an egg - he started shaving his head a few years ago. I wash my own hair, does that count?

Also, if red nail polish = demerit, how do I account for purple?

[ApplePie]

Hi! First post. This is an uneven scoring system too. Men have the possibility of 131 merits and 90 demerits, while women have the possibility of 105 merits and 102 demerits. (I'm hoping that I added those up correctly.)

[RachelB]

:lol: I'd never have been eligible in the Fifties...

"Active member of some women's organisation" - I used to be a member of the local anarchist-feminist group, does that count? 8-)

Some of these are very weird. I'm not sure what "uses dope" meant to someone 60+ years ago, does it mean smoking weed or does it mean something a bit harder? Opening her husband's mail is definitely bad, but most blokes like red nail polish :) Discourteous to hired help, I would make that a super minus, not on the level of "cooking in pyjamas". :?

I counted my university's academic feminist working group and Planned Parenthood to accrue the "women's organization" point.

[salex]

I have more plus than minus on this, so I'm clearly a throwback. I am always dressed for breakfast, for example, because I finish dressing while hubs makes breakfast on our way to work. I don't "shampoo" my husband, per se, but we shower together from time to time, so I counted that.... I "try" to become aquainted with his business or trade AND am willing to help around his office (I am in charge of marketing and communications, and do some training for his company)--plus I'm pretty good at the whole marital congress bit.

On the bad side, there were a lot of demerits for the slang, dirty jokes and drinking bit, and I have never darned a sock in my life. I vew socks as a disposable item, to be tossed when they wear out. Oh, and I'm snobbish (which truth be told is part of my general appeal to hubs) and I do drive while he's along--not always, but often, especially when he needs to do work in the car. But inspite of my obvious problems, I still came out ok wife wise.

[Hane]

Got a 33. I'm obvs a galloping hosebeast. Good thing I'm single now.

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

I used to buy seamed stocking online and wear them in my early twenties (I can't be bothered to be quite that far into my vintage thing now! :lol:) and, even though they weren't even the real thick seams like they used to have back in the 50s, they would get crooked just sitting at a desk all day. Pretty sure they would be somewhere near my shins, and torn, if I were baby-wrangling all day.

I didn't take the quiz because I can tell you right now I'd fail! I'm living in sin, childless, and not only does Partner do his own laundry, he cooks his own meals because of our very different diets. THE HORROR.