The Good Wife's Guide

March 3, 2008, 3:29 PM

This is an ACTUAL(!!!) article from 1955 from a magazine called Good Housekeeping. I was at my friends nannas on Sunday and he daughter sent her this article. It is absolutely laughable. If this was still the way women were expected to live I would have been burned at the stake by now.

I'm sure some of you have come across this before, but my eyes almost fell out of my head when I read it.

Opinions guys?

Quote:

The good wife's guide

* Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious
meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know That you
have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men
are hungry when the come home and the prospect of a good meal
(especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

* Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he
arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-
looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

* Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need
a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

* Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house
just before your husband arrives.

* Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc and then run a dustcloth over the
tables.

* Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for
him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and
order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will
provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

* Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and
faces (If they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their
clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the
part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the
washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

* Be happy to see him

* Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please
him.

* Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the
moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his
topics of conversation are more important than yours.

* Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to
dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to
understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at
home and relax.

* Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and
tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

* Don't greet him with complaints or problems.

* Don't complain if he's late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night.
Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.

* Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have
him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

* Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing
and pleasant voice.

* Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or
integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always
exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to
question him.

* A good wife always knows her place.

Edit* I put wide instead of wife, can someone change it for me?

March 3, 2008, 3:56 PM

hahahaha..... wow.

Well, considering it came from an article written in the 50s it's not all that surprising. I mean, when you watch TV shows from the 50s, they always have the wives act like that.

March 3, 2008, 3:58 PM

Wow, it shows how far things have changed in 50 years. No wonder other countries see the British people as uptight snobs

March 3, 2008, 4:11 PM

Be a little more gay and interesting had me in stiches. I can certainly do that

Might give the poor bloke a heart attack tho

And his problems being more important is bollocks aswel, what if the bloody house burned down? Or one of the kids got sick

And that last comment, well, I wear the trousers in my relationships

Id be a useless 50's wife, I cant cook, I hate the iron and Im too bone idle

March 3, 2008, 4:41 PM

One of your duties is to provide it. haha

You have no right to question him.

A good wife always knows her place.

...

Whoa.

Ohhhhhh, it's from 1955. That's a little better. At first, I thought the year mentioned was 1995. I was like, "Man...my mom must have been a hardcore badass to throw this garbage out the window."

Yeah, ridiculous stuff right there.

March 3, 2008, 4:43 PM

Dear God o_O I think I've read this before, but it still makes me klalkasjksjdkha. Whilst it's funny, I am sooo thankful that times have changed since then.

It really makes you wonder what kind of shallow and meaningless relationships people must have had aswell... It's kinda ridiculous. According to this wives are meant to be robots with perma-smiles whose only goal in life is to make her husband feel dandy all the time whilst he does as he pleases... it almost makes me want to scream. O_O

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frisky

Be a little more gay and interesting had me in stiches. I can certainly do that

Might give the poor bloke a heart attack tho

That made me laugh too. XD *is immature*

March 3, 2008, 4:47 PM

*is also immature for turning what was once something serious into something rude*

It's like, women were expected to be their slaves or something, having to look pretty just too please him, what if you feel like shit and want to slob around?
I wonder how many women actually conformed to it tho...

It's actually hard work being a full time parent. At least the man could actually leave his work at work, the woman was expected to do it all, and by herself by the looks of it

Il bet there are a few men today that would still see women behaving like this....actually, Il bet Tedius would like this article.....

March 3, 2008, 4:55 PM

I'd imagine most women abided by those guidelines. Obviously, society was different in those days.

March 3, 2008, 4:55 PM

I totally had to tear this article apart.

Quote:

The good wife's guide

* Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious
meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know That you
have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men
are hungry when the come home and the prospect of a good meal
(especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

Okay, so sometimes I'm cooking when he comes in the door, but not always. Does that count?

Quote:

* Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he
arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-
looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

olololol Why do I have to look good for him when he's just walking in the door? Sure he's been at work all day, but I haven't I as well just by taking care of our kid, keeping house, doing laundry, etc...
So I should have to look good and be fresh-looking when he comes home, but he doesn't? HAH!

Quote:

* Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need
a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

Oooooh Bei Bei!!! xDDD

Quote:

* Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house
just before your husband arrives.

Oh please

When you have kids it's not always going to be clean.

Quote:

* Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc and then run a dustcloth over the
tables.

Ummm, isn't that basically what they just said above? Here's a clue Sherlock! STOP FUCKING REPEATING YOURSELF!!! Oh yeah and how about...no?

Quote:

* Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for
him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and
order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will
provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

He's got two arms and legs. He can start his own damn fire.

Quote:

* Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and
faces (If they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their
clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the
part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the
washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

Okay, so not only do I have to look good for him the moment he comes home, but the kids do too? Oh please

and quiet? Trying to keep a four year old quiet is like telling the birds not to chirp in the springtime. It's not happening!

Quote:

* Be happy to see him

olololol okay

Quote:

* Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please
him.

I save that for the bedroom and that's only if I desire to please him at the moment.

Quote:

* Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the
moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his
topics of conversation are more important than yours.

Oh that's right, my needs are less important and should always come last.
"Oh hi honey! The house burnt down today but your day is entirely more important than the lose of our home!" or "Oh hi honey, Logan got sick today and I think he needs to see the doctor, but I know your stressful day is first and foremost! We'll just leave our sick kid until we're done talking about how your day was." or "Oh hi honey! The washer stopped working and I'm not sure how to fix it so you'll have to wear dirty clothes tomorrow, but that's okay! I know your day must have been stressful and rough. We'll fix the washer when you're good and ready for it to be fixed!"
Can we say

Quote:

* Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to
dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to
understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at
home and relax.

Wow...just wow....the work force is so much harder than taking care of a home and raising kids all by yourself...

Quote:

* Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and
tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

Ohai, how about kissmyass?