# How is it that women didn't all strangle men in the 1960s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 18, 2025, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214 "2025-08-18T13:35:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/121 "2025-08-26T23:25:44Z")
Sure, those are interesting questions. But what’s “healthy” or not… How do I know? Especially for something like how you wear your hair and makeup. Seems pretty innocuous to me. Also, I think this is by and large how professional women in certain jobs are supposed to look. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/122 "2025-08-26T23:50:48Z")
It’s not just hair and makeup. It’s extensive plastic surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/123 "2025-08-27T00:03:32Z")
I married into a family in which many women are obsessive about appearance. It’s mainly because they are constantly criticized. The result is plastic surgery and eating disorders and it’s clearly generational. I’m not sure who you want to judge here, but if anything I’d judge the culture that makes some women feel they have to do this to be more worthy. And we can also judge Trump for only hiring GOILFs.\* \*Government Officials ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/124 "2025-08-27T00:12:40Z")
I can’t let anyone off the hook because of “the culture,” not when, for generations now, there’s been a path to political and professional careers open for women _who don’t_ have to make themselves Jessica Rabbit-level cartoon characters. And it doesn’t have to be based on the women on the Left. Jean Kirkpatrick and Condoleeza Rice never seemed to include being a 14 year old boy’s wet dream as among their qualifications. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/125 "2025-08-27T00:40:02Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Also, I think this is by and large how professional women in certain jobs are supposed to look. “Supposed” by whom? Is there an HR manager out there somewhere who’s saying that women should have straight blond hair, facelifts, breast implants, and pouty lips? > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I’m not sure who you want to judge here, but if anything I’d judge the culture that makes some women feel they have to do this to be more worthy. I’m pretty sure that “the culture” is exactly what we’re criticizing, here. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/126 "2025-08-27T01:05:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Supposed” by whom? Is there an HR manager out there somewhere who’s saying that women should have straight blond hair, facelifts, breast implants, and pouty lips? I clicked on the link to Fox News women and they looked like normal pretty women to me. There have been women on this board who could attest how strict the dress code is for women at various places of employment. When I worked in New York City women in corporate and legal jobs were expected to look immaculate and wear heels. For some, presumably they think they needed plastic surgery to look the part, because otherwise they wouldn’t get hired. There are absolutely businesses that will only hire women if they meet a certain attractiveness threshold. And one of the only ways to remain that attractive is to have plastic surgery. I have an Aunt-in-law who looks the exact same as she did 20 years ago. It’s not luck. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/127 "2025-08-27T01:12:31Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I can’t let anyone off the hook because of “the culture,” not when, for generations now, there’s been a path to political and professional careers open for women _who don’t_ have to make themselves Jessica Rabbit-level cartoon characters. Yeah but what I’m telling you is it starts way before the career. It starts when your mother is putting makeup on you at five years old, and at ten you get your first pair of sexy lace panties, it starts with being raised from as long as you can remember to be thin and pretty, at any cost, no matter how much it hurts you. And if you don’t fit the mold you are constantly criticized. And when you’re thirteen and you have a family photo done, your grandmother has your body photoshopped because your arms look too fat. That’s where it starts. Long, long before you start thinking about plastic surgery. These are real examples. These are people I know and love. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/128 "2025-08-27T01:13:14Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > In his _Operation: Whatever_ stories Poul Anderson had a married couple in which the wife was a strong, capable, independent, red-haired woman. I spotted that one right off, and I wondered if Anderson was making the Heinleins the heroes of his story, or if he was doing something else. That describes Cordelia Naismith in the _Vorkosigan_ novels by Lois McMaster Bujold. I don’t think every occurrence of this trope in SF necessarily has anything to do with Heinlein. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/129 "2025-08-27T01:17:13Z")
That look was pioneered by the bevy that Harun Yahya put on Turkish TV. He imposed a uniform look of way-overdone blondeness on all those women. Injected lips and all. I think he was riffing off of what was being seen on Fox News and just made it more extreme. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/130 "2025-08-27T01:21:15Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I can’t let anyone off the hook because of “the culture,” not when, for generations now, Also, let them off the hook for what? Not fitting your personal definition of attractiveness? Getting plastic surgery when you don’t see the point? When you make certain women’s appearance so important as to deserve emphasis here, can you really be surprised some women take their appearance really seriously? If you want women to stop worrying about their appearance, stop mocking the ones you don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/131 "2025-08-27T01:24:09Z")
I’m criticizing Harun Yahya, who imposed that look on the female followers of his cult. Sick and creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/132 "2025-08-27T01:24:42Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Also, let them off the hook for what? Not fitting your personal definition of attractiveness? Getting plastic surgery when you don’t see the point? No. For being evil fascists. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/133 "2025-08-27T01:29:14Z")
That Ooh face article was hilarious though. I think I would have lost my shit in the 60s. I’m barely hanging onto it in 2025. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/134 "2025-08-27T06:08:02Z")
What @Spice_Weasel said, basically. > [@Chronos](#): > > I’m pretty sure that “the culture” is exactly what we’re criticizing, here. You’re doing it by targeting mainly one subset of it, by gender, and based on appearance alone. That’s _at minimum_ shallow. The Noems and MTGs of the NewNaziParty have _plenty_ of actual offenses to focus on, rather than their freely-chosen appearance. What is the Left, fucking first graders? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/135 "2025-08-27T09:15:26Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > What is the Left, fucking first graders? No, it’s the Right who are fucking first graders. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/136 "2025-08-27T10:29:02Z")
It’s not really a gender thing, I’ve heard terms like “Republican android” used to refer to the plastic & artificial look affected by right-wingers of _both_ genders. The Right has always been _very_ controlling about how people look and dress, that’s why men with long hair was such a huge issue in the 1960s for example. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/137 "2025-08-27T10:41:55Z")
How does one criticize a culture of expecting artificial appearance in women, without pointing out that the women in that culture appear artificial? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/138 "2025-08-27T10:42:58Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > That describes Cordelia Naismith in the _Vorkosigan_ novels by Lois McMaster Bujold. I don’t think every occurrence of this trope in SF necessarily has anything to do with Heinlein. Yeah, but it’s really hard for me to not think Poul Anderson’s character isn’t based on Ginny. Heck, her first name is “Virginia”. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/139 "2025-08-27T10:48:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How does one criticize a culture of expecting artificial appearance in women, without pointing out that the women in that culture appear artificial? You can critique the _system_ by describing the pressures and expectations without calling the women themselves “artificial.” Or even “artificial appearing”. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214/140 "2025-08-27T17:05:15Z")
The fact that Virginia Matuchek was obviously the dominant partner led me to wonder about the Heinleins’ marriage. Especially as his writing increasingly espoused her political philosophy (his adults always tended a bit libertarian, but veered more and more in that direction as time went on). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-that-women-didnt-all-strangle-men-in-the-1960s/1022214.md?page=8)