Is anyone else bothered by this?

and don't forget that they had to marry them.......

no they shouldn't have had them married, but beause they were in real life, and she was expeting...

susan

THe years that PJ was shown were a tumultuous time for girls. Entering the 60's, girls were still expected to all grow up, get married and have kids, just be stay at home moms and that's all. Parents goals for their daughters were simply to get them married as soon as they graduated high school. By the end of the decade, their roles and expectations had changed a great deal; the media published all kinds of things, all to help young women learn that they had new options in life besides just being a wife. I watched my sister through these years, and how confusing it was for her, so it must have been for many millions of other girls too. Still, the writers and producers of TV shows decided on everything, so not much changed in them as the years went by. But magazines such as Cosmo, Glamour, Ms, etc., and their older sisters were out there, demonstrating women's new freedoms to do more than the previous generations had.

Not offensive--just dated. That's pretty much the way things were in the early 60s, but the 70s were coming.

Even though the show gave lip service to the old "woman's place" ideas, keep in mind that these actors were working women, and some of them were working mothers.

Watching Betty Jo and Steve when I was in my 40s felt totally different than when I was in my teens. Then, I didn't really care, but later, I hated the way he married her and then tried to change everything about her.

When I graduated high school, we all hoped to be married by the time we were 20 and mothers by 21 or 22. Thankfully, the women's movement came along before I could dig myself into something I couldn't change.

Something that I found rather offensive/annoying was the way they introduced the doctor. "Here's a lady MD, she's as pretty as can be....."

Here's a woman who went to medical school at a time when women were discouraged from doing anything like that, was able to have a successful practice, but she's "pretty."




Roland, that's a lilac bush!

Greenargyle,

I have watched the episodes you cite about Kate forcing Bobbie Jo to go out on a date, and the horseshoe contest episode on ME-TV this week. Here are my comments:

As to the horseshoe contest, it had nothing to do with Pixley Fats being a man. It was all about how his whole life is wrapped up in being a horseshoe champion and how he has nothing else going for him. Kate contrasted that with Betty Jo's full life as a high school student who has friends, loves sports, etc. There was a lot of similarity to Pixley Fats and to Andy Griffith's Clara in the Pickle Contest, where Andy spoke about how important winning the pickle contest at the fair was to Clara and how important it was to make sure she didn't lose to store-bought pickles. I know nobody was throwing the contest, but the point was that winning that pickle contest was THE important thing in the life of their widowed friend--which was just like the point Kate made to her daughter.

As to the date, she knew Bobbie Jo--as depicted in this episode, if not others--was very shy around boys and kept to herself far too much. Kate felt her daughter needed her encouragement so she would be happier and more well-rounded. And Kate's wisdom was shown when Bobbie followed her advice and gained much confidence in dealing with boys.

It is not logical to argue that Kate should have let her middle daughter stay home, refuse to go out with friends, never date anyone, and become so embarrassed when it comes to dealing with boys that she never felt comfortable with them. She didn't want Bobbie to quit studying or do things she hated.

I'd call it good parenting.

As proof that Kate was a good mother, I'd like to point out how Bobbie Jo went from being a star student in the first season to the point where after Mom was "gone" she turned into, more-or-less, the village idiot, as her character turned incredibly dumb in the last couple of seasons.

Clearly the show is dated and quite honestly had MORE episodes focused on the daughters and their dates instead of the silly antics of Uncle Joe, I would enjoy it more.

I actually like watching the show mainly for the set up of the hotel (mainly the kitchen) and Drucker's store.

The endless annoyances of Uncle Joe is like watching Father Knows Best or Donna Reed and having episode after episode focus on a mailman or a meaningless uncle like that.

As it is, you can find endless 'dated' bits like this on shows and movies.

When I saw Seven Brides for Seven Brothers again after having caught it as a kid, and not knowing what was going on, I was quite surprised by Millie's declaration that she should marry one of the local guys, and she tried again and again. Granted, it was taking place in the mid-1800s, but I found it bewildering for a 1050s movie.

We've always heard about girls having to find Mr. Right.

I think you have to consider this was a very rural area that Kate Bradley lived in. To her Crabwell Corners was probably the big city. They didn't have a phone or TV at the hotel, so there was nothing to educate her in how things were changing.

Look at when Steve wanted to get involved with Betty Jo. Kate made sure it was okay with Bobbie Jo, first, and there wasn't anything between her and Steve of a romantic notion. It's because she was living back in a time when the oldest daughter was supposed to find a man first.

This is what we get when people revision history in movies and such; the idea that today's social behavior is the same as it was in the past. Sure, it's nice to give little children the idea that anyone, female or other races could have any job or situation, but let's not forget how rare it actually was. 50's & 60's mentality in rural America was a VERY different place than it is today. Girls were all groomed to be housewifes; the few that went to college became nurses, teachers, or librarians; and only until they got married. Then they were expected to stay home and raise children. So be careful when and if you ever wish for 'the good old days'.

Yes. Yes it did. But what really bothered me was that "Kate's" eye makeup looked like she rubbed a piece of charcoal on her eyelids. That, and the fact people had to drink water from a water tank that three women and a dog had just bathed in. That's just not right... at the junction.