Outrageous sexism

As stated by other posters things in the 60s were pretty "sexist" when compared to the standards of today. Unless I didn't see it spelled out, one important point that was missed here is that Mr. Thackery was teaching them about life and how to be as successful as possible. Adult lives would begin in the late 1960s.

I put the word sexist in quotes up above because I don't believe it was that. He was teaching them first that if you want respect from others you must give respect to others. Miss/Ms/Mr/Mrs are all words that show respect for the person who you are talking to, and while it does seem a little silly to do it with people who you know very well it is the way they would want to address people they are dealing with in their chosen occupations. That is just as true today as it was then.

I don't know how it is in the states or countries where you live but here in Rhode Island we have a lot of respect for our State Police troopers. One of the reasons for that is the respect they show to us. Even as high school kids riding around raising hell if you were pulled over by a trooper he would always address you as "Mr." followed by your last name. They receive the same in return.

In To Sir With Love, much like life itself, the girls were the ones who enforced these standards of behavior. Basically by letting it be known that, If you want to dance with me your will address me properly and show me the proper respect. If they chose not to require these things once they left the class, well that was up to them but Thackery did his job by showing them what was possible to have.

As for the "slut" comment if my memory is correct Rocky Balboa in Rocky advised that young girl about the same type of behavior. People get reputations, and are judged, based upon how they act and dress. Right or wrong those things can have a big effect on your life from personal relations to your employment. It's hinted at with Kid Gleason's testimony in Eight Men Out at the trial in Eight Men Out that he had never been approached about throwing a game because he had a reputation for being honest. Chick Gandil however was approached by a number of people because his reputation was the opposite of Gleason's.

He was preparing hard cases for a world where if they wanted decent jobs they would have to lift their game. I was 20 when this film came out & working in the Australian Public Service. It was expected there and would have been in England.

At that time women were not even paid at the same rate as men doing the same job. It was a far different world.

That's funny you mention that. I thought it was rude that the boys were all called by their last names. I always thought that was kind of disrespectful, even though that's pretty much the norm.

And I'm watching the movie right now and he just said the boys were dirtier than garbage men and girls would like them better if they started acting like "gentlemen". It's pretty much the same thing. And the girls set a tampon on fire and threw it at him, so that's a pretty rancid thing to do. He could have been a lot harder on the girls than he was.

Sexism goes both ways.
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thought I was gonna die! - Roseanne Roseannadanna

It was the 1960's. Women really didn't make much headway in getting their rights until sometime in the 1970's. And boys that age acted pretty crappy toward girls in my school, and I didn't live in a ghetto and inner city.

After all these years a lot of people don't accept women's rights. They call feminists feminazis. I think those are mostly the people who would have voted for Trump.

The movie was made in 1966. Damn them for not anticipating the woke ideology of the twenty-first century!

Thackeray is very elitist. There is the scene where he discusses the basic lettuce, tomato and cucumber salad which the kids would have been raised on and says it shouldn’t be eaten by anyone. He then starts making one with mango and more expensive ingredients that the kids have probably never seen let alone can afford.

I don’t see him as a great influence.

It's time to tell people who complain about this shit to, and I quote, "Shut the fuck up."

Bring that phrase back and use it on people who seek attention by pointing out phony grievances.