Really and truly?

Have you ever read something and thought, "Is this for real?"

Something that seems so dated and backwards--you can't decide if it is a parody or truthful. There was a document roaming the internet a few years back that was supposed to be a Victorian sex manual giving advice to the wife ("Give little, give seldom and above all give grudgingly") which I believe was proven to be a fake. Read the whole text here: http://www.squaredancecd.com/Bride/brides.htm

Recently my Mum sent me this: Advice from a 1949 Singer Sewing Manual.


Is it true? Is it real? I can't be sure. Possibly as it is 1949. What do you think?

What I can say is that the following pictures are REAL. How can I say it with such confidence? Because they happened to me. Yes, when I was in the sixth grade I went to Christian Charm School. To be fair, I was sort of tricked into it. My glamorous aunt invited me to come and spend a week with her in Texas and go to a week long workshop to teach you about hair and make-up. Or so she said. It turned out to be a workshop about hair and make-up and Jesus and how to attract a HUSBAND.

Seriously. I was eleven years old. I didn't want a boyfriend at that age let alone be thinking ahead to a husband. Yuck.....seriously boys still had cooties  for me at this age.

Here are some pages from Emily Hunter's Christian Charm Course.

I failed on the walk gracefully bit as I tended to do a lot of hopping and twirling when I walk. Actually I still hop and twirl quite a bit. I do not glide smoothly as the instructions above told me to. As Spiderman says, "People walk. Daleks glide" and I can safely say I am not a emotionless killing machine from outer space.  And as for the pretty sitting posture--it makes me feet go to sleep.

I think this page says it all. How feminine are you?


I was constantly being told off for laughing too loudly and for boisterous rowdiness. We were encouraged to hide our intellect and mould our opinions to the man in our life because no man wants a wife that is smarter than he is. Because I could not seem to supress any of the above behaviours I was actually told by the pastor in a fatherly voice, "If you continue on in this manner then no man is ever going to marry you."

How did I survive this and grow up to be the relatively normal and sane person you see before you, I hear you cry?

Well...by failing. I actually was the only one in the group who wasn't allowed to graduate. I got a certificate for participation but I wasn't allowed to walk across the stage and shake the pastor's hand. My aunt was mortified but my parents were *so* proud when I told them.

And I am happy to say the pastor was wrong. Spiderman and I just celebrated 26 years since our first date last month.

But how do these antiquated attitudes damage young girls? With all the stress on your outer appearance not inner beauty and hiding your light under a bushel I don't feel it really jives with the Bible's message.

This course is still being taught today--you can buy it on Amazon.

I had liberal parents who taught me to think for myself but what about all those young girls who don't have parents to protect them?