I don’t know why, but this (and other) retro clips from puberty movies totally fascinate me. Perhaps one of the reasons why (at least of late) is that they actually give more practical information than did my daughter’s puberty talk (aka ‘Mother/Daughter Tea) at her school, and I’ve been wondering why sex ed seems to be becoming a taboo topic?
period piece
13 comments
Golly!
When the chalkboard part came up, I kept thinking of the UPS whiteboard.
And the “do moderately” list is mind-boggling. Though I’m certainly no expert.
I love everything about this video. “Pay special attention to your hair and nails. Wear your prettiest dress.”
John you’re totally right about the UPS whiteboard thing. As I was watching I had this deja vu feeling that I’d recently seen something similar, and I was thinking of the UPS ad. Golly! :)
First, I am grateful to know that I should dry my hair quickly if I wash it while having menstruation.
Seriously though, I am a little surprised that they discussed tampons in this movie. It seems pretty old to be so open to telling young girls about them. I did notice that they didn’t include that you would still be a virgin if you used them and wondered if that was intentional.
I was surprised about the tampons being mentioned, too.
I think my sex ed classes in junior high included much more about actual sex – mostly protection against STDs and pregnancy – than about periods.
I was APPALLED at the thought of my dad knowing I had started my first period. In fact, I don’t think I told my mom for a good three or four months, when it became a matter of necessity b/c I couldn’t sneak hygiene stuff out of her bathroom anymore and needed my own.
“The curse.” LOL.
This looks more like a “puberty ed” than a “sex ed” movie.
TS: Is that true of tampons? Golly!
I suspect that the mention of tampons is all about the hyper-awareness of female cleanliness in this era–they were seen as more ‘clean’ than pads. Maybe concerns about virginity & tampons came later?
Note: I’m still so annoyed that tampons weren’t discussed at CatGirl’s puberty talk. What were they thinking? They also didn’t even mention sex and said that puberty was to prepare your body for pregnancy, which would only happen when you were married and ready to have a baby. WTF???? Also, not one mention of STDs, rape, etc. And there weren’t any diagrams–the speaker just held up a pear, some walnuts, and some green beans to discuss the shape and size of female reproductive anatomy. I’m sorry, but fallopian tubes are no the same thing as green beans, people!
I am not sure when the obsession with tampons and virginity came about.
JW-The insert in the Playtex box has a Q&A section. One says: Will using my tampon cause me to lose my virginity? The answer is: No-You do not have to worry about losing your virginity when using a tampon. The hymen is an elastic membrane with an opening in the center. It normally has enough room and elasticity to let a tampon pass without harm, even after the tampon has absorbed the menstrual form. No matter what you have heard, wearing a tampon doesn’t change anything about the person you are.
Phew-I thought I was a terrible slut.
I am sorry to hear that your daughter’s school was so lame. At least you will explain. I remember that the “girl” talk was different than the sex talk. The sex talk happened the next year and it didn’t cover much but it did have accurate diagrams. That is so weird that your daughter’s school said that about pregnancy and marriage. Do we really have doubts as to why our teenage pregnancy rate is going up?
Jana, are you sure that my fallopian tubes are not the same things as green beans? I could swear that they were…
I’m sure that they’ll eventually give more details the kids at CG’s school (in the meanwhile she’s been quite well-informed by her mother), but what’s really surprising is to compare the string-bean talk to the one that my son got at the same age. Sure his talk had lots of info about puberty, but it also addressed the mechanics of sex in pretty straightforward ways, even discussing masturbation. The girl talk only made a brief mention of a vagina (and it didn’t even warrant a food metaphor) in the context of differentiating between urethra and anus and the clitoris was never mentioned at all.
I would hope they would give more info. I think you should find out why there is such a difference. Although you are very good at explaining to CG, many other girls don’t have mothers like that.
It sounds like there is a double standard, but I would hope there is another explanation…
TS: Oh right. Equating the hymen with virginity. Weird.
Jana: Yeah that contrast in instruction is very weird. I imagine that it’s an awkward topic to discuss with one’s children (for most people). It certainly was in my family.
Are you kidding me, Jana? I can’t believe they told young girls they won’t get pregnant until they are married and ready to have a baby. I thought CA was a lot more liberal than that? They didn’t even whitewash it that much for me in Utah.
I grew up in CA and they didn’t teach that. They taught the whole puberty thing in 5th grade and the sex talk was in 6th. I don’t remember them saying anything about pregnancy only happening in marriage.
We learned about sex, birth control, std’s, how to prevent them, etc. I also remember that they also said the only birth control that was 100% is abstinence.