Call the Midwife, attitudes in society

You are bringing back memories, Doodledog.
I remember at Junior school, the children who were booked to go on an annual holiday at a place called Silverdale, near Morecambe, were always being told to line up.
Only disadvantaged children ever went, and I used to dread being invited. Those poor children might just as well have lined up under a large notice that said "Poor, underweight and neglected."

Antonia I must have been hard for you. It's wonderful that there is so much help for children now. No one helped us. I can remember when very small going to the police station nearby with my sister and saying to the sergeant 'Our dad keeps hitting our mum'. He said 'Go home girls'. That was that.

AmberSpyglass

I really hope that in the future, the minority of people who oppose trans rights and don’t see trans women as equal women have either changed their minds or don’t have any lobbying power. That’s one attitude that can stay in the past.

The trans issue is complex and we haven't as yet got our collective heads around it. There are problems around shared toilets, women's prisons and also women's sport. People only oppose trans rights etc. because these issues have not been resolved.

I don't oppose trans rights where they apply to actual trans people, but I do object to the seemingly constant questioning and manipulation of quite young children, regarding their sexuality. I think today's society has gone totally overboard on that subject.

I wasn't around in the 50's (born 1960), but my childhood was far from idyllic, and I was relatively fortunate. My mum was a teenager and young woman in the 50's, and she didn't have much of a time of it either.

Children were routinely hit by parents and teachers and it wasn't considered abusive. Numerous cases of sexual abuse happened in schools, orphanages and other institutions and is only now coming to light. 'Small' cruelties, such as children getting free school meals being singled out to stand in a different queue for tickets, or leaving the 'nit nurse' inspection with a coloured card so that everyone could see were routine.

Women needed a man's signature to get credit. There was little or no childcare available to allow women to earn money of their own. Many families felt that educating women was a waste of money (or had to allocate limited resources) so they left school whilst boys went to university - if they were lucky. In many cases boys also had to leave school as soon as they could to earn money for the family coffers. Domestic violence was rarely prosecuted. Men could legally rape their wives. Divorce was difficult and not socially acceptable. Single mothers were demonised. The expectation was that you would marry young, give up work and have children as soon as they came along, without much of a life between leaving school and tying yourself down. As has been said, people of colour and gay people were discriminated against and abused.

I could go on, but there is more than enough there to show that the 50's and 60's were not a golden age for many, many people. Maybe the lucky few who had money behind them, liberal families and a rebellious attitude were able to enjoy the 'swinging 60's', but by the time my mother was 25 she had two children (a third was born later), a mortgage and a life of shopping, cleaning and cooking, whilst 'keeping up appearances', as what the neighbours thought was more important than what happened behind closed doors.

She disapproves of a lot of the more liberal developments that have come onstream since her day, but I am 100% convinced that she would have been happier (and that we would have had happier childhoods) if she had been brought up with a less rigid out look and had had more choices in life.

I really hope that in the future, the minority of people who oppose trans rights and don’t see trans women as equal women have either changed their minds or don’t have any lobbying power. That’s one attitude that can stay in the past.

This is giving me food for thought. For EllanVannin the fifties were idyllic and for kate1949 (and me, to a large extent) they were horrific.
I suppose the actual state of the society doesn't matter to an individual as much as the place they occupied in it.
Like kate1949 I used to envy other children - those who were white and didn't apparently have any problems. Looking back, I'm sure a lot of them did, but I still envied them the freedom from name calling and other forms of racism.

They didn’t seek opinions on politics and educational concerns from entertainers with no brains in the 50s . I wish they would just stick to what they are good at . Cult of celebrity again I suppose. I wouldn’t want to go back to the cruelty of the 50 s ,though.

The 50s were not idyllic or halcyon for some children, me included. My childhood was horrendous, no help was available as it is now. I used to watch little girls with plaits, ribbons, nice homes, holidays, caring parents with envy. We were also Irish, which provoked name calling and ridicule. It just shows how different experiences can colour our view.

I am not sure that the 50s were halcyon days, other than for those who were children at the time. My DM, an intelligent woman, was expected to give up her career in the civil service when she married, and the attitudes to births out of wedlock, skin colour, homosexuality were nothing to be celebrated. However, I do think that today we need to get a grip on the cult of celebrity, most of whom are simply famous for being famous, and that most vacuous sub division of celebrity is 'influencers'.

Do you remember a series a while back where a family spent a week living as though they were in the 40s , then the 50s etc, right up to the present day?
I didn't see that series, but I watched the 'Back in Time For' series +'Back in Time for Dinner,' 'Back in Time in the Corner Shop,' etc.
I think we have come a long way in terms of men sharing housework, but regressed in the way that today's society almost always requires two salaries for a family to function. There is still some stigma attached to being a stay at home mother today, with girls expected to have a career.
The other attitude I hope will change is that of transgender. It seems to be becoming almost a rite of passage for children to declare themselves 'non binary' or whatever the current buzz word happens to be.

Most people in the public eye used to have some kind of skill or talent. So many now are famous for being famous and their only skill is somewhat dubious self promotion.

Do you remember a series a while back where a family spent a week living as though they were in the 40s , then the 50s etc, right up to the present day?

The only person who liked the 50s was the little boy, who was allowed to have the time of his life climbing trees, staying out till it was dark, and so on. The mum and the daughter felt their freedom to choose their own lives had been taken away and the dad felt the stress of being the only breadwinner for the whole family. As I recall, he also disliked the idea that he couldn't help his wife with the housework.

Antonia I agree with your OP; I hope that "doing well" means more than just having money. And that we judge people on their character, not their appearance.

It's a horrible world we now live in. Give me the 50's !
It was pretty awful back then, I think. But, as I am mixed race, the fifties and sixties were very difficult for me (I am still having counselling in my late sixties, to try and deal with it).
I think it's easier to be mixed race today than it used to be.
I agree about the celebrities, and I would also like to see the back of influencers. There are far too many young people who are ready to copy silly trends, and who haven't been taught to think for themselves.

I had an absolutely idyllic childhood that sadly will never be repeated in my GGC's days of growing up.

Too much of a lot of other things too as well as the " celebrity " status's for nobody's.

People in the time of CTM were never judged like they are now, whether it be physically, colour, weight, dress, finances etc. It's a horrible world we now live in. Give me the 50's !

Too much credit given to being a ‘celebrity’ nowadays. I would like to see that changed.