gender roles, stereotypes, postcards, and leap year

[arely staircase]

i had no idea that it was concidered acceptable for a woman to propose marriage to a man during (and only during, of coure) leap year back in the day. the recurring assumptions in these "jokes" are that marriage is akin to punishment for a man - how ironic given how subserviant women were generally expected to be, especially in marriage, at the time.

also assumed is that "pushy" women are ugly.

http://www.slate.com/slideshows/double_x/crazy-old-postcards-showing-women-proposing-to-men-during-leap-year.html#slide_1

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. Wow. Talk about an author who doesn't get it.

Though most leap year postcards mocked single women who dared to propose and bachelors who allowed themselves to be emasculated by women, some took a more critical view of the institution. This leap year postcard tells women to ignore the prevailing cultural forces urging them to marry at all costs, since life for a married woman could quickly morph into a life of drudgery. It’s not exactly a knee-slapper—but compared with other leap year postcards, this one is practically a feminist manifesto.

A blood stained rolling pin is a feminist manifesto?

[Brickbat]

2. A woman chasing or threatening a man with a rolling pin has long been a comic meme that shows,

ostensibly, some kind of female power, even if it is deranged or scary power.