I read Marabel Morgan as a teen, but don't worry! I was a high school exchange student from England, and began collecting bizarre "conservative" (not really) books like this at yard sales. I thought it was hilarious. Fortunately, I had been raised by and among no-nonsense women. 😂
Never heard of Marabel Morgan. Interesting read. I can just imagine Gilda Radner, Jim Belushi, and Jane Curtin doing a skit of this on Saturday Night Live.
I'm young enough to remember that book, and the whole Marble Morgan "Total" thing. Just coming into my post high school adulthood and immediately thinking "This is TOTAL BS!!" But you hit the nail on head, that Katie Britt's outrageous performance is the same old BS recycled for the new(ish) century. I wish I could say that her humiliation will ruin her career in politics. She will become a MAGA Martyr, that those meany liberals tried to bring down.
At first, I thought I had never heard of Marabel Morgan. Then you got to the plastic wrap story and I started laughing. I had read it (wink, wink) during it’s original publication. It was one of those books women whispered about. Like 50 Shades of Grey in more recent times. Mostly it was a curiosity, I wound up skimming the sexy wife hints and forgot the rest. Her “obedient wife training” fell on my deaf ears as the book I read before hers was Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique.
I was a recently married 19 year old. Ok it was 1972, I had graduated from high school earlier that year and that’s what one did. I later realized it was to have sex regularly and ended that marriage 3 years later.
I may have been a kid when I read Morgan’s best seller but my head and heart were already part of the power of the feminist movement. I didn’t burn my bra (in fact, that’s a myth) but now I am a fiery, mouthy gal of 70 who is still campaigning for the much needed Equal Rights Amendment. The best thing about women working together now is that we are much more inclusive of women of color and women from all economic backgrounds. During the 70s, there was some important criticism of the movement which was primarily made up of white women and women with ample economic freedom.
Now that we’re in a cruel time warp, where men (mostly white and old) are working overtime to push us down and take away our hard earned freedom. But what they fail to realize is they are relying on antiquated, ignorant beliefs while women now are more savvy, more educated, more worldly and more powerful than ever. Another plus, is that the men in our lives have grown into true partners and allies.
Women are a powerful force when we join hands and work together to make our lives better and the world better.
Perhaps I will write a book called,”The Total Man” giving incels some good advice about dating and mating-the same sort of advice I used to give the guts in my “How to Stay out of Jail and be Happy” classes I ran for men getting out of prison.
1. Never underestimate the power of personal hygiene. Take a shower every day, using Dial deodorant soap and Head and Shoulders shampoo. Shave every day. Brush your teeth and floss after every meal. Wear fresh socks, underwear and tee shirt every day. Wash all your clothes, towels and sheets once a week. Trim your toenails once a week. Get a hair cut every month. Go to the dentist every 3 months. Not only will you smell better and look better, you will be healthier as well.
2. Go looking for women where the women are. Join a library book club, and take art classes like pottery and plein air painting or cooking classes. Join a gardening club-nothing makes a woman grateful like offering to fix a retaining wall for her or move 10 bags of compost from point A to point B. Exercise classes are a good place too, just show up every session and let them start the conversations. Always carry a book that you are actually reading with you, preferably a book that makes you laugh and teaches you a skill (a book about making your own pottery glazes, or how to build decorative garden retaining walls, for example, or a book about any of your exotic ancestors - the Romanian grandpa who worked passage as a kid on a freighter to get to the US before WW1
3. Any legal job is better than no job, so go get a job that you can do without getting so pissed off you feel like punching someone or getting drunk every day. Start immediately looking for a better job, or a promotion. Tell people you want to do better, and ask advice about how to get a promotion.
Very interesting Ramona.I had never heard about Marabel Morgan and your article just educated me.Thanks for sharing.
I read Marabel Morgan as a teen, but don't worry! I was a high school exchange student from England, and began collecting bizarre "conservative" (not really) books like this at yard sales. I thought it was hilarious. Fortunately, I had been raised by and among no-nonsense women. 😂
I read that book as a young wife and tried to follow it's guidelines - for a while - it just wasn't going to happen.
Priceless! I remember the Saran Wrap (not that I tried it, you understand....
Never heard of Marabel Morgan. Interesting read. I can just imagine Gilda Radner, Jim Belushi, and Jane Curtin doing a skit of this on Saturday Night Live.
I'm young enough to remember that book, and the whole Marble Morgan "Total" thing. Just coming into my post high school adulthood and immediately thinking "This is TOTAL BS!!" But you hit the nail on head, that Katie Britt's outrageous performance is the same old BS recycled for the new(ish) century. I wish I could say that her humiliation will ruin her career in politics. She will become a MAGA Martyr, that those meany liberals tried to bring down.
I remember my aunt and my Mom having coffee together and laughing hysterically over that book.
And a generation before, there was Marynia Farnham. https://open.substack.com/pub/gendermystique/p/cultural-panic-comes-to-girlhood?r=1s15h4&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web (there’s also more on pink and blue and such on my Substack.)
At first, I thought I had never heard of Marabel Morgan. Then you got to the plastic wrap story and I started laughing. I had read it (wink, wink) during it’s original publication. It was one of those books women whispered about. Like 50 Shades of Grey in more recent times. Mostly it was a curiosity, I wound up skimming the sexy wife hints and forgot the rest. Her “obedient wife training” fell on my deaf ears as the book I read before hers was Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique.
I was a recently married 19 year old. Ok it was 1972, I had graduated from high school earlier that year and that’s what one did. I later realized it was to have sex regularly and ended that marriage 3 years later.
I may have been a kid when I read Morgan’s best seller but my head and heart were already part of the power of the feminist movement. I didn’t burn my bra (in fact, that’s a myth) but now I am a fiery, mouthy gal of 70 who is still campaigning for the much needed Equal Rights Amendment. The best thing about women working together now is that we are much more inclusive of women of color and women from all economic backgrounds. During the 70s, there was some important criticism of the movement which was primarily made up of white women and women with ample economic freedom.
Now that we’re in a cruel time warp, where men (mostly white and old) are working overtime to push us down and take away our hard earned freedom. But what they fail to realize is they are relying on antiquated, ignorant beliefs while women now are more savvy, more educated, more worldly and more powerful than ever. Another plus, is that the men in our lives have grown into true partners and allies.
Women are a powerful force when we join hands and work together to make our lives better and the world better.
What in the actual fuck did I read?! This is insane. Was it an ironic book and I didn't catch it from your piece?
The sad part is that I just had 3 dates with a (young) guy who, it turns out, expected me to behave just like Marabel's suggestion....
Perhaps I will write a book called,”The Total Man” giving incels some good advice about dating and mating-the same sort of advice I used to give the guts in my “How to Stay out of Jail and be Happy” classes I ran for men getting out of prison.
1. Never underestimate the power of personal hygiene. Take a shower every day, using Dial deodorant soap and Head and Shoulders shampoo. Shave every day. Brush your teeth and floss after every meal. Wear fresh socks, underwear and tee shirt every day. Wash all your clothes, towels and sheets once a week. Trim your toenails once a week. Get a hair cut every month. Go to the dentist every 3 months. Not only will you smell better and look better, you will be healthier as well.
2. Go looking for women where the women are. Join a library book club, and take art classes like pottery and plein air painting or cooking classes. Join a gardening club-nothing makes a woman grateful like offering to fix a retaining wall for her or move 10 bags of compost from point A to point B. Exercise classes are a good place too, just show up every session and let them start the conversations. Always carry a book that you are actually reading with you, preferably a book that makes you laugh and teaches you a skill (a book about making your own pottery glazes, or how to build decorative garden retaining walls, for example, or a book about any of your exotic ancestors - the Romanian grandpa who worked passage as a kid on a freighter to get to the US before WW1
3. Any legal job is better than no job, so go get a job that you can do without getting so pissed off you feel like punching someone or getting drunk every day. Start immediately looking for a better job, or a promotion. Tell people you want to do better, and ask advice about how to get a promotion.
How much booze did she consume while writing this? Some of those lines can land on a page only when drunk.