Friday, January 22, 2010

Schadenfreude, The Newsweekly, June 15, 1958


Schadenfreude, The Newsweekly, was never afraid to cover the stories that its readers would have much preferred that they sweep under the rug.  The alarming trend of girl on girl violence - which was later tied to televised games of roller derby - shocked middle America in the 1950s.  Why, you ask.  "Girl fights are as old as time, you point out.  Well, its because by 1957 "good girls" were tired of simply sticking their tongues out of their mouths and shrieking "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo" at other girls.  Without another outlet, they borrowed a few moves from the Boise Bombshells and starting taking great pleasure in slapping, scratching kicking, punching each other.  To counter this, Mattel introduced the Barbie doll, which they could dress up and comb its hair.  But all Barbie did was push the anger just below the surface, and by 1967 it started to seething to the top... in more rebellious forms.

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