Are the Times Really Changing?

So often I think to myself "Thank God that times have changed". Learning about the plague, the World Wars, the Civil Rights movement, I find that I don't fully understand that these events were someone else's reality. When I read about them in textbooks or listen to guest speakers, I can never grasp the concept that they really did happen. They're not from some Pulitzer-Prize novel, they're a part of history. And no matter how unimaginable they are for me, the people of those times didn't have the option of imagining anything because they were watching it unfold before their eyes.

Take, for example, this article:

The Good Wife's Guide (Housekeeping Monthly May 13, 1955)

Have dinner ready.
Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have be thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed.

Prepare yourself.
Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

Clear away the clutter.
Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. Run a dust cloth over the tables.
During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

Prepare the children
Take a few minutest to wash the children's' hands and faces, comb their hair, and if necessary change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.

Minimize all noise.
At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.

Be happy to see him.
Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

Listen to him.
You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

Make the evening his.
Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, and his real need to be at home and relax.

Your goal.
Try to make sure that you home is a place of peace and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

Don't greet him with complaints and problems.
Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.

Make him comfortable.
Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness.

You have no right to question him.

A good wife always knows her place.

If I were married I would not hesitate to smack my husband should he even remotely consider telling me that I have "no right" to question him and that instead I should "know my place".

Thank God times have changed.

But, the more I think about it, the more I wonder -- have the times really changed? Or am I just fortunate enough to live in a dream reality sheltered from the cruelty of the real world?

Think about the new Afghan law that forbids a woman to resist her husband's sexual advances; the same one that requires her to ask her husband's permission to work outside the home or go to school. This law is sexist, degrading, oppressive, unjust, and purely disgusting. But this law isn't from 1955; it's from last week. And it's real. For hundreds of thousands of helpless women it's not an unjust ideal, and it's not someone else's problem; it's reality.