refleXions - updated November 15, 2001

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Retrospective
The Seventies

History hasn't given the 70's a name yet - but I remember it's slogan - "Sex, drugs, rock and roll!", which developed out of the 60's "free-love" experiment. The consequence-free sex promised by The Pill was short-lived: whispers of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome started to circulate in the early 80's. Here's a quick look at the Seventies in retrospect:

Music:  I listened to James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Elton John, Carly Simon and Olivia Newton John.  For the sake of historical accuracy, I admit that I also listened to John Denver and Barry Manilow.  The Seventies produced some of the worst rock ballads ever written ("Wildfire", "Billy don't be a Hero").  I loved ABBA, the precursor of Techno, and nearly wore out my copy of "Waterloo" on '78 vinyl (we didn't call it vinyl then.  It was just a '78).  There wasn't anyone like Madonna - the most shocking thing I remember was Carly Simon's album cover because she was (gasp) not wearing a bra and her nipples showed through her shirt. Disco made it's debut, and Donna Summer's "Last Dance" was the last song played at nearly every school dance I attended.

TV: Sit-com Hell.  Commercials weren't much better. Misplaced feminism reared its head in these lyrics from perfume commercial: "I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never ever let you forget you're a man!" In a defining moment of The Battle of the Sexes,  Billy Jean King, in an appropriate display of feminism, beat the pants off of Bobby Riggs. It was a transitional time: Seventies Sit-Com Mom Carol Brady did NOT work outside of the home (although she had a live-in housekeeper), but Mrs. Partridge ran a household of five children while singing in a band and wearing hot pants.  Women were told they could do it all, with the not-so-subtle, indirect message that they should do it all.

Movies: Big movies, big soundtracks.  Sharks and Aliens assaulted our minds. "Use The Force" became a household phrase.  I saw "Star Wars" on a date when I was 17 -  and I vividly recall an outfit that included lots of polyester and "earth shoes", topped off with frosted blue eye shadow and lip gloss.

Fashion: In a word: horrible (think acrylic sweaters with landscapes on them).  Everyone wore only one style of pants - Levi's - bearing a tag on the upper right cheek that announced your size to the world.   We owned them in stiff blue denim and every color of corduroy available, even fire engine red. "Women's Levi's" hadn't been invented yet, so girls were wearing men's sizes.  Hips and breasts were NOT in style, nor were they allowed for in the fashions of the day.  Leisure suits, huge, tinted glasses and platforms for men and women reigned supreme. Prom Night, 1978: let's just say most of us looked like extras from either "Little House on the Prairie" or "Saturday Night Fever". A disaster.

Hair: White guys with afros, okay? Very scary. The blow-dryer revolutionized hairstyles: shags and feathered-Farrah hairstyles meant we dried our hair with the dryer set on "high", bent over at the waist, shaking our heads upside down to get maximum volume.  We even went into salons requesting "blow-cuts" (hairstyles that had to be blow-dryed each day to look their best).

The Nation: In 1976, the U.S.A. celebrated its Bicentennial. Presidents of the decade were shamed, pained and blamed (Nixon, Ford and Carter) and were hysterically mimicked on Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Browsing through the mall recently, my husband and I stopped to stare at the footwear displayed in a trendy store full of teenagers: the windows were full of frye boots, candies and gold platform boots! We turned to each other and exclaimed, "The Seventies are back!!!!" Agggghhhhhhh!

If history repeats itself, then we can expect the next decade to bring back the materialism of the Eighties.  However, we are never quite sure what's going to come back and how it will be different. Whoever thought pierced tongues would be the rage? It's hard to believe a new conservatism will follow this decade, just as it is hard to believe that the Rockers of the Seventies turned into the Yuppies of the Eighties.  Time will tell! 

 I was 10 years old in 1970, and 20 in 1980.  I remember the decade as wanting desperately to fit in and find my place. I wanted to look like Cheryl Tiegs.  I recall disliking myself intensely for being too curvy. I considered myself "fat" at 135 pounds and placed myself on a strict regimen of 400-calories a day.  I briefly got down to a size 8, accompanied by dry hair and skin and a constant shaky feeling. I could only stand this self-imposed diet for a month, but it was the beginning of decades of unsuccessful rounds of yo-yo dieting and self-loathing.
 We often hear that our teenage years are supposed to be our happiest, but I disagree. They were for me a time of longing to be something I was not. Only now in my 40's can I say that I am finally beginning to accept and like myself as I am, realizing that I don't have to measure up to anyone else or to the false images of the time. 

Recommended viewing: If you loved the Seventies, check out "That Seventies Show" and rent "Muriel's Wedding", especially if you are an ABBA fan!