The Funny Books By Linda Stowe
When I was a kid, some of my best moments were spent lounging on the old glider on the closed-in back porch of our big farmhouse. The glider was comfy and there was usually a cool breeze coming through the north- and west-facing banks of windows. That was my summer reading spot where I’d go through library books and the stacks of comic books my brother and I read and re-read.
We called them funny books back them. I have no idea what kids call them now – comic books, comics, graphic novels? Do kids even read them now? If so, they probably do so on their phones.
My brother and I maintained our growing cache of funny books because they were our luxury items. Our parents would occasionally bring home soda pop and candy from the grocery, but never funny books. We bought those with our 25-cents-a-week allowances. In the mid-50s the average funny book cost ten cents, so we had to invest our money wisely. Each week we could afford to buy one funny book and three five-cent candy bars. That is how we learned to budget our money.
Living out in the country, my brother and I had few opportunities to make money. Then, when my brother became a teenager, he was allowed to ride his bike to places to get odd jobs. His access to additional money served to upend our balance of power when it came to finances. Being a girl, I did not have that option. So, I stayed home and read about a world I yearned to experience.
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Polly here.
When I read the last line of Linda’s piece, I thought about all the girls, back then and still today, who were not given the same opportunities as their male siblings. The brothers. And then we all grow up.
But still. There is this. As of 2022, the overall gender pay gap in the United States is this: Women earned approximately 82 to 85 cents for every dollar earned by men in full-time, year-round positions.
Back to growing up.
Lucky for me, when I was a little girl, discrimination was not the case in our household. At least, I never perceived it to be that way. The girls got what the boys got. The hand-me-down clothes were more prevalent with the girls, as there were five sisters and two brothers. But we all shared the same bikes, the same bats and balls, the same chores around the house (although I’m not sure the boys had to do the dishes), and the same work opportunities, like paper routes or mowing lawns. We were all supposed to do well in school, and all of us were expected to go on to college if we chose to.
But I think my parents may have been unique in this way and in other ways, as far as acceptance of other cultures, races, and sexual orientations.
Regardless of my upbringing, the fact remains. Women have historically been discriminated against and continue to face discrimination in many parts of the world, including the U.S. There have been many efforts to combat gender discrimination and promote gender equality. But it is happening slowly. These things mostly have to be moved along through legislation and policy changes. But that is hard to do when the male / female ratio in Congress is around 27% women. And so, with that, the fight for gender equality continues.
The Funny Books. By Linda Stowe
