Corky is told by her father that she can be anything she wants, but he doesn't allow her mother to get a part-time job. Do you believe the mixed messages have any impact on the person she becomes by the end of the book?

Corky is told by her father that she can be anything she wants, while also overhearing him refuse permission to her mother to get a part-time job. How do you feel this affects Corky? Do you believe the mixed messages have any impact on the person she becomes by the end of the book?

Interesting the different things dads say to their daughters and what they expect of their wives. The role of a wife in that time period was to be the caretaker, homemaker, cook, washer, etc. Yet, Corky's dad felt that his daughter could be anything she wanted to be. I don't know that she would have become a journalist if she thought her father wasn't sincere. Her father did give her a job helping out in his pharmacy after all.

While her father’s encouragement to be anything she wanted was a positive influence on her life, she clearly saw the fallacy in the treatment of her mother. And I think this was a negative influence on her. She was keenly aware of it and it bothered her.

As a 60's female, teenager I was encouraged to be either a teacher, nurse, hairstylist, secretary, or a wife and mother. No one said to me, "You can be anything you want to be!" Her father was selfish to tell her mother not to work. He worried about how it would reflect on his own business. I'm glad her mother took the library job to set an example of a woman's work and worth to Corky.

I think it depends on how intuitive or questioning a child is. Do as I say, not as I do was pretty much the rule. During the 60's, roles were SO DEFINED; however, some children would wonder why does my Dad NOT allow my mother to work especially if that is what she wants. Men did rule in that period and Corky's Dad didn't want people to think they needed the income.

Her father's refusal to allow her mother to be employed outside the home most likely had a negative influence on Corky. Most importantly, however, I believe her mother's determination to go out on her own accord and get the job probably had a more significant positive influence on Corky's life.

During that time period the normal role for a wife was to take take of the house and the children with some exceptions for part-time work were allowed. However, as with Corky fathers often encouraged their daughters to go beyond that role if they saw potential and he started this by allowing her to work at the drugstore so she could see her potential beyond the four walls of a house and did so by becoming a journalist. Another influence was her mother taking her the library and encouraging her to read diversely.

I think her father said those words because a father was expected to say things like that to his children. I don't think he meant it when it came to things that women 'didn't do' in the 60s. Corky was well aware that her mother was limited to what her husband would support her in.

I do not believe the mixed messages that Corky received had an impact on her choice. At that time things were slowly changing and more opportunities opened up for women. Even her mother finally was able to work.

I think Corky listened to her father and truly believed that she could do whatever she wanted or chose to do with her life. She was not a member of her mother's generation and did not believe that she fell into the restrictions that her father tried to impose on her mother.

I feel that her father was selfish to not want his wife to work. My Mom waned desperately to be an architect but was counseled that there was no room for women in that field. So she got an English major and Math major and had a lifetime of jobs that were not really careers. I didn't have a whole lot of direction from my folks. Mom had some ideas of what I should do that I had no confidence in. The change in opportunity between women who went to college in the late 40s and women who went to college in the early 70s was pretty distinct.

The role of wife has changed over the years but in the 60’s it was rare for women to work outside their home.Wife and mother was their job. As women stood up to men and fought for equality, things changed for some. Corky’s father’s words were encouraging to her but sent a mixed signal. Corky was impressed that her mom got the job in the library when she wasn’t encouraged by her husband.

The 60s were bringing about so many changes. I do think Corky’s dad wanted the world for her, but it absolutely in my mind was a double standard for her mom. He still wanted her in the traditional role that was very much alive and kicking —> wife, mother, home maker. I thought it was so important for Corky to see her own mother go out and get the job even when a man (her husband) was pushing back on it. That was a powerful message for Corky that she could do anything if she truly set her mind to it.

Corky's Mother wanted to have a job. She had talent and wanted to use it. Her husband was against it. He felt the community would think he couldn't support his family, so his wife "had" to go to work. Wasn't that a sign of the times? Women were supposed to be wives, homemakers, and caregivers to the children. If she got a job, it would make him look bad.
I thought this was an excellent message for Corky. Her Mother got a job and proved she could still manage the homefront and have a career.

Sign of the times but they were changing. Corky was able to see that and she was happy her Mother went to work. As so many she worked and did the wife/mother duties.

I believe that her father believed that she could be anything she wanted to be...although realistically in the mid 60s, you could be a teacher, nurse, secretary or homemaker. The doors were not all the open to be physician, lawyer, accountant etc.
It is interesting to note that it was not acceptable for his wife to "work outside the home". It was seen as a reflection on him and his ability to support his family. Corky was troubled by this. She heard her parents argue over this. She even spoke with the librarian about her being a working woman or a woman who works! It did seem to resolve as her mother did accept the job...there did not seem to be any fallout from this. Never heard more from her father...
Each generation wants more for their children...really wants then to be anything that they want to be!

We see Corky's father change with the times as he capitalizes on his wife's beauty and brains to open a cosmetics department. My father was against my mother learning to drive, but later admitted he had been wrong. He suffered an injury, and she was able to save his business by driving him to different locations.