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Mar. 21st, 2011 07:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charliesmumWas, for some reason, explaining the song William Wants a Doll to the Boyfriend yesterday - I forget why, but it came up in conversation with my mom, the Boyfriend having missed out on it, being just a tad too old for it when it came out in the early 70's.
For those of you too young to know the song, it's from the hippy-dippy feel good children's album put out by Marlo Thomas And Friends - Friends being some of the stars of the day - Alan Alda, Carol Channing, Mel Brooks. The songs and stories were all about how Girls Could Do Anything, and Boys Are Allowed To Cry (illustrated in song by football player Rosier Grier, I believe).
William Wants a Doll is a song about a little boy who, well, wants a doll. His brother and friends all pick on him, his father tries to bribe him with sports gear, but William is steadfast. Grandma eventually brings him one, pointing out to the Concerned Manly Father that a boy having a doll is a Good Thing, because it will teach William how to be a good father.
Which is true, I pointed out. Learning how, as the song says, 'to dress it, put diapers on double, and gently caress it to bring out the bubble and do all the things that every good father should learn to do would help William be a better father when he grew up.
Assuming, of course, he and his partner are able to adopt.
But the song isn't that brave actually. They actually go through great pains to point out William is not gay - he's good at all the sports his father bribes him with, you see, which is kind of sad when I think of it now. It's okay for William to want a doll if he's perfectly straight, but if he wants a doll because he's...effeminate, that's not okay, apparently.
See what happens when you think to hard about childhood songs?
For those of you too young to know the song, it's from the hippy-dippy feel good children's album put out by Marlo Thomas And Friends - Friends being some of the stars of the day - Alan Alda, Carol Channing, Mel Brooks. The songs and stories were all about how Girls Could Do Anything, and Boys Are Allowed To Cry (illustrated in song by football player Rosier Grier, I believe).
William Wants a Doll is a song about a little boy who, well, wants a doll. His brother and friends all pick on him, his father tries to bribe him with sports gear, but William is steadfast. Grandma eventually brings him one, pointing out to the Concerned Manly Father that a boy having a doll is a Good Thing, because it will teach William how to be a good father.
Which is true, I pointed out. Learning how, as the song says, 'to dress it, put diapers on double, and gently caress it to bring out the bubble and do all the things that every good father should learn to do would help William be a better father when he grew up.
Assuming, of course, he and his partner are able to adopt.
But the song isn't that brave actually. They actually go through great pains to point out William is not gay - he's good at all the sports his father bribes him with, you see, which is kind of sad when I think of it now. It's okay for William to want a doll if he's perfectly straight, but if he wants a doll because he's...effeminate, that's not okay, apparently.
See what happens when you think to hard about childhood songs?
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Re: Part 2
on 2011-03-22 11:34 am (UTC)I do remember the commercial for perfume that said a woman could 'do it all' and we used to run around singing the jingle - 'I can bring home the bacon/fry it up in a pan', but when I look at the commercial now, it seems a bit condescending.
Oh, and the one for Love's Baby soft! It implied that aggressive women didn't get the boys! Driving up in a convertible confidently is a no-no, but wobbling up on a bike with a basket on the front was okay.
But...I never felt there were things I couldn't do, so that was good, anyway.