I grew up in 1960’s England, at a time when the world was changing very fast. My grandma was my link to the past, while my parents were forward looking and full of life.
Thankfully my parents did not share my grandmother’s old fashioned ideas. My mother believed that a woman could do anything better than a man as long as she thought about it first. That attitude made a big impression on me and my mother’s example of strength and determination has given me the courage and confidence to tackle the many challenges of life. Slacks were popular in the sixties and my mum had several pairs, some of which had a little stirrup to hook under the foot. My grandma was outraged and not for the first time she called upon God to support her argument. She seemed to believe that she had a special closeness to God; perhaps her birthday on Christmas Day gave her ideas above her station! Apparently the Bible says that a woman should not impersonate a man and Grandma insisted that it was therefore wrong for women to wear trousers. She was lost for words when my mum pointed out that in Bible times men did not wear trousers! Poor Grandma, she lived long enough to see the fashion for hot pants arrive, and she was unable to prevent her daughter in law and her young granddaughter from wearing them. I don’t recall her reaction, but I am sure it would have been vocal.
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