For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for August 14, 2009

Um, broom? On a camping trip?

John as dork, once again.

Somebody wrote here that Lynn was rewriting these strips and is now making John out to be the stereotypical non-helpful husband because of her personal situation. What happened? Did she get divorced? It does seem quite jarring And very different than the “tone” of the earlier strips.

Skulker, this was what life was like for women in the 70’s and even early 80’s - not a lot of them liked it.

I usually use the broom to clean the mess and dirts out of the tent. What’s wrong with that? :-/

Skulker Lynn and her husband have split. I don’t know if they have divorced or not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Johnston

ejcap, that was life for SOME women in the 70’s & 80’s. NOT ALL of them! So quit your generalizations & stereotyping!

@JFri - that was life for a lot of women in the 70’s and 80’s. I applied for one of 2 management positions - with a college degree and work experience in the field - and was offered a clerical position, 2 pay grades below secretary, while 2 “men” fresh out of high school were hired in the management positions. When I asked why, I was told “we don’t want to invest the time and money getting you trained when you’ll just get married and have babies”. Unfortunately, it’s still happening.

I do not care for the “new” strip. I personally would love to see Lynn continue the “Old” strip where it left off. I KNOW she gave us “closure” by telling us what happens to each character but I wanted to see Elizabeth and Anthony’s life together, April grow up, etc…. they are the reasons I started reading the strip so many years ago.

Oh well…

Yes, I vote for Lynn to go back and continue the old strip, too. However, I still like these …

I have to agree with those who say the new strips are making John too insensitive and a clod. I read some of the earlier strips and I don’t remember him being this way. Otherwise how did they go on to have so many years together? The way they are now it looks like they’ll soon be headed for divorce court.

I wish she would have continued with the the strip also, maybe one of her children could do it. That being said the funny part is to see yourself in these that is how my camping trips were like broom and all.

Every man I know today would probably say the exact same thing (I’m not a man, btw). I personally find “getting it away from it all” more stressful and more work than the all I’m trying to get away from and DH wonders why I’m more stressed when I get home.

yeah, I can remember being told ” but the man has a family” when he did exactly the same job, and I mean exactly, and for almost double the pay…this in the late 70’s.

The only way a mother can “get away from it all” is to go away by herself, i.e. without the kids.

When we first started camping, I cleaned with a broom. Now we all pitch in and relax…. even me! We’re camping not at home.

Dirt is supposed to be dirty. :-)

the whole fun and enjoyment of camping is to … 1) not shower, 2) get a bit of dirt under the finger nails 3) cook on an open fire like the Cavemen did.

This is definitely an old strip, look at the art! I think she was reflecting then what many women did experience.

For all of you who don’t like today’s strip–it is not one of the new, redone strips. It is a old one. You can tell by the lettering.

Tidying up is what some of us neat freaks do whether out in the wild or not. It makes us comfortable. You can live with your own obsessions and neuroses.

I actually chuckle at this type of stuff we’ve been seeing between John and Elly. It is typical husband/wife stuff and it exists today.

We bring to our relationships our past and our own personaities. John is not a jerk and Elly is not a milquetoast.

thank you pibfan and stopgap. I can tell the originals from the “refreshed” ones very easily, perhaps since I’ve read the strip from the beginning. Today’s strip is a very good example of her early depictions.

So many seem to think Lynn is changing the storyline from the beginning, which she is not. The newer looking additions just are elaborating on some of the characters.

stop gap has some good things to say. 2 thumbs up!

Lynn’s unresolved anger toward her ex-husband manifests itself in her portrayal of John as an insensitive dope. I’ve been reading this strip for decades and quite frankly, I don’t really enjoy it anymore. Too much anti-male hostility on the part of the author. I think it would have been better to end the strip or just start reprinting it from the beginning than to present the readers with this angry hissy fit.

I’d bet that John would be the first to complain about the dirt if Elly didn’t sweep. Remember how he is in the office? His “girls” have to pick up after him.

Actually, you are supposed to sweep out the tent to keep dirt and rocks from making holes in the floor of the tent when you walk on them. And, when I graduated from high school in 1977, my parents told me that I didn’t need a college education, because I would have a husband to take care of me. Ha! It didn’t happen.

how exactly are they making “new” “old” strips?

GiantBrain, these ARE Lynn’s early strips! Honestly, they are! Male bashing and all…all done 30 years ago. These strips are all in the early books.

Can’t blame it on Lynn’s situation now.

So, do any of you think that the new strip is going to take “older” comics and then let Lynn start a timeline change where Elly and John and separate, or maybe divorce?

Cooking and cleaning and looking after the kids - where is the vacation for Elly? For these reasons and more my mother and her best friend never went camping as this was no vacation for them. Hotels with room service - now that was a vacation!

I love camping. My husband and I trade off on the cooking and cleaning so we both get a chance to relax and enjoy the outdoors. And yes, these are the old strips, a reflection on attitudes of the times. I find it interesting that what was accepted as normal (albeit funny) at the time is now considered by some as cause for divorce. What does that say about their commitment to making a marriage work with an imperfect partner?

What’s John leaning against, the side of the panel?

yes. either that, or there’s a tree just out of frame.

The ERA, which made it unconstitutional to discriminate based on gender, was not passed until the late 70’s. So, yes, I imagine life for most women was exactly like this, if not worse. I’m a 20-something female just starting Law School, and I am thankful every day for the times that I live in.

There seems to be unresolved dialogue going back and forth about whether or not these strips are originals from the 1970s or if they have been “revised” in light of Lynn Johnston’s recent circumstances.

The underlying problem is that even with the reprint strips from 30 years ago, we are not seeing a complete timeline of every strip from that period. The ones being shown more often than not are selected from among those that deliberately make John look like an insensitive, philandering buffoon.

Irrespective of the source of the material, it’s still perpetuating a stereotype, which is still insulting and beneath the positive image that the strip maintained for years.

If you have been following these…these strips are from over 20 yrs ago. I have the book these are reprinted from and that was a 10 yr Anniversary book….The characters evolved in the story in attitudes and maturity as she got more confident in the strip. No need to complain. Think of them as nostalgic

First, Notinksanymore, I hope you learn some things in that Law School before you try to practice. I am just a school teacher with an English degree, but the ERA was not “passed in the late 70’s.” It died for lack of sufficient states to ratify it, most people realizing that the Equal Protection clause does the same thing. Hope you read those text books.

Secondly, I realize now it’s an old strip, too. Ellie does not have the gigantic honker that Lynn, for some reason, now likes to pin on her. I think the nose is a better determinant than the lettering or anything else.

John was a great husband and father, and it’s puzzling to see him constantly being bashed, whether it’s a new or an old strip.

i think that this may be either a new or old one, it doesn’t really matter. lyn is just retelling her story and adding a couple things to it. they will not divorce because this will be true to the original storyline, i’ve only been reading this strip since it started over, and i’ve always seen john as being responcible.

i see john as just a little clueless sometimes, i wouldn’t pin him as insensitive or whatever. As far as camping goes, when you go camping, you are not vacationing, you are CaMpInG, end of story. A vacation is when you can call room service if ya want!

This is a very accurate portrayal of how I found life to be in those days. Of course, I bought into it and was an enabler, so contributed to it s well. I had a PhD and was a research biologist and was constantly subjected to discrimination in the workplace, financial arena and society in general. We camped often with 3 kids and often babies. My father-in-law was a saint. One day, as he headed out to the boat for more fishing and my husband started to join him, he said “No, you stay back with the kids. Kay is coming with me! She needs to so something besides work and should have some fun, too.” I did and had a wonderful afternoon and evening. After that, I got a little more sharing from my husband, at least when his parents were around.

@NOTINKSANYMORE!! I AM INCENSED!! AS FAR AS I KNOW THE ERA WAS N E V E R PASSED!! IT N E V E R BECAME PART OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE USA!!

Many individual states passed it, but that’s something else. Doesn’t anybody besides me remember? And I’m not even an American! Maybe that’s why it sticks in my mind, because I would think proudly that WE in MY country had equality of the sexes!

And you’re going to be a lawyer??!! The mind boggles. Or isn’t a knowledge of history necessary for a lawyer? Especially the history of the law??

That’s enough commenting for me. Too stressful .

Sorry @maxstarmanjones, I should have read all the other comments before adding my own two cents, but I just got so MAD!! because I remember following the struggle to pass the ERA at the time, and how disappointing it was when we realized it was not going to succeed - not then anyway. But you have described what happened exactly as I remember it. but… “the equal protection clause does the same thing”? what are you referring to?

RinaFarina –

The fourteenth amendment includes the phrase “equal protection under the law” and is often cited in perceived cases of discrimination.

Many people who were not explicitly against the intent of the proprosed ERA simply felt it was unnecessary, since a proper judicial interpretation of the constitution – even before the 14th amendment – should guarantee equal rights.

And thanks for recognizing that I had already made that note. I was getting steamed that no one had read my post, but I’m all better now :)

I read all the posts, every one, and learn a lot. Thanks guys.

And to howtheduck…great work. I wanted to do that, but was too lazy to look it all up. Thanks to you, too.

Equal protection clause under the 14th Amendment or no equal protection clause under the 14th Amendmen, I still want my ERA.

In re: Notinksanymore: Okay, a little iffy on her history, but she gets points in my book for appreciating the bigger picture. Too many young ladies of her generation–ohgawd, I sound superannuated– take everything for granted and are clueless about, and indifferent to, what we went through. So don’t jump on her, please; we need all of her we can get.

Oh, and in re: broom: When I was hitching and camping out, I couldn’t have imagined carrying any any more weight on my back than absolutely necessary for minimum survival. The pack was heavy enough as it was. I never took a broom to sweep the tent.

Of course, I never took a tent, either.

(Yeah, yeah, I know: different with small kids. They probably aren’t more than an hour’s hike from the parking lot, if that. Not really what I call camping.)

I’m sorry, get away from WHAT. Not away from work or kids…