Women of '69: Unboxed

I found this interesting as I graduated from UCLA in 1968. I also visited family in NYC in '65 and '67 and spent a couple of weeks in Boston in '69.

At the time I felt the East Coast was a couple of years behind the West Coast in terms of the social revolution. It was an interesting time because our high school years were pretty firmly rooted in the 1950's and our college years were firmly rooted in the cultural revolution of the new music, clothes, attitudes, politics and morals.

By 1970 the dream of the cultural and political revolution as depicted in Easy Rider was pretty much over, what remained was sex, drugs and rock and roll, and needing to find a job.

Being in a public college, the University of California, I don't think the majority of students there were thinking about their place in the world as these ladies were. We were thinking of surviving, getting out of school and getting on with life (with the draft hanging over your head if you were a male).

This documentary made me remember that I had very little success in forming relationships with college girls. I mostly dated girls who went to work after high school, secretaries, clerks, etc. In 1973 I married a girl who worked as a secretary, and have been married to her for 43 years now. To me the college girls seemed somewhat neurotic and confused. Working girls were down to earth, easy to talk to, liked to dress up, look pretty, and go out and have a good time. They didn't have anything to prove.

This movie seemed to reinforce that impression as many of the participants seemed dissatisfied with their lives. They achieved success in the world of work, but many seemed to feel they paid a price in terms of family and relationships.