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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

So You Think Modern Life Is a New Concept?

by Chautona Havig · 4 Comments

Modernity is Relative

Links in this post may be affiliate links, which provide me with a small commission at no extra expense for you.

Little Town on the PrairieModernity is relative.

“Our grandmothers would turn in their graves, but after all, these are modern times.”

I don’t know if that’s an exact quote or a paraphrase, but Ma Ingalls said that or something awfully close to it in Little Town on the Prairie. What was she talking about? Sewing a long seam down the center of a sheet on a… *gasp!* sewing machine instead of lapping it by hand.

What would those grandmothers think of California King-sized bed sheets with no seam! Shocker! Modernity run rampant!

And we’re just talking about sheets! Twenty years later, people could afford cameras. (Madeline Brown’s camera in Sweet on You was a dollar. Just a dollar! (I feel like Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail. “I only have a dollar. Just a dollar!”

They had telephones, bicycles, motor cars.

Girls didn’t have to sit in general stores sewing shirts for homesteaders. They could be nurses, clerks, and bank tellers.

Those with a more traditional outlook, those who still remained at home without employment, were still free to roam the city without causing gossip.

suffrage
Courtesy of LSE Library

They joined causes and furthered their educational pursuits because it interested them.

And I don’t think feminism can take credit for it.

Some would say I’m in denial, or I have an agenda against girls doing anything but crocheting doilies while they wait for a prince charming to arrive at their doorstep to inform them that he’s there to take care of them forever and all time. Yeah. Because that happens.

Wait. It did. For my daughter. Whatever, it usually doesn’t happen. I’ve got six more daughters who will attest to that little fact.

No, I don’t think feminism can take credit for young women having more opportunities at the turn of the 20th century. The world changed. Household work took less time, and people moved from farms to the city. They had so many new conveniences that their life more resembled ours than that of Laura Ingalls just twenty years earlier (those in the cities, I mean). Without any need for them at home, what else were girls to do?

I imagine that change was rather difficult for some people to handle.

Madeline’s Aunt Louisa is one such person. Like many of us when modernity encroaches on our lives, strips away traditions that we value, and turns her niece into a “meddlesome chit,” she pulls back, grasping onto the familiar.

Madeline’s complaints that her aunt’s notions would have been outdated back in her mother’s day are valid.

modernityDon’t we do that, though? When one thing sends us running, we swing to the opposite extreme—as if on a pendulum. In fact, I wrote a whole blog post on that once. You can read it, HERE.

I guess it’s kind of like why, when a father first sees his little girl dressed in an evening gown, he’s ready to lock her in the basement for the rest of her life.

Hmmm… is that legal? I do have six unmarried daughters…

Instead of saying:

“Um, that cleavage is advertising what you do not have for sale,”

…he just withdraws her from the… market?

Yeah, that analogy got away from me.

But anyway, my point is that sometimes people react to new things in not so great ways. We overreact.

And you know what? 

Just like with Madeline’s Aunt Louisa, that overreaction can and usually does push people away. And c’mon. There’s nothing new under the sun, Louisa.  You deplored the marching and protesting of the suffragettes in Rockland.

Those hussies!

In your day, young ladies reserved “the vote” for what kind of punch to serve at the ladies’ bazaar. All this modern marching and protesting. You’ll be glad when the girls get it out of their systems, right?

Because that sort of unladylike behavior couldn’t possibly happen almost 120 years from now…

I said it before. I’ll say it again.  Modernity is relative.

And Solomon had it right. There’s nothing new under the sun.

And Louisa?

Just be glad you didn’t see the hats some of THIS year’s marchers were wearing.

Even YOU wouldn’t touch one of those suckers!

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Comments

  1. Diane says

    March 22, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    Yup, in architecture Modern was underway before my parents (now in their 80s) got married. Then there was Post-Modern. I’m not sure what comes after that, but it probably already has 😉 And Modern Art has been around for a long time–nearly 100 years. I’ve lost track of how many art movements there’ve been since!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      March 22, 2017 at 7:27 pm

      And our ideas of modernity will CRACK UP our grandkids and great grandkids. “You actually had to hold your phones? How WEIRD!”

      Reply
  2. Peggy says

    March 21, 2017 at 5:20 am

    It’s been a while since I’ve read any of your books. I once had read almost all of them but it looks like I’ve now got some catching up to do!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      March 21, 2017 at 5:53 am

      Hi, Peggy! Well, I’ve got quite a few out in the past couple of years. I’d recommend starting with the first Madeline, though. and it’s on sale for .99 right now, so that’s always good!

      Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 283: A Chat with Debut Author Denise L. Barela
byChautona Havig

Having the chance to chat with a dear friend about her book is always a treat.  So when Denise L. Barela chatted to me about her mystery, Silencing the Siren, I knew we’d have a lot of fun. Boy, did we. From the first ideas on this mystery through the new series she’s considering, and where she wants to take her writing in the future, Denise has a lot to share.  Listen in to learn about her writing and how you can listen to her book free!

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Why an Almost Love At First Sight Mystery Actually Works!

Denise L. Barela’s debut novel is the seventh in the Ever After Mysteries. These fairy-tale retellings set in the twenties (and now the forties!) feature fun mashups of those beloved tales with some kind of mystery. Denise chose “The Little Mermaid” and went to town combining 1920s New York City and Coney Island with that fairy tale and a freak show attraction that causes all kinds of trouble in various ways.

One thing I liked is how the “love at first sight” aspect of the original story played out in Denise’s. She focused on Annabel’s character and, being so different from the superficiality he lived with, it drew him in.  No, it’s not a romance, but this mystery does have romance in it, and Denise made that tough trope work.

The research Denise did involved widely differing topics–from novelty gifts (doorbells, folks!), to car technology advancements, to just how hard it was to find a map of New York City for the era!

Of course, that sparked a discussion on research for her other book and how she discovered rewritten history ruining her plans for it.  Enter rewrites. Sigh.

Finally, we discussed the sorts of books she wants to write, her conversation with Jaime Jo Wright, and where she plans to take things after she does one more mystery-themed series.  Clue is coming like you’ve never seen it.

Silencing the Siren by Denise L. Barela

Andrew Grayson thought he had everything… until he met her.

The indulged son of wealthy parents, Andrew has always gotten whatever he wanted almost before he knew he wanted it—clothes, gadgets… even a car! What more could a young man desire?

Enter Annabel Thompson. Freakshow mermaid extraordinaire… in a wheelchair!

Of course, her beauty attracts him. How could it not? Add to that a kind heart, and Andrew can’t help but fall for her.

Annabel’s connection with the freakshow repels his parents and their society friends. They want him to sever all ties with her and his new friends. Oh, and marry the “right” girl with the “right connections.” But he won’t do it. He’ll defy them and marry his little mermaid.

When Annabel turns up missing, declared dead, things don’t add up, Andrew begins asking some difficult questions, the most important being, “What happened to the little mermaid of the Coney Island freak show?”

Find out in this next book in the Ever After Mysteries, combining beloved fairy tales and mysteries. Silencing the Siren offers a retelling of “The Little Mermaid” that will keep you gripped to the edge of your seat as you watch the story unfold.

Learn more about Denise L. Barela on her WEBSITE and follow her on GoodReads and BookBub.  You can listen to Silencing the Siren free on her YouTube Channel.

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Episode 283: A Chat with Debut Author Denise L. Barela
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