I don’t have much to add, I just thought it was cool that Judy Blume’s books Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, and Forever have been updated to do away with outdated information and reflect current sexual health practices. From Reproductive Health Reality Check:
While making the text accessible to adolescents, the update wasn’t without controversy; some ardent fans decried the changes as tampering with a classic. Blume justified the change as a minimal loss with great benefit of better communicating with today’s readers.
“No one uses belts any more,” Blume told The Providence Phoenix in 1998 “Half the mothers haven’t used them. [Contemporary readers] have to go to their grandmothers.”
Forever is another Blume novel touched with up-to-date health information—and its stakes are older than simple clarity.
Aimed for an older audience than Margaret, Forever was written as Blume’s response to her daughter’s simple request: she wanted to see a story about teenagers who had sex without being punished by grisly abortions, miscarriages, or deaths.
“I wanted to present another kind of story—one in which two seniors in high school fall in love, decide together to have sex, and act responsibly,” Blume writes on her website.
Forever’s Katherine and Michael seriously talk about their decision before they have sex, and after a visit to a health clinic, Katherine receives a birth control prescription.
It’s that scene that Blume refers to in a one-page preface added to recent editions of the book.
She writes:
“The seventies were a time when sexual responsibility meant preventing unwanted pregnancy. Today, sexual responsibility also means preventing sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. In this book Katherine visits a clinic and is given a prescription for The Pill. Today, she would be told it is essential to use a condom along with any other method of birth control. If you’re going to become sexually active, then you have to take responsibility for your own actions. So get the facts first.”
When I read it in the 70′s I didn’t know what was going on with the belts; my mom had one in her closet but didn’t show us how to use it or anything b/c there were pads. I think modern girls must be confused by the array of sizes and options and choices without a pretty detailed explanation from someone else, but maybe not.
Does anyone else remember being confused by the scene in the movie version of TO SIR WITH LOVE where Lulu is cooking something in front of Sir’s class and he tells her it’s disgusting? I eventually figured out it’s her soiled menstrual rags she’s washing out to be gross or something, but I was completely lost at first.
Judy Blume is a total badass.
That is all.
Judy Blume is a total badass.
That is all.
I can understand why she would make those changes, but part of what I loved about that book was its recent historical perspective.
Modern information about all things sex and reproduction is not hard to come by – this seems unnecessary.
Hmm, I’m not a fan of tampering with the classics (George Lucas, I’m looking at you, and frothing at the mouth), but I think it’s great she’s keeping the sexual health info relevant, because that was her goal in writing the book – education. So it’s certainly better than the books going by the wayside because they’re not relevant.
I’m of two minds about this. I agree that making the changes loses some historical perspective. Additionally, if you modernize the health info but not the rest of the book, it runs the risk of losing verisimilitude.
In an ideal world, the books wouldn’t change and readers would read them in the context of the time period in which they were set/written, and there would be plenty of more modern books that tackled the issues as thoughtfully and respectfully.
But we’re not in that perfect world, and those other books by and large *aren’t* out there (seriously, when’s the last time you saw/read a plotline targeted toward teenagers which involves teens having sex that *doesn’t* result in pregnancy, abortion or STDs?), so this may be necessary.
What a coincidence – I recently reread “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” and I was really happy to see that they had updated the belt thing with pads. I was really confused about that when I read it for the first time in the early 1990s.
Hyrax – I was really confused about that scene in “To Sir With Love” too!
Has no one seen “The Slums of Beverly Hills”? Set in the 70s, it was on cable recently. Smitten with a customer his age, an older single father takes the family to her house for dinner. Thinking her period was over, his teenage daughter had not brought any tampons, so she frantically searches for menstrual products in the hostess’s bathroom. The menopausal hostess triumphantly produces a belt and a box of sanitary napkins that she had been saving for emergencies.
It’s a good coming of age movie. The movie stars Marisa Tomei, Alan Arkin, and the woman who was the crazed stalker in Play Misty for Me. The girl was played by Natasha somebody.
No one knows what belts are anymore; even in comments. I am just old enough; I think I used belts for one or two years before the newer pads came out. Let me explain.
Ladies, belts were used with pads, not instead of pads.
Older pads did not have a glue strip on the bottom. Instead, they came with a long extra flap of cotton material at the front and back (lengthwise). You either pinned the flap to your panties, or you used a belt and slipped the flaps into the belt. It looked kind of like a garter belt, and the pad was held fairly snugly in place (and you didn’t even need to wear panties; it’s actually better for overnight in terms of protection, and you’ll still find them in hospital-sized pads for super huge amounts of bleeding). The advantage of the pins, I guess, is that it was less of a to-do in the middle of the day if your period snuck up on you.
I think the glue strip came out around 1975 and I started menstruating in 1973.
i think it’d be nice to include the unedited chapters in an appendix at the back in the new edition – that way you can have both! i would say, put the modern ones in the appendix or afterword, but how many (non-nerdy, and i say that with much love) kids read those parts of a book?
So the pads were like the maternity pads I used in the hospital after Son #1 was born? Come to think of it, I think the maternity pads were used with this weird sort of meshy disposable undergarment, the main advantage to which was that you could stick a glove full of ice in it and have it stay reasonably well in place.
“it’s actually better for overnight in terms of protection, and you’ll still find them in hospital-sized pads for super huge amounts of bleeding).”
For people who prefer them at night, you can still get them – or the updated noughties version. Here’s an example. (image link only so I’m not suspected of advertising – I’ve no connection, but I am a customer.) And your typical day pad just has a snap or two where the wings meet.
I’d just much rather put on one of these in a velour top, or perhaps one of my more luxurious ones – sherpa or silk or bamboo velour against the skin – than one of these. (Who would buy menstrual pads from a company called ‘Germes’ anyway?)
Rave over. I just love these things. No more perfumes on my bits. No more dog getting into the trash. No more haemorrhaging cash on single-use products. No more surprise Brazilians. (Somewhat oughtta lolcat that one.)
I noticed Margaret was missing from my childhood collection when I organized it recently. Looks like I’ll have to scour used shops for a replacement.
When I first got my period c. 1983, I was able to communicate with my mother thanks to having read this book. She had never talked to me or anything and no one was prepared with supplies for me. She offered me a tampon and I said, no, I want a pad. I was sitting on the toilet and she was going to run to the store for me ( I sat on the toilet the whole time because I didn’t know what else to do!).
Anyway, she asked me if I needed a belt (mom was an older mother for the 70s). I had to inform her they now had new-fangled-thingies that did not require such garments. I had gleaned this knowledge from carefully studying the ads in Seventeen magazine.
They gave me the same sort of pads in the hospital post abortion in 1984. They were actually pretty comfortable, but under anything tight would show, which I imagine was part of the reason they vanished as soon as the adhesive strip rolled up.
In a lot of ways, I like the idea of updating that information. I can see including the old version as well, so there is still that historical perspective for those who need it.
It’s rather like what they did with Podkayne of Mars by Robert Heinlein, except it was by reader vote and Heinlein had been forced to change the book before the original publication. Several years ago they held a contest to see which ending readers liked best, and now the original version is what the publishers intend to stick with. But my version has both, changes included, and it’s very interesting to see.
Updating this information is probably a good move though, beyond the education these books provide, they are also important social artifacts that carry a great deal of cultural/historical cache. Will the original versions continue to be available?
My favorite exchange about belts happened on another feminist forum:
Poster 1: Belts…? Those are like, a Nixon thing, right?
Poster 2: Yes. Pat Nixon actually presented me with my first belt. It was an awkward moment.
I agree with philosophizer that the old texts should be kept in an index or something. i remember having no idea what she was talking about when i read it, but the book is going to remain a little dated regardless.
anyone remember a book blume wrote for boys the same age? i remember my mom bought it for my brother and i read it; it talked about getting wet dreams and some boy having a crush on his friend’s sister. was that blume? anyway i think it was a good thing that i read it and i think we should encourage kids to read both, to understand the sexual changes of both genders perhaps?
Hurray for Judy Blume! She has a nice anti-censorship piece on her website, too: http://www.judyblume.com/censors.html
I’m sure that plenty of “classic” copies of “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” and “Forever” will be around for those interested in a historical perspective. Unless the book banners burn all of them. But I’m happy that kids will see the new info.
Lucie, the book I think you’re referring too was “Then again Maybe I won’t.”
One of my favorites.
Your brother read a book about wet dreams? written by a girl?!!?
When I was an adolescent, I would never have read a book written by a woman purporting to explain what my experience was like. It would be like your mom reading a man’s description of what to expect during menopause.
many adolescent males liked that book. in fact, it was the only place they read about wet dreams written of in a respectful, realistic fashion.
Yeah, like those crappy Harry Potter books — a boy’s adolescence told by a woman author. No one reads those.
I think the maternity pads were used with this weird sort of meshy disposable undergarment, the main advantage to which was that you could stick a glove full of ice in it and have it stay reasonably well in place.
wow. that is insanely badass.
I LOVED Judy Blume when I was a kid. And I think it’s great that she’s trying to be responsible about the facts in her classics, but to be honest I, like most people here, would have liked to see the books remain untouched. I wasn’t that confused about what a “belt” was when I read it, and any kid reading it today can take two seconds to google it. I wonder why she didn’t maybe just write a newer book reflecting a more updated outlook? It’s not like she’d be writing for an oversaturated market.
But as long as the older books are gonna still be available…I think I need to rebuild my old childhood book collection…
When I was a preadolescent, I read a bunch of Judy Blume. I read Are You There, God?, and I’m pretty sure I read Then Again Maybe I Won’t, but I also read most of my sister’s Babysitter’s Club books, too. If you write it, there is a large minority of kids who will read the shit out of it, I think, just because it’s there.
The belts were made to hold a large pad which had an extra tab at the front and back. The pad’s tab would fit in a small slit on the belt. These were still in use postpartum until the mesh underwear came out. Maternity pads are like super absorbant pads.
“When I was an adolescent, I would never have read a book written by a woman purporting to explain what my experience was like. It would be like your mom reading a man’s description of what to expect during menopause.”
Somehow I have a feeling she got some outside input on what it’s like to be a 12-year-old-boy. e_e
Although I can see where you’re coming from, the problem parents are presented with is that there aren’t any similar books written by men. There are books that mention such wet dreams, but there aren’t really any others about puberty. (As far as I know, if anyone has any suggestions, let me know, pretty please!)
Plus, most boys reading Then Again, Maybe I Won’t have already read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and so are sometimes more willing to give Blume the benefit of the doubt than they would otherwise.
And even those that haven’t….I’m sure lots of kids find AYTG, IMM and TA, MIW in public and school libraries and care much more about the fact that they talk about things that kids want to know about – but are afraid to ask about – than about who wrote them.
I’m glad she added the preface note to Forever, but I’m not sure it would make sense to try to update the book wholesale. The time period is relevant to the story in a lot of places.
On the other hand, it’s true that when I read AYTG, IMM the stuff about getting a belt to attach the pads to was kind of weird and confusing. On the other other hand, part of the problem was that I lacked some basic background knowledge at the time, and was relying on Judy Blume for useful information as well as for the story. So when I read Forever (at the age of around 10 or 11), I wasn’t sure what rubbers were or how they worked, and was kind of frustrated by TA, MIW because I was hoping to learn a little about what happens to boys, and I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about when discussing “wet dreams,” among other things…
I love her work, though, and it has had a huge influence on me. My novel — which is essentially a series of stories about teen relationships and sexuality with the added factor of religion thrown in — owes a lot to her work (I’m kind of shooting for “the Mormon Judy Blume” here ;) ). I actually have a scene of the religious kids’ reaction to reading Forever here because reading Judy Blume has become a typical formative experience of adolescent sexuality. And I’ve had readers write in and tell me they had their copies of Forever confiscated by parents just like the kids in my story… ;)
Episiotomy. That glove full of ice was the only thing that made sitting possible.
My hospital actually gave out pads that were ice packs. I cannot even begin to describe how awesome they were, it’s all I wore from the time my daughter was born until they sent me home (I didn’t have an episiotomy, but I did tear quite a bit).
I loved all of those books as a kid! I remember reading “Are you there God” in 5th or 6th grade and it made becoming a teenager much easier. I need to start compiling a list of all these great books so I can pass them on to my kids.
Judy Blume is awesome, but I caution against giving any of the “Fudge” books to an already-mischievous child. It’s either synergy or dysergy, depending on where you’re standing and whether where you’re standing happens to be in the middle of the toilet overflow.
I had tearing with the second child, and, frankly, between that and the episiotomy, there’s not a whole lot to choose. I wouldn’t confuse either with an ice-cream sundae and a massage.
Let me ponder this a bit and get back to you. I think they’re out there, but the market for boys’ books like that is small. Right now I keep remembering how frustrated I was a couple of years ago, trying to buy books for my adolescent nephews at a Barnes and Noble. After combing all three racks of Young Adult novels, I could only find two books featuring adolescent males. From memory, the titles were Tommy Jones Smokes Pot and There’s Booze in Billy Smith’s Locker. Essentially they were Berenstain Bear Books for teenagers, and nothing I could see myself giving the boys.
this makes me so happy! hopefully others will follow her lead.
In “To Sir With Love”, the girl was burning her used “sanitary towel” in the grate of the small furnace normally used to heat the classroom.
I’m tempted to agree with you, but understand that most writing about women’s experiences (not to mention most work on everything related to women in general) has been written by men, historically speaking. Most medical texts, which discuss women’s bodies and health, are still written by men.
I think it’s easy for men to lose perspective when it comes to things like this.
And have you ever heard of Wally Lamb? He wrote a woman so convincingly in She’s Come Undone it is shocking.
“The seventies were a time when sexual responsibility meant preventing unwanted pregnancy. Today, sexual responsibility also means preventing sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.”
Bollocks. She sounds like Austin Powers.
Why are you praising this woman? She wrote a bit of free love propaganda about teen sex which she promotted as depicting ‘responsible’ behaviour, but didn’t. STD’s did actually exist in the 70s, and her ideology was just as wrong then as it is now. There’s nothing more pathetic than an aging hipster. This’d be funny if she hadn’t been misinforming impressionable kids for the last thirty years and being thought of as a hero for it.
Well, there’s you, james.
“Well, there’s you, james.”
Aw, thanks.
I remember this book being all the rage and my sister and classmates being given copies by perfectly well meaning liberal parents, I’m sure partly because of the trendy reputation it had got by annoying lots of square conseratives. There’s something deeply ironic about the way these people would now regard what goes on with absolute horror. I guess they weren’t as hip as they thought.
The fact is the book gives completely the wrong message to kids. I know no-one reading this thinks that we should teach them that the responsible way to approach to sex is for the girl to dose up on birth control and not to worry about condoms or STDs. I’m stunned the way people are posting that Bloom’s great, even though they know the book’s crazy 60s sexual liberationism is not the stuff to be telling kids. I’m amazed the woman’s reputation has survived.
I got my period at the age of 11 in 1978. Belts were still in use at the time but the adhesive type was available too. My mom once picked up the wrong kind for me (misread the label) and I ended up having to pin the pads for a period or two until we used up the package.
Did anyone else have to endure “The Movie?” In 5th grade, all the girls were offered the chance to watch it. Permission slips were sent home and moms were invited to attend. To my utter embarrassment my mother was one of the few to attend. We sat in the cafeteria for an hour and watched a movie about what a period was and how to handle it. Since the movie at the time was about 10 years old, the belts were explained in detail (tampons were not discussed at all, not sure if they were available). In our town it was somewhat of a rite of passage–I remember in 4th grade watching the older girls return from the viewing and sensing they were somehow older.
The Movie also assured us that it was okay to wash during our periods–it had been widely taught to young girls prior to the mid-70′s that bathing during your period was unhealthy so most girls at that time did not bathe for the duration. This was not that unusual for the time–most of our moms were still doing the wash-and-set at the salon once a week and not washing their hair daily. Also, a lot of houses only had tubs and not showers. It was just the way things were then.
As for Judy Blume, I came home one day and announced to my mother that I wanted to read it. All the girls were reading it. My mom read it first before she would allow it. She bought me the paperback. My friend Mandy and I then let boys in our class read the back cover for a nickel to get ice cream money. Anyhow, I would much prefer that a footnote be added to explain to readers what the belt is. Maintain the classic but keep the reader informed all at once.
Oh, and those webby maternity undies? My beef with them is that they only came in one size and as a big girl with postpartum weight, I had to cut them up the sides to have them fit. My favorite postpartum comfort device was the squirty bottle they gave me to use instead of toilet paper on the episiotomy.
Oh, I forgot the warm-water squirty bottle! Now if someone could only invent a really good topical anaesthetic that’s safe and painless to apply to postpartum vaginal injuries, so that peeing after childbirth wouldn’t require the immediate application of ice.
Leaving the belt in but adding a footnote of explanation would also allow young female readers to be extremely grateful for the progress that’s been made in menstrual products. I admit that the one clear memory I have of “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” was of the girls having to buy their belts and suchlike from a male clerk. At the time that I read the book, that sounded like the worst humiliation in the world.
Confession: I was in my sophomore year of college before I overcame my self-consciousness and finally bought my own products.
Update: Prior to a surgery a few weeks ago, I bought 4 medicated douches and 2 enemas (per doctor instructions) and stood and discussed their use with the male pharmacy technician.
Personal growth. :)
[...] Reality Check, Blume took the menstruation belts out of Margaret and added condoms to Forever. H/t Feministe. When you can’t count on the government, schools, or dubiously funded clinics for medically [...]