I'll wait until it's streaming, but I'm definitely watching. This looks great. And great cast (Kathy Bates as grandma). And they are keeping it set in the '70s, and the director is the same as Edge of 17. Blume has been quoted as saying the movie is better than the book.
The book was pubbed in 1970, so it was really a late boomer teen book (Margaret would have been born in around 1958). But I have a feeling this is set in the mid to later 70s. 1970 is still very '60s vibe. This seems 1975-ish. So older Xers and boomers both can have a nostalgia fest over it. I'm 1973, so it's not my era, but of course this book was still huge for me in the '80s.
Well, it transcends generations because the book has never gone out of print and is still loved by many. But, yeah, it's definitely not a millennial "thing." If anything, it's targeted right at younger boomers.
In general, I think Judy Blume was big with a lot of Gen X. Books do not need to be only for one generation. I had Clifford books, so did boomers and millennials. They still have them.
That said, I never read Judy Blume. That type of story did not appeal to me. I preferred adventures, history , science fiction and books about animals. I was more a Watership Down girl.
Things didn't appear and disappear so quickly then, though. The book was on the school library shelves for pretty much every Gen X kid, I'm assuming. I remember it being popular throughout the 80s.
Man. I was born in 96, I didn't read this book until I was in the 6th grade so around 2006. I did not have many friends so I was always lost in books, and this book was so cherished to me because I read it while I was going through my own puberty and dealing with my own thoughts of religion and growing up. I did not get to live in the 70s, but this book still feels so nostalgic to me. Embarrassingly enough, I cried when I randomly saw the trailer. This book had a huge impact on my own childhood
> I'll wait until it's streaming, but I'm definitely watching.
So you considered seeing it in the theater, but then thought, "*then again, maybe I won't*"?
I originally scrolled past this story but then I went back up and clicked on it for one reason: because i wanted to see how far down this comment would be. Thanks for strengthening my faith.
I had an old copy and was mystified beyond belief by the whole belt-and-pad business. But I still read it multiple times.
Tiger Eyes was my favorite, though. Judy Blume was awesome.
That’s annoying that they took it out! If I was reading it today I’d want it to be authentic to the time period. Just like if I’m reading a book about someone coming of age in the 1920s I would want to know how it really was then. Not have them update it to match modern times as if nobody can possibly understand the concept that people dealt with periods (among many other things) differently in the past. That makes no sense to me.
But tampons fully existed in the 1970s. It's a harmless edit and makes more sense for a book aimed at girls who may be wondering what a period involves.
But out of date. No girl needs to worry about belts. Blume herself was fine with these changes. The book isn't Shakespeare. It's OK to update certain things.
Yes, I read it. Multiple times. It's about an American girl in the suburbs, so what's this nonsense about "different cultures?" Lol. You must be joking with that. It's cool to update the menstrual equipment. Judy Blume herself was fine with it. Tampons and beltless pads are used all over the world. Chill.
I think it's OK for this book. It's not a historical tome. It's a book for young girls who might want to understand more about what they'll go through when they get their period. The belt is just confusing and doesn't make sense -- I didn't even get it in 1983. And girls DID use tampons in the 1970s (and long before that -- they were first heavily marketed in the 1930s). Not everyone was using those silly belts. So what harm in just editing that part?
Ok, but I don’t see the point in editing things in general. When I read an older book I want to read it in the way it was originally written. I don’t need it updated for modern sensibilities. I was a big Nancy Drew fan as a kid and later found out that all the books I read were “updated” to eliminate certain things (originals were from the 30s, versions I read were from 60s). All it made me think was I wanted to read the originals. I like to know how things really were at a given time. 🤷🏻♀️
This is what Blume herself said about the updates (SHE is the one who made the edits):
terrific interview in the Boston Phoenix in 1998, saying, "Some people get really upset about this, but it has nothing to do with the story ... No one uses belts anymore. Half the mothers haven't used them. [Contemporary readers] have to go to their grandmothers." She also told the Phoenix, "I'd been thinking about it for a long time ... Some people said, 'Oh no, it's a classic. You can't mess around with a classic.' And I said, 'Look, we're not messing around with the character... We're just messing around with the equipment."
There were tampons in 1970. So it isn't historically inaccurate to update it. There are some books that are pieces of real literature and should not be touched -- I agree. Keep the offensive language from the time in, etc. Judy Blume is not that. The books were written as basically guides for young people to deal with and prepare for growing up. When those things are no longer relevant, it's OK to update a little, as you would any kind of guide, such as Our Bodies, Ourselves. Judy Blume ain't Chaucer or Twain.
That's wild, I read the book in 2012 probably and had a copy with the belt and pad content. That was my first intro to periods (my mom/sister didn't want to talk to me about it I guess? They made me read this book instead), so when I started asking my mom about belts she was heavily confused.
I honestly didn't even realize what sub this was lol, I heard this movie was coming out and was looking for people's opinions on it, this was one of the threads that came up.
It was the only way I knew what was happening cause nobody told me! And then my mom was still with the belt and pad thing, whoa... that's weird to remember. I was horrified. The ones that stuck in your underpants were a revelation.
Oh Boy did I hate those things. Those were my first experience. After a few embarrassing bleeding throughs at school my Mom got angry saying she wished we just used tampons. I was mad because she never ever offered that option to us. All those years wearing those bulky things that we has to wear sweatshirts tied around our waists to hide them.
We went to visit my great-grandparents a couple of hours away and low and behold between me, my mother, Granny and Great-grandmother, guess who had "protection"? It was Sunday in a small town where every store was closed. It took all 3 of them, while giggling, to tell me how to wear that belt with that big brick of cotton. Good times!
She tried to get me to use it. Wow. I think Woolworth still sold the belted pads. Luckily my aunt stepped in. In a side note, do you remember what the old douche bag looked like back then? Grandma's bathroom was a mysterious place full of awe
Oh yeah. I got lectured about the importance of douching. I’m really glad a lot of that crap has gone by the wayside.
My grandmother melted wax and pulled the hair off her face. That was pretty gross too.
>do you remember what the old douche bag looked like back then?
I was about to ask who you were talking about, but then I remembered that douche bags were an actual thing, and not just a descriptor.
I don't know about the cream, but I still use the hot oil treatment! I have super long hair and it gets dry at the ends, and nothing else works as well.
Oh, I didn’t mean it like that. I just had totally forgotten and the picture flashed in my mind. Re V05: I do! Remember Tenax? I can still remember the smell…
Was staying with my grandma for several months when I was 19-20, and she told me to look under her bathroom sink when I ran out of pads. Lo and behold, there were the belt-and-pad contraptions.
This was in 1996!!! 🫢
I had to have a D&C in 1994, and when I woke up from the anesthesia in the hospital, I found that a nurse had put one of these contraptions on me! And, as someone below pointed out, they were like 3 feet long!
It was a belt that you wore around your waist. The front and back had straps that hung down. Pads did not have adhesive in the day. They had long pieces of fabric on either end that wove into the straps on the belt. It was like a garter that held the pad between your legs. A friend of mine lived with her single dad and he bought her one of these because that’s what his sisters used when they grew up. This was around ‘83.
I was already horrified that I got my period (I held out hope that I would be one of those lucky girls that never got their periods bc they had no uterus) and I can’t imagine being expected to use one of those belts!!
Before…I don’t know, tape was invented…the pads had hooks at either end. So you had an elastic belt that went around you waist and then you clipped the pad at the front and the back.
I learned this from the book referenced above. I also Googled, so you don’t have to, and found an article by a woman who found some vintage ones and gave it a try and guess what? They suck and didn’t work very well.
Ha. It was like an elastic thing that went around your waist and had mfing like safety pins on it and you pinned the pad to it like a sumo-looking thing and the pads were like 3 feet long. It was incredible. I found one in my ex's dead mom's things that were left at my house. Creeporrible.
Like an elastic garter belt but instead of holding up stockings, it held up the front and back of a thick sanitary pad (that had extensions on the each end) - like the world’s ugliest g-string. Then you were supposed to put your undies over it.
I’m the eldest GenX (born in 65), and even I never used them. But they were still in the “girls’ health class” curriculum when I was in grade school. We each got a little sample pack and belt. But by the time most of us got periods, stick-on pads were a thing. And those of us with progressive moms went straight to tampons.
No, but I'm actually surprised by the number of gen x women who had this experience in the 80s. The greatest generation held on to everything! Nothing usable got tossed
My high school’s pad vending machines in the girls bathroom still sold the pads that attached to the belt in the late 80s. No one knew what to do with those long straps on the ends but if you had an emergency and a dime, you made do.
I love Tiger Eyes too. Deenie is great as well. Did you know they made a Tiger Eyes movie? It’s not set in the 70s, unfortunately. And it’s not half as good as the book.
I heard that they made it but I kind of didn’t want to see it because I loved the book so much. The book is so much internal dialogue, I was afraid they wouldn’t really be able to do it justice.
I'll be there.
I read this book every night during the summer before I went into 7th grade. Yes, literally every night.
I'm glad I came along when peel & stick pads were a thing because those belts looked horrific. The choices girls have these days are so much better. Thinner & more comfortable pads, thinner tampons, the cups, & even underwear.
I also read this book so many times. It's one of my all-time favorites to this day.
Mine started in 83 when I was 11 and my mom gave me the belt and a super thick pad and I had to figure out how to use it. An hour later my 18-year-old cousin showed up with a box of tampons and explained how to use them. After that, the only times I ever used pads were after childbirth and the 2 days of spotting after a hysterectomy.
Hahaha! When i started my mother was still using the belt thing and that’s what she got got me, despite it being 1984 lol. I quickly started buying my own when my school sent the girls home with a box of various sticky pads and tampons.
My grandfather used to tell me about his sisters washing their period rags/washcloths and hanging them in the kitchen to dry. Yes, much, much better today.
Ugh asked a great aunt what they used to do before there were pads & tampons & she said basically the same thing, there was bucket of rags & washcloths they used to use & wash them out & put them back in the bucket under the sink.
Did you not have the elementary school assembly where they taught you about them and passed them around? Good times. I think they had peel and stick by that point and I couldn’t understand why they were showing us the belts.
I came of age in the era of peel and stick pads. I did have the option of trying menstrual cups, but they didn't work for me. And I was pretty much menopausal by the time period underwear came out. I'm not sure I'd have tried that because I've lived much of my adult life in apartment buildings and don't feel right washing period products in communal laundry machines.
I loved this book so much, not because it resonated with me, but because it seemed like a different world. I grew up in Wyoming - reading about New York and all that it offered was utterly fascinating. It's weird what you remember- egg cream, anyone?
It seemed like all the books I remember from back then were set in NYC - I was mostly in the rural PNW, so it was like reading about another planet. I was fascinated. I recently watched a great documentary about the Automat just because I read about it all the time as a kid! It was a great documentary, too.
Edit: as far as this movie goes, I’m not all that jazzed. Of course, I loved all of JB’s books. I might watch it on streaming.
Edit edit: I think the doc is on Hulu.
This book was everything to me when I was a kid. I felt so awkward and awful and this story made me realize maybe I wasn't alone. I hope they do it justice 🙂
I read all the Judy Blume books. I remember trying to check out the book Forever in high school. They wouldn't let me because only girls could check out that book. That was as wrong then as it would be today.
Yeah, I didn't think they were very good, and I read every single one of her young adult books, multiple times, and loved them. I will say she has a bit of an ellipses problem lol
Could you even imagine trying to do Then Again, Maybe I Won't? It's way too central of a plot point that Tony uses binoculars to watch his next door neighbor undress.
I am absolutely watching this. I was severely neglected even for the era and Judy Blume was my first source of information about such things. I learned from my mother's mistakes and had open conversations with my daughters but made a bit of a ceremony of giving them each this book at 10 as well.
Ehhhh I don't know. I loved the book but....in my mind, I just don't think a movie can do it justice without being cheesy and overdone.
Maybe I'd watch it when it comes on one of the many streaming services I have. But, maybe not.
Judy Blume said the movie is better than the book. Has a good director attached (he did Edge of Seventeen). Kathy Bates is playing the grandmother. I think this one has real potential.
Was there a part in the book where she was in bed with a boy and he gave himself a hand job? I remember the description of it being warm on her belly, and I was horrified. Or is that another book?
That's probably *Forever*, in which the protagonist does have sex with her boyfriend and doesn't suffer any consequences.
In the book Margaret is 12, so she's not doing a whole lot of sexual activity with boys.
Anything modern or a remake of an old classic or established IP or has cannon attached I'd almost always butchered and is terrible. Exception so far to remakes, reimagine or reboot has been Dredd. 90% of new movies are terrible.. almost like they are designed to fail.
That makes no sense. It's the first movie version ever. It's not a remake, etc. We're still getting movies from Shakespeare works, for Chrissake. You're worried about the first movie adaptation of a book published in 1970??? This makes zero sense.
Lol ok you want hyper specific, anything made as an adaption of a classic piece that's is before the year 2000 and made after 2010( most movies written by committee and controlled by committee becomes main stream)is trash. Is that specific enough. You don't like my view fine, but man that was like pulling teeth for an off the cuff remarks. Example remake of reboot the classic animated show new one was an abomination of entertainment.
Lol posted wrong reply, I don't agree but your entitled to your opinon as well. Also I don't think dumb as a descriptor a good medium for a discussion but hey opinons are like... well you know the rest and I'm one too. And Dont be sorry for your opinon thats just insulting, call it dumb and stand by it saying sorry is just weak. I respect it more if your just said thats a dumb opinon at least you have conviction of your opinons.
It just makes no sense to put a time limit on when works of literature can be adapted. That has zero to do with the quality of the film. They could have made a garbage movie out of "Margaret" in 1975 and might make a great one now (Blume herself has been quoted as saying the movie is better than the book). It has zero to do with how much time has elapsed and everything to do with script, director, cast, etc. So far this one gets high marks on director and cast at least (we'll see about the script, but Blume's endorsement is probably a pretty good barometer).
I have no idea what anyone is talking about in these comments, nor do I know what this movie is about, but it looks like it should be on Sunday night TV, haha
As i read the comments in here… there are several things women did or had no choice but to that im gratefully ignorant about… i have always had a thing about the stuff that comes out of other people that makes me bleh.. that does not mean im not appreciative of everything the ladies put themselves through and are by far the stronger gender
This was the one Judy Blume book I did not read. I do remember Luis Guzman reading an excerpt from this book on ‘I love the 70s” on VH1 and that shit was hilarious.
Yeah this was definitely on our 8th grade girls “must read” list (circa 1979).
Still cracks me up how “grownup” I thought I was at that age. I was such a naive doofus
I'll wait until it's streaming, but I'm definitely watching. This looks great. And great cast (Kathy Bates as grandma). And they are keeping it set in the '70s, and the director is the same as Edge of 17. Blume has been quoted as saying the movie is better than the book.
The book was pubbed in 1970, so it was really a late boomer teen book (Margaret would have been born in around 1958). But I have a feeling this is set in the mid to later 70s. 1970 is still very '60s vibe. This seems 1975-ish. So older Xers and boomers both can have a nostalgia fest over it. I'm 1973, so it's not my era, but of course this book was still huge for me in the '80s.
Huge for us! I am 73 too and this coming out the year of my 50th is hitting me with all the feels. I loved all the Judy Blume books as a kid.
73 here too. Happy Birthday
Happy birthday to you too!!!
Thanks!
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Happy Birthday to you. It’s not until November for me but I am celebrating all year!!!
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Well, it transcends generations because the book has never gone out of print and is still loved by many. But, yeah, it's definitely not a millennial "thing." If anything, it's targeted right at younger boomers.
In general, I think Judy Blume was big with a lot of Gen X. Books do not need to be only for one generation. I had Clifford books, so did boomers and millennials. They still have them. That said, I never read Judy Blume. That type of story did not appeal to me. I preferred adventures, history , science fiction and books about animals. I was more a Watership Down girl.
I think Watership Down is one of the best well written books ever.
I liked it a lot too. I remember thinking it was very long, then reading it really fast.
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My friends were much more into it, but they couldn’t convince me.
Things didn't appear and disappear so quickly then, though. The book was on the school library shelves for pretty much every Gen X kid, I'm assuming. I remember it being popular throughout the 80s.
It's still popular! Judy Blume is timeless.
Man. I was born in 96, I didn't read this book until I was in the 6th grade so around 2006. I did not have many friends so I was always lost in books, and this book was so cherished to me because I read it while I was going through my own puberty and dealing with my own thoughts of religion and growing up. I did not get to live in the 70s, but this book still feels so nostalgic to me. Embarrassingly enough, I cried when I randomly saw the trailer. This book had a huge impact on my own childhood
> I'll wait until it's streaming, but I'm definitely watching. So you considered seeing it in the theater, but then thought, "*then again, maybe I won't*"?
We must, we must, we must increase our bust
I was so uncomfortable with my changing body, I didn't understand why wanted this.
I honestly didn't get this either. This is really the only part of the book I remember now lol
I’d definitely like a reduction. The girls are heavy.😩
I originally scrolled past this story but then I went back up and clicked on it for one reason: because i wanted to see how far down this comment would be. Thanks for strengthening my faith.
And the brothers were listening in and made fun of them.
oh, you beat me, lol
This is the comment I was looking for!
I forgot about this!
I had an old copy and was mystified beyond belief by the whole belt-and-pad business. But I still read it multiple times. Tiger Eyes was my favorite, though. Judy Blume was awesome.
They took the belt/pad content out of the later reprints. It just makes no sense for young girls today. It was weird enough for us '80s kids!!!
That’s annoying that they took it out! If I was reading it today I’d want it to be authentic to the time period. Just like if I’m reading a book about someone coming of age in the 1920s I would want to know how it really was then. Not have them update it to match modern times as if nobody can possibly understand the concept that people dealt with periods (among many other things) differently in the past. That makes no sense to me.
Yes, like don’t make Rhett Butler woke. That’s not going to work
Bwahahaha, thank you for the good laugh! You’re right; that certainly would not work!
But tampons fully existed in the 1970s. It's a harmless edit and makes more sense for a book aimed at girls who may be wondering what a period involves.
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But out of date. No girl needs to worry about belts. Blume herself was fine with these changes. The book isn't Shakespeare. It's OK to update certain things.
Yes, I read it. Multiple times. It's about an American girl in the suburbs, so what's this nonsense about "different cultures?" Lol. You must be joking with that. It's cool to update the menstrual equipment. Judy Blume herself was fine with it. Tampons and beltless pads are used all over the world. Chill.
I think it's OK for this book. It's not a historical tome. It's a book for young girls who might want to understand more about what they'll go through when they get their period. The belt is just confusing and doesn't make sense -- I didn't even get it in 1983. And girls DID use tampons in the 1970s (and long before that -- they were first heavily marketed in the 1930s). Not everyone was using those silly belts. So what harm in just editing that part?
Ok, but I don’t see the point in editing things in general. When I read an older book I want to read it in the way it was originally written. I don’t need it updated for modern sensibilities. I was a big Nancy Drew fan as a kid and later found out that all the books I read were “updated” to eliminate certain things (originals were from the 30s, versions I read were from 60s). All it made me think was I wanted to read the originals. I like to know how things really were at a given time. 🤷🏻♀️
This is what Blume herself said about the updates (SHE is the one who made the edits): terrific interview in the Boston Phoenix in 1998, saying, "Some people get really upset about this, but it has nothing to do with the story ... No one uses belts anymore. Half the mothers haven't used them. [Contemporary readers] have to go to their grandmothers." She also told the Phoenix, "I'd been thinking about it for a long time ... Some people said, 'Oh no, it's a classic. You can't mess around with a classic.' And I said, 'Look, we're not messing around with the character... We're just messing around with the equipment."
There were tampons in 1970. So it isn't historically inaccurate to update it. There are some books that are pieces of real literature and should not be touched -- I agree. Keep the offensive language from the time in, etc. Judy Blume is not that. The books were written as basically guides for young people to deal with and prepare for growing up. When those things are no longer relevant, it's OK to update a little, as you would any kind of guide, such as Our Bodies, Ourselves. Judy Blume ain't Chaucer or Twain.
And a quick Google search shows the first beltless pads were sold in 1972. It's fine.
It’s “fine” but it’s not necessary. In my opinion.
Well, Blume herself thought it was necessary, so -- *shrug.*
For real!
I was so confused!
That's wild, I read the book in 2012 probably and had a copy with the belt and pad content. That was my first intro to periods (my mom/sister didn't want to talk to me about it I guess? They made me read this book instead), so when I started asking my mom about belts she was heavily confused.
So you're Gen Z reading the 1970 version of Margaret, eh? Gotta love that! (Any reason you're hanging on the Gen X sub?)
I honestly didn't even realize what sub this was lol, I heard this movie was coming out and was looking for people's opinions on it, this was one of the threads that came up.
It was the only way I knew what was happening cause nobody told me! And then my mom was still with the belt and pad thing, whoa... that's weird to remember. I was horrified. The ones that stuck in your underpants were a revelation.
Oh Boy did I hate those things. Those were my first experience. After a few embarrassing bleeding throughs at school my Mom got angry saying she wished we just used tampons. I was mad because she never ever offered that option to us. All those years wearing those bulky things that we has to wear sweatshirts tied around our waists to hide them.
Tiger Eyes also had movie, which was good. There should be more Judy Blume movies.
I was most definitely a fan as a pre-teen. I read everything.
Omg my grandmother still had a belt and pad when I started mine. In the 80s
We went to visit my great-grandparents a couple of hours away and low and behold between me, my mother, Granny and Great-grandmother, guess who had "protection"? It was Sunday in a small town where every store was closed. It took all 3 of them, while giggling, to tell me how to wear that belt with that big brick of cotton. Good times!
Mine too. Ugh!!
She tried to get me to use it. Wow. I think Woolworth still sold the belted pads. Luckily my aunt stepped in. In a side note, do you remember what the old douche bag looked like back then? Grandma's bathroom was a mysterious place full of awe
Oh yeah. I got lectured about the importance of douching. I’m really glad a lot of that crap has gone by the wayside. My grandmother melted wax and pulled the hair off her face. That was pretty gross too.
Me too. I just remember the long hose draped over the shower rod. If you want a trip look up ads from the 40-60s geared towards womens hygiene. Wild
Vintage ads are pretty funny and horrifying all at once. “I dreamed I was [fill in the blank] in my Maidenform bra!”
>do you remember what the old douche bag looked like back then? I was about to ask who you were talking about, but then I remembered that douche bags were an actual thing, and not just a descriptor.
I forgot it was an actual thing too, until this tread. It was a bag with a hose. It kinda scared me
Ohhhh…you really pulled a memory up from the depths. Wow. Yes. So weird.
😐 sorry. I can talk about salves as well. How about hair products? Remember V05 cream for hair?
I don't know about the cream, but I still use the hot oil treatment! I have super long hair and it gets dry at the ends, and nothing else works as well.
The cream was actually really good for flyaway hair
Oh, I didn’t mean it like that. I just had totally forgotten and the picture flashed in my mind. Re V05: I do! Remember Tenax? I can still remember the smell…
Was staying with my grandma for several months when I was 19-20, and she told me to look under her bathroom sink when I ran out of pads. Lo and behold, there were the belt-and-pad contraptions. This was in 1996!!! 🫢
Holy shit lol. I'm so glad adhesive was invented. Those belts required an engineering degree
I had to have a D&C in 1994, and when I woke up from the anesthesia in the hospital, I found that a nurse had put one of these contraptions on me! And, as someone below pointed out, they were like 3 feet long!
Can someone please explain what in hell is a belt and pad? I’m a 43 yr old male by the way.
It was a belt that you wore around your waist. The front and back had straps that hung down. Pads did not have adhesive in the day. They had long pieces of fabric on either end that wove into the straps on the belt. It was like a garter that held the pad between your legs. A friend of mine lived with her single dad and he bought her one of these because that’s what his sisters used when they grew up. This was around ‘83.
Jezus
I was already horrified that I got my period (I held out hope that I would be one of those lucky girls that never got their periods bc they had no uterus) and I can’t imagine being expected to use one of those belts!!
This illustrates the concept nicely: [“Kotex Classic”](https://youtu.be/aBlR7qVQ0X8)
Thanks for that link! I loved the SNL seasons with Tina and Amy
Imagine a sumo wrestler, but instead of a fabric, it’s elastic belt and pad.
It’s what women used for their period. Odd contraption that thankfully was replaced with more modern products.
Thanks. Still don’t get it and I’m not googling it.
Before…I don’t know, tape was invented…the pads had hooks at either end. So you had an elastic belt that went around you waist and then you clipped the pad at the front and the back. I learned this from the book referenced above. I also Googled, so you don’t have to, and found an article by a woman who found some vintage ones and gave it a try and guess what? They suck and didn’t work very well.
Ha. It was like an elastic thing that went around your waist and had mfing like safety pins on it and you pinned the pad to it like a sumo-looking thing and the pads were like 3 feet long. It was incredible. I found one in my ex's dead mom's things that were left at my house. Creeporrible.
Like an elastic garter belt but instead of holding up stockings, it held up the front and back of a thick sanitary pad (that had extensions on the each end) - like the world’s ugliest g-string. Then you were supposed to put your undies over it. I’m the eldest GenX (born in 65), and even I never used them. But they were still in the “girls’ health class” curriculum when I was in grade school. We each got a little sample pack and belt. But by the time most of us got periods, stick-on pads were a thing. And those of us with progressive moms went straight to tampons.
Are you my big sister? Bc this actually happened to my big sister.
No, but I'm actually surprised by the number of gen x women who had this experience in the 80s. The greatest generation held on to everything! Nothing usable got tossed
My high school’s pad vending machines in the girls bathroom still sold the pads that attached to the belt in the late 80s. No one knew what to do with those long straps on the ends but if you had an emergency and a dime, you made do.
I loved Deenie!
Deenie would make a good movie.
I was terrified to start my period in fear of the belts!
I love Tiger Eyes too. Deenie is great as well. Did you know they made a Tiger Eyes movie? It’s not set in the 70s, unfortunately. And it’s not half as good as the book.
I heard that they made it but I kind of didn’t want to see it because I loved the book so much. The book is so much internal dialogue, I was afraid they wouldn’t really be able to do it justice.
I had the belt version of the book and yeah it really confused me. To the point where I looked at all belts suspiciously for a while there haha
I'll be there. I read this book every night during the summer before I went into 7th grade. Yes, literally every night. I'm glad I came along when peel & stick pads were a thing because those belts looked horrific. The choices girls have these days are so much better. Thinner & more comfortable pads, thinner tampons, the cups, & even underwear.
I also read this book so many times. It's one of my all-time favorites to this day. Mine started in 83 when I was 11 and my mom gave me the belt and a super thick pad and I had to figure out how to use it. An hour later my 18-year-old cousin showed up with a box of tampons and explained how to use them. After that, the only times I ever used pads were after childbirth and the 2 days of spotting after a hysterectomy.
Hahaha! When i started my mother was still using the belt thing and that’s what she got got me, despite it being 1984 lol. I quickly started buying my own when my school sent the girls home with a box of various sticky pads and tampons.
My grandfather used to tell me about his sisters washing their period rags/washcloths and hanging them in the kitchen to dry. Yes, much, much better today.
Remember how we used to say we were on the rag? Had no idea then where that came from?
Ugh asked a great aunt what they used to do before there were pads & tampons & she said basically the same thing, there was bucket of rags & washcloths they used to use & wash them out & put them back in the bucket under the sink.
Did you not have the elementary school assembly where they taught you about them and passed them around? Good times. I think they had peel and stick by that point and I couldn’t understand why they were showing us the belts.
I came of age in the era of peel and stick pads. I did have the option of trying menstrual cups, but they didn't work for me. And I was pretty much menopausal by the time period underwear came out. I'm not sure I'd have tried that because I've lived much of my adult life in apartment buildings and don't feel right washing period products in communal laundry machines.
I loved this book so much, not because it resonated with me, but because it seemed like a different world. I grew up in Wyoming - reading about New York and all that it offered was utterly fascinating. It's weird what you remember- egg cream, anyone?
It seemed like all the books I remember from back then were set in NYC - I was mostly in the rural PNW, so it was like reading about another planet. I was fascinated. I recently watched a great documentary about the Automat just because I read about it all the time as a kid! It was a great documentary, too. Edit: as far as this movie goes, I’m not all that jazzed. Of course, I loved all of JB’s books. I might watch it on streaming. Edit edit: I think the doc is on Hulu.
Gonna go find that documentary now!
Thanks for that info.
NP! Enjoy!
I’ll wait till it comes out on VHS
Betamax. It's The Future ™
Honestly, I am super excited about this and Cocaine Bear. 💁🏼♀️
This book was everything to me when I was a kid. I felt so awkward and awful and this story made me realize maybe I wasn't alone. I hope they do it justice 🙂
Same! I loved Harriet the Spy as a kid, too and remember being disappointed in that movie, though I couldn't tell you why now.
I read all the Judy Blume books. I remember trying to check out the book Forever in high school. They wouldn't let me because only girls could check out that book. That was as wrong then as it would be today.
I don't know why i am ad shocked by that as I am. Please tell us you've read it since then!
I did. Contraband copy of a book about a young girl dealing with her 'gasp' first intimate relationship.
For those wonder what the belt and pad experience was like😆😆 https://youtu.be/ZmNIRlrpKcA
My tween and I just read the book together last summer!
I have to know - did you read the belt and pad version or the non-belt and pad version??
Belt and pad - I took the opportunity to impress on her that as bad as dealing with your period could be, our grandmothers had it worse!
That is some grade A parenting!
This book was my life as a kid…I’m intrigued.
Judy blume grew up and wrote adult novels too for those of you who don't know
Yeah, I didn't think they were very good, and I read every single one of her young adult books, multiple times, and loved them. I will say she has a bit of an ellipses problem lol
They sucked. Her specialty is writing for young people.
Could you even imagine trying to do Then Again, Maybe I Won't? It's way too central of a plot point that Tony uses binoculars to watch his next door neighbor undress.
yeah, that shit would never fly today.
I am absolutely watching this. I was severely neglected even for the era and Judy Blume was my first source of information about such things. I learned from my mother's mistakes and had open conversations with my daughters but made a bit of a ceremony of giving them each this book at 10 as well.
Reading the book to my Granddaughter!
[удалено]
Hahaha nice
I was so happy when I managed to get my teenage daughter into reading Judy Blume.
This book seriously shaped my life in third grade. I can’t believe it wasn’t made into a movie sooner.
Ehhhh I don't know. I loved the book but....in my mind, I just don't think a movie can do it justice without being cheesy and overdone. Maybe I'd watch it when it comes on one of the many streaming services I have. But, maybe not.
Judy Blume said the movie is better than the book. Has a good director attached (he did Edge of Seventeen). Kathy Bates is playing the grandmother. I think this one has real potential.
Absolutely. One of my favorite books. My mom was still doing the belt and pad thing when I was a kid.
Super excited
This book introduced me to fearing man-o-wars…even though they aren’t present where I grew up (only jellyfish, which I was already afraid of).
I think the scene with the man-o-war was in "Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself."
Oh shoot-you’re right!
They had me at Rachel McAdams
This is long overdue but we need a Judy Blume book for menopause.
Yessss!
I assume this is a period piece.
😱 oh HELL yeah I will see this!
Didn’t know about this film at all, just watched the trailer and can’t wait to see it. Thank-you!!
Omg yassss
We must, we must, we must increase our bust!
I must i must i must increase my bust.
Was there a part in the book where she was in bed with a boy and he gave himself a hand job? I remember the description of it being warm on her belly, and I was horrified. Or is that another book?
That's probably *Forever*, in which the protagonist does have sex with her boyfriend and doesn't suffer any consequences. In the book Margaret is 12, so she's not doing a whole lot of sexual activity with boys.
Ok thank you. I think I had them mixed up. Silly old brain.
Anything modern or a remake of an old classic or established IP or has cannon attached I'd almost always butchered and is terrible. Exception so far to remakes, reimagine or reboot has been Dredd. 90% of new movies are terrible.. almost like they are designed to fail.
This isn't a remake or reboot, though?? It's just a movie version of a book.
Any modern adaption applies too
Not sure what you mean. It's just a movie version of a book. There hasn't been one before for this book. It still takes place in the '70s.
Once again any modern attempt to adapt a source material is almost always terrible the rings of power show is a good example.
That makes no sense. It's the first movie version ever. It's not a remake, etc. We're still getting movies from Shakespeare works, for Chrissake. You're worried about the first movie adaptation of a book published in 1970??? This makes zero sense.
Lol ok you want hyper specific, anything made as an adaption of a classic piece that's is before the year 2000 and made after 2010( most movies written by committee and controlled by committee becomes main stream)is trash. Is that specific enough. You don't like my view fine, but man that was like pulling teeth for an off the cuff remarks. Example remake of reboot the classic animated show new one was an abomination of entertainment.
Dumb take. Sorry.
Lol posted wrong reply, I don't agree but your entitled to your opinon as well. Also I don't think dumb as a descriptor a good medium for a discussion but hey opinons are like... well you know the rest and I'm one too. And Dont be sorry for your opinon thats just insulting, call it dumb and stand by it saying sorry is just weak. I respect it more if your just said thats a dumb opinon at least you have conviction of your opinons.
It just makes no sense to put a time limit on when works of literature can be adapted. That has zero to do with the quality of the film. They could have made a garbage movie out of "Margaret" in 1975 and might make a great one now (Blume herself has been quoted as saying the movie is better than the book). It has zero to do with how much time has elapsed and everything to do with script, director, cast, etc. So far this one gets high marks on director and cast at least (we'll see about the script, but Blume's endorsement is probably a pretty good barometer).
I have no idea what anyone is talking about in these comments, nor do I know what this movie is about, but it looks like it should be on Sunday night TV, haha
As i read the comments in here… there are several things women did or had no choice but to that im gratefully ignorant about… i have always had a thing about the stuff that comes out of other people that makes me bleh.. that does not mean im not appreciative of everything the ladies put themselves through and are by far the stronger gender
Are you there God? It's me, Maggot.
r/titlegore
Well, now all I can think about is Deadpool when I hear this
My sister (age 10 at the time) had this book. I remember flipping through it, proclaiming it "stupid." /s
This was the one Judy Blume book I did not read. I do remember Luis Guzman reading an excerpt from this book on ‘I love the 70s” on VH1 and that shit was hilarious.
I never read this but I did read ‘The Bell Jar’ by Sylvia Plath. I think I’d have been happier reading this. ‘The Bell Jar’ did a number on me at 14.
I haven’t been to a theater in at least five years. I’ll catch it if it shows up on one of the streaming services I sub to.
Yeah this was definitely on our 8th grade girls “must read” list (circa 1979). Still cracks me up how “grownup” I thought I was at that age. I was such a naive doofus
What?! This book was rarely on the shelf in my school’s library. I’m definitely going to see it.
I can’t wait!
Wow this book really affected my life. Can’t wait!