Brooklyn History: “Should Women Be Spanked?”
Dangerous Minds published over the weekend an undated clipping from the New York Daily Mirror, in which four Brooklyn men—a counter man, a barber, a parking lot attendant, and a toy-factory owner—are asked their opinions on a question we all wrestle with: “If a Woman Needs It, Should She Be Spanked?”
We’re not talking “needs it” like Keira Knightley in A Dangerous Method—we’re talking, like, if some chick gets out of line, should you bend her over and wham? All four men said yes, each with reasoning worse than the last. (Honestly, it’s so ridiculous it could either be a joke or totally real.)
“If they don’t know how to behave by the time they’re adults, they should be treated like children and spanked,” says the counterman. The barber thinks a hairbrush is an excellent instrument for striking a woman. The parking lot philosophizes on the loss of male power in the family. (“Spanking might help get back some of the respect they lost.”) “Most of them have it coming to them anyway,” says the factory owner.
The Mirror published from 1924 to 1963, when America was great.
Follow Henry Stewart on Twitter @henrycstewart
