Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Remembrances of 80s Ladies

Yes, I was an 80s Lady - well, a YOUNG 80s Lady. I was just watching (kinda) ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’. It was on and I didn’t change the channel, so don’t point and laugh, k? But it did remind me of the 80s. I mean, those actors are my peers, more or less, and they were very different then than they are now. They were just kids. That was even before Madonna had a British accent! It made me remember the 80s. The hairstyles and clothing look ridiculous now, but they didn’t then.

1. 80s hair has to be at the top of the list. Big hair. You know what I mean.


2. Power fashion for women. ie: shoulder pads!!!

3. Layered leg-warmers

4. Which went along with aerobics.

5. We were totally awesome dudettes. No way. Way! As if!! We were WAY cool. We used to chill and do lunch. It was wicked gnarly.

6. Remember when you first heard about AIDS? I was working in a hospital at the time. What I remember most was that when our unit director called a meeting to tell us about it. the bigest, brawniest man that worked on our unit’s face completely drained of color. He started sweating and we thought he was going to faint. There was real fear about AIDS then and no one was quiet sure how easily it might be transmitted.

7. Ronald Reagan was President.


8. Everybody saw every move Princess Diana made, whether they wanted to or not. She was on every magazine cover and gossip rag. She was THE cultural icon of the 80s. If they didn’t have any news to write about her, they’d make something up. There just had to be news about Diana.

9. The mullet was not one of the 80s finer fads.

10. I personally went from the worst of times to the best of times. Divorce, followed by some dark days trying to support two young children on a pathetic salary. Learning to be single in the 80s. Then meeting my Prince Charming who morphed into my Beloved Curmudgeon.

11. E.T., Back to the Future, Witness, Caddyshack, The Big Chill, Bull Durham, Starman, Crocodile Dundee, War of the Roses, Top Gun, St. Elmo’s Fire, Little Shop of Horrors, etc.


12. The Challenger exploded. That was the first disaster we watched unfold in front of our eyes on TV. We were mesmerized and horrified. Everyone knew where they were when the Challenger exploded. It pales in comparison to what we have seen now.

13. K.T. Oslin sang 80s Ladies …. and we all could relate.

We were the girls of the 50’s.
Stoned rock and rollers in the 60’s.
And more than our names got changed
As the 70’s slipped on by.
Now we’re 80’s ladies.
There ain’t been much these ladies ain’t tried.

We’ve been educated.
We got liberated.
And had complicating matters with men.
Oh, we’ve said “I do”
And we’ve signed “I don’t”
And we’ve sworn we’d never do that again.
Oh, we burned our bras,
And we burned our dinners
And we burned our candles at both ends.
And we’ve had some children
Who look just like the way we did back then.

Oh, but we’re all grown up now.
All grown up,
But none of us could tell you quite how.

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