Gloria's Oversexed Mind

And don't forget to play safe this holiday season

Vintage Santagram ad

Super-heroic holiday haha's, ca. WW2

OHO! Wonder Woman started the war against Christmas. In 1942, no less. Impressive.

Happy Holidays, all!

I'm taking a couple of weeks off to work on some independent projects, catch up on sleep, and play with my new puppy.  To all the wonderful folks who visit, who email, and who comment on posts please know that you are my inspiration.  It's a an exciting challenge to research the Net for this blog, to share my curious finds, my strange fascinations, my fetishes, my random thoughts and rants with you.  It's amazing how much I've learned from you, and how many times you've made me laugh.  Your interest in my work means the world to me. 

I'm going to spread some holiday cheer before going with an assemblage of holiday art with an edge.

First, thanks to my favorite contemporary American artist, Lauren Bergman, for permission to share her personal 2009 holiday greeting with you.

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See you in 2010. (_{And if you can't wait until then, see what I'm up to by friending me on FaceBook}).

Santa, Bound by Baum

Why, Santa, you perv!

Not far from the Laughing Valley where Santa and all his magical helpers live, and beyond the Forest of Burzee, there stands a huge mountain that contains the Cave of Demons. Each demon has a specialty: Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, Malice, and Repentance. Because the promise of Santa puts all girls and boys on their best behavior, the demons have hardly any visitors to their caves. In order to remedy their dismal foot traffic, they conspire to kidnap Santa! via cgi.ebay.com

All praise the border collie!

via www.pawnation.com

Sure, these Scottish shepherds are incredible trainers and the sheep are adorable but the real credit for this spectacular production goes to the Einsteins of the canine world, the amazing border collie.

Suffragette spirit

Though anti-suffrage propanda was prolific, the suffragists were not slouches about creating and distributing pamphlets, cards, and other materials.

Art by Rose O'Neill, creator of the Kewpies, and a fascinating woman in her own right.

Anti-suffrage memorabilia

The opposition to women gaining the right to vote was vocal and angry. Propaganda penetrated all the mainstream media of the early 20th century -- magazines, newspapers, trade cards, postcards, and more, hammering away at what we'd call talking points today. I'll summarize the chief propagandistic messages, FOX-News style.

Women's rights emasculate men and turn them into nursemaids.

Women's rights make the sanctity of marriage a hollow sham.

Women are too shallow and flighty to vote.

 

Women should stop criticizing men and get back to their sewing.

Women are too mentally unstable for such power.

Besides, men are interested in women's looks, not their opinions.

So take our advice, ladies, Ignore what those silly lesbians are saying, and get back to the only thing you're really good for: turning men on.   Now where did I put that felafel?

Pro-Suffrage Advertising Memorabilia

Magazine ad. According to early 20th century GE, along with the right to vote women won the right to have washing machines.

Fabulous trade card (a promotional card with art on the back that traveling salesmen distributed to retailers) for stove polish (!!) I found on eBay. I loved this one so much, I bought it to frame in my office.

To celebrate Houston: Suffrage memorabilia

In case you weren't paying attention, the city of Houston, Texas made history recently by electing Annise Parker, the country's first openly lesbian mayor.. This event is a victory for sexually progressive people everywhere. In its honor, I'm devoting the rest of today to a special feature on the Women's Suffrage movement, ca. 1900-1920. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to those brave ladies in funny hats.

Lots of fascinating little oddities coming up, starting with this strangely topical piece of French anti-Suffrage propoganda in the form of a series of postcards titled "Women of the Future."  Its creator mocks the idea of women voting by illustrating how ridiculous it would be if a woman one day become a mayor.