"Time Warp Wives" Opt To Re-Enact Depression, War

We've probably all fantasized at one time or another about time travel — like, when we were children — but some people are actually living the dream! Meet the Time Warp Wives, three British women who have opted to live their lives in respectively, the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, whose privations and inequalities they find a small price to pay for "innocence" and the ease of clearly-defined gender roles.

Joanne (1950s) met her husband at a 1950s convention; they had "an old-fashioned courtship" and now live in a completely period home. She says, "I don't even put petrol in our Ford Anglia car, which is 43 years old, because I think that is so unladylike." Debbie (1940s) is "eradicating every trace of the modern age" and explains, "I do all the cleaning, ironing, washing and cooking, and Martin puts up shelves and looks after the car. He's the breadwinner and I create a lovely - and loving - environment for him." And 1930s woman Debbie says, "I do work part-time, but only because we need the money. However, we still have clearly defined roles in the home and I am the one who does most of the cooking and cleaning."

Naturally all three have benefited from the internet in their quest for perfect period settings, but the illusions are pretty complete; two of the three mention deliberately avoiding newspapers and are open abut the escapism of their existences. Says Joanne, "It may sound silly, but living like this really does make me happier - as though I'm existing in one of those old-fashioned TV shows where everything is always wonderful. My despair at the modern world is one of the reasons why we haven't had children.I would be terrified they would be offered drugs, or become the victims of violence." That all three have found partners as committed to denial as they are is, we suppose, nice for them. But there is something deeply sad about adults who need this level of fantasy - The Village, anyone? - to face the complexities of existence. Because theirs are not the realities of rationing and breadlines, but a rosy phantasm that never existed.

Time Warp Wives [Daily Mail]

Send an email to Sadie Stein, the author of this post, at Sadie@jezebel.com.

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