An early chapter to the book sees Baddingham ponder ‘alpha males’, a debate we are unfortunately still having today thanks to divisive internet figures. More refreshingly, however, all the women are happily hairy – their private areas are all described as ‘bushes’ – harkening back to a time before being clean shaven is the expected norm.īut for all the throwbacks to pubic hair and shoulder pads, Rivals has some clear parallels to the modern day. One young character in Rivals is exclusively referred to as ‘poor fat Sharon’, while another is described as an ideal wife ‘if she’d lose three stone’. Meanwhile, any woman vaguely larger than a size six is described as voluptuous, or, more pointedly, fat. Women’s weight is also referenced repeatedly, with characters receiving praise for being painfully thin – one wife proudly announces she only weighs seven stone in the early chapters. Other pointers of Rivals’ 80s setting are the references to the AIDS crisis at the time, with multiple characters saying they’ve been tested, or referring to myths – such as not swallowing each other’s saliva – that thankfully have long since been busted.
0 kommentar(er)
