Bradley’s Almanac [no relation] reveals a hidden treasure from a 1960s American childhood – The Exciting Game of Career Girls, a board game not unlike Monopoly for 2-4 players through which young ladies can decide your future career.
Good at Biology? asks one token, that’s good for nurse and teacher apparently, a propensity to neatness is perfect for an airline hostess, teacher, nurse, and model. Being pretty suits you being a model or an actress.
But, you can forget it if you’re clumsy – you’ll never be an air hostess, a ballet dancer, model or nurse. And if you’re overweight that’s “bad for: airline hostess, ballet dancer, and model” but presumably okay for nurses and teachers!
Apparently, there was a boy’s version too that helped young lads decide on whether they were to be future statesmen, scientists, athletes, doctors, engineers, and astronauts. No teaching, acting, or modelling jobs for the boys it seems.
Such a game looks incredibly un-politically correct from a modern perspective and no toy maker would even consider launching a product even vaguely touching on such political issues these days. But, as we found out when I reported for BMN on women in science, gender bias in employment in this crucial field still exists and one wonders just how many girls of the 1960s opted to be an air-borne trolley dolly rather than a scientist because of this game.