Who told you how to be a woman?

I can bring home the bacon , fry it up in a pan, and never let you forget you’re a man…

I am wearing a work dress today that is so late 70s fantastic that as I put in on this morning, I found myself humming the Enjoli theme song. And then remembering the words. And stopping dead in my sling-backed tracks.

For those of you too young or television averse to remember, this was a commercial that aired in various forms throughout the late 70s and 80s, worming its way into the consciousness of young girls (like me) and older girls (the working women it was intended to seduce).

So this morning, as I was standing in front of the mirror the morning with my son LBZ balancing on my feet and my husband making his lunch behind us, I realized that this ridiculous commercial, with its tripled headed superwoman, had told the 5-year-old me that when I grew up, I was going to have to be the kind of woman that could hold down a job, make breakfast, and wear a slinky nightgown to great effect. I know that sounds silly—maybe it is silly, but I was five, I believed it. I was going to have a job. I was going to cook every day and night.  And while I was pretty far from understanding the technicalities of making sure a man felt manly, I was going to do that too—whatever it required.

Sometimes, it’s really easy to name your influences—your mom, your grandmother, that one great teacher—and other times they take you by surprise. While I’m not thrilled about the cuckoo message in this ad (and think it was in fact made to assure late 70s men their working wives were not really going to change), I’ve got to admit, some part of it—along with shows like Mary Tyler Moore and Charlie's Angels—really made an impression. Sure, as an adult, I've chosen to work and have a family and love my husband for much more fulfilling reasons, but the truth is, the Enjoli commercial was the first place I saw that as something to strive for.

Am I nuts? Really susceptible to suggestion? Have any of you ever seen a commercial or television show or movie that made you want to become a certain kind of person?

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