Revisiting the horrifically sexist Battleship game cover from 1967

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/01/10/revisiting-the-horrifically-se.html

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It might be a little off-putting to see a gentleman and a boy playing without knowing that they are father/son or some other wholesome context. Adding the mom and sis establishes them as family. The womenfolk didn’t need to be doing housework though.

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“If you show off and show him up, you’ll strike out permanently…. Never come on like a pro.”

Of course arguably the kind of guy who is inconsolably disappointed by a woman that is better than him at something is the kind of guy that you are better off without.

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Me, reading the headline: “‘Horrifically?’ How sexist is the box of Battleship really going to be?”
Me, viewing image: “Okay, you got me.”

They really managed to pack a big message into that little illustration.

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It showed Dad and Junior having the time of their lives playing the game as Mom and Lil Sis watch the action while scrubbing dishes and smiling approvingly at the menfolk’s pleasure.

My read: Mom and Sis (working… unlike Dad and Junior) look over, thinking, “Lazy morons!”

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“Let the Wookie win.”

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I… kinda want to see someone make this game.

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It would be a helluva lot more fun than Battleship.

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I recall this one toy rifle commercial from the 60s. It had an integral scope/screen/viewer. You look through the viewer at your target… pull the trigger… hear a loud whine… followed by a sort of SNAP!?.. and the as-viewed target disappears. In the commercial’s demonstration, the only target I recall was the footage of an actual passenger aircraft in flight. Imagine some kid running around his neighborhood, gleefully “bringing down” a/c that happened to be flying over.

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Not gonna link to it here, but they make super-expensive holographic sights for real rifles now. Seems like cheating if you ask me.

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Well… you know what they say about love and war.

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Make the former, and not the latter?

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I’m of the mindset “Don’t bash someone who didn’t evolve as quickly as I did”. If Milton Bradley release this summer of 2018…fine. 1967? Not so much. There was a lot of sexist bullshit then. It wasn’t right, we know that. So pointing to it and saying “OMG THEY WERE SO SEXIST” is kind of pointless to me.

But ya know…click bait is gonna click bait I guess.

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“Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop.” ~ H. L. Mencken

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At least Daisy was ahead of the game:

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I know it’s such bad advice. Just “settle for less” women!

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6 years and 1 day ago:

By the same author even!

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