There are some games which have fallen into ill-deserved obscurity but others which have long been discarded into the dustbin of social history. Career Girls or to give it its full title, “What Shall I Be? The Exciting Game of Career Girls”, falls into the latter category. It was sexist, even by the standards of the mid-1960s, although perhaps it is surprising that the old fogies behind the game even considered that a girl should pursue a career.
Launched in 1966 by the manufacturers of Scrabble, Selchow & Righter Company (SRC), it was positioned as an “educational” game suitable for girls aged six or over. Obviously, no self-respecting boy would be seen dead playing it, a curious marketing move which at a stroke eliminated half of SRC’s potential market. The winner was the first player to become a Career Girl. The careers on choice reflected the underlying sexist vibe of the game, model, air hostess, ballet dancer, actress, nurse, and teacher. I’m surprised that hairdresser didn’t feature amongst the jobs that a girl could aspire to.
The game required between two and four players who took it in turn to move around the board. Depending upon where you landed on the board, you were invited to collect a rectangular School Card, a circular Subject Card or a heart-shaped (natch) Personality Card. The winner was the first to collect four School Cards pertaining to one of the six professions, together with two Subject Cards and two Personality Cards which were in tune with the specific career.
As you went round the board collecting Subject and Personality Cards you would quickly find that those with negative characteristics narrowed down your career options considerably. One Personality Card told the recipient that they got too excited and, as a consequence, they were not suited to be an airline hostess or a nurse. Picking up the Personality Card bearing the legend “You are overweight” immediately ruled out a life on the catwalk, the stage or the flying the skies. Being accused of slow thinking was enough to rule out a career as an air hostess or nurse.
Sloppy make-up meant that airline hostess and actress were out of the question but a Subject Card teaching you fashion or hairdressing opened up the possibilities of being an air hostess or model. Some of the cards, though, gave a more positive and even, dare I say it, empowering message. Along with the patronising and sexist “pretty”, “neat”, “friendly”, “graceful” and possessing “a nice smile”, the attributes included “strong”, “quick thinker” and “hard working”.
It is hard to imagine that this game would survive more than one play, although, as far as the manufacturer was concerned, as long as the purchaser had paid their money, they couldn’t care less whether they had bought a turkey or something designed to further ingrain a woman’s low career aspirations and expectations.
Surprisingly, though, the game was viable enough to warrant a second edition, released in 1976 at the height of the feminist movement. The career options reflected, to a degree, the winds of change. Now the options were surgeon, jockey, astronaut, news commentator, theatre director, and lawyer. An odd and disparate bunch of careers, to be sure, but at least weight and/or looks and make up were not a serious bar to any. Talking of bars, even some of the characters representing the careers came from a diverse background.
The game did not survive into the 1980s. Small girls and their parents were no longer prepared to tolerate this sort of nonsense. A good thing too.
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