Age-old advice: Learning to dance will help girl socially

We mine the Free Press archives for advice that still applies today (...or doesn’t)

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/10/2019 (2508 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Boy Tells Girl by George Antheil, originally published Oct. 1, 1941

 

Dear Uncle George: I am a girl, 16, going with a boy, 17. He is what you might call a playboy and goes in for parties, dances, swimming races and so forth. He broke up with a girl and now goes with me.

He wants me to go to parties with him but I refuse because I am not a good dancer. I hate swimming because I almost drowned once.

What can I do? He acts as though he likes me. Yet I think I can’t give him the good time he is accustomed to. What shall I do about the other girl? I think she still likes him and he likes her. Besides, she is his type.

— Dopie

Dear Dopie: It wouldn’t be fatal if you did lose the boy. But if you really want to keep up with the young people of your time, you will have to learn to dance, at least.

The swimming is not so important, but even at that you ought to stop thinking about the past when you nearly drowned and condition yourself to enjoy the water. The only way to overcome the fear of water is to go right back into it.

The popular girl is the girl who can do things and be right on hand for any length of time. Besides, there are other boys. 

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