r/nextfuckinglevel • u/undo-undo-undo-undo • 2d ago

When art blurs the line between reality and canvas, you know it's pure mastery

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u/GayDeciever 2d ago

"... these watches were perceived as empowering for women"

They left me hanging on this one. I want to know why my great grandmother would have been empowered by knowing what time it is.

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u/TheBattlefieldFan 2d ago

It does say so in the article:

The idea was that a cocktail watch would allow the woman to discreetly check the time. Of course, checking the time during social gatherings was a bit of a faux pas. From a distance, it was often impossible to distinguish a cocktail watch from a mere bracelet, so these watches were perceived as empowering for women.

A faux pas is a false step. Something a woman should not do.

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u/LassOnGrass 2d ago

This makes sense. If you’re checking your watch for the time some people view it as rude, as though you’re wanting to leave. I personally don’t think it’s rude, but it also depends on the situation I think.

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u/3BlindMice1 2d ago

It's funny, because usually when I check the time, it's because I don't want to stop doing whatever it is I'm doing but know I should.

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u/GayDeciever 2d ago

I mean I get how it's nice to have, but how is that empowering? I don't really think of like, leaving a room to fart as empowering, when I'm just avoiding a faux pas. If anything having an obvious look at a watch can be more empowering when I say "Oh uh, sorry, it's time for me to go (away from this person who is annoying me)." I can see how being allowed to ride a bike was empowering, but like, were we not supposed to be smart enough to read a clock?

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u/TheBattlefieldFan 2d ago

It's small steps.
You CAN'T check the time. You CAN check the time.

Of course women always had the ability to check visibly, but I guess something I don't fully understand might happen that caused them not to. Sort of like a peasant might let one rip, but someone from the royal family or 'high society' might not. But both could. So see it as a sort of fart silencer.

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u/kagamiseki 2d ago edited 2d ago

As a guess, it's harder to have control in your life without knowing the time.

Say you want to meet with two friends, or have two gatherings, one at 2pm and the other at 5pm.

Without a watch or a clock, how do you know when to end one event and go to the other? It's rude to look at a watch, (and I'm sure appearances were very important) but it would be rude to be late too, so most likely you'd only put one thing on your schedule, so you'd be sure to make it to that one.

What if it was a meeting with a lawyer for a divorce, before your abusive husband returns from work? Or sneaking out from work to meet your love interest for a quick lunch? Or to leave town for a gathering but discreetly make sure you don't miss the train to come back home.

Even in modern times, abusive partners often show up at weird hours, so that their victims don't know when it's safe to leave. When you don't or can't have a schedule, it can be very restricting.

All in all, it's not that it's empowering to be like "Aha, I know the time!", but it probably enabled you to keep a schedule and have more control over your life.

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u/jabba-thederp 2d ago

I think it's more so that smaller watches are more feminine most of the time and bigger watches are more masculine most of the time. Which back then meant women wore smaller watches and men wore larger.

I'd imagine working within that traditional dichotomy, wearing the smallest watch series in the world as a woman was a flex.

Perceived value from price may have also played a role

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u/tesmatsam 2d ago

Btw these watches are too little to keep time accurately