I am woman, hear me roar in numbers too big to ignore

And I know too much to go back an’ pretend ’cause I’ve heard it all before

And I’ve been down there on the floor.

No one’s ever gonna keep me down again

CHORUS

Oh yes I am wise, but it’s wisdom born of pain.

Yes, I’ve paid the price, but look how much I gained.

If I have to, I can do anything

I am strong (strong). I am invincible (invincible). I am woman.

You can bend but never break me ’cause it only serves to make me.

More determined to achieve my final goal

And I come back even stronger. Not a novice any longer.

‘Cause you’ve deepened the conviction in my soul

CHORUS

I am woman watch me grow. See me standing toe to toe.

As I spread my lovin’ arms across the land,

But I’m still an embryo with a long long way to go,

Until I make my brother understand. CHORUS

I Am Woman (words and music by Helen Reddy and Ray Burton)

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Well, well, the seventies! We have looked at the fabulous fifties and the reverberation of “modern conveniences” including TV Dinners, danced erratically through the psychedelic experiments of the sixties and now we emerge into the decade focused not on separation, but harmony. (Just think of the jingle, “I would like to teach the world to sing” from Coca Cola).

The Vietnam War ended, our POW’s stepped bravely off the planes, peace was restored to our college and university campuses and women in society were beginning to feel that they could and would make a difference.

With these changes in place we begin to see the transition from the bright psychedelic hues of the sixties to the muted earth tone shades of the seventies.

Avocado Green and Harvest Gold begin to dominate the kitchen scenes, with plenty of browns to keep them company! Earth tones, particularly browns offer calm, grounding energy. These hues were a necessary reflection of the winding down of a previous turbulent decade. A need for restructuring and centering one self (and family) established a new direction. Recreational drugs gave way to TM (Transcendental Meditation).

Green is the color of new relationships, relationships with God, Self and others. It is the color of the heart center, and is all about love. Green helps establish foundations, and unlike the lime green of the sixties, the Avocado Green of this decade is tinted with the addition of black. The difference is that the lime green of the sixties contained the bright yellow with no addition of black (to make it a shaded hue). It was pure yellow, pure EGO that dominated the scenes in the sixties.

The Avocado green of this seventies decade is more of a mixture of black and yellow rather than the shade of pure, true green (containing a ration of blue and yellow hues). I used to love the first week of color theory when students, some for the first time were unaware of what would transpire with the color yellow when they needed to explore tints and shades! The reactions were great when just a small amount of black would shift the yellow immediately to green.

In the subtractive theory of color, black is achieved by the mixing of all hues together; it is subtractive because in a sense the “light” is taken away as the hues are mixed. Color is reflected off a surface rather than transferred through on wavelengths. In the additive theory of color, all (light) hues mixed form white, white light is separated by a prism to make the spectrum or a rainbow.

So, in a sense, black is all color mixed and white is all color reflected. Black is what I refer to as a magnifier, it will take on the characteristics of an adjacent hue and in a sense communicate or give that hue power. It absorbs energy and in a way, seeks direction from other energy (color).

The addition of black to yellow creates this earthy unique green that has become infamous within the confines of interior design discussions. Symbolically, we toned down the “ego” of the sixties yellow and grounded that ego with the addition of black, a color of humility. Also, in a symbolic sense, black and yellow could be considered compliments, (humility vs ego) and the result is a solid grounded safe foundation on which to structure the next decade.

Gold is another interesting hue of this decade, which contains not only yellow, but white as well as blue and red. The gold is a muted shade of yellow, but also offers a rich grounding energy as the other earthtones do. They all work with each other, not against each other as the sixties colors fought constantly against themselves. The seventies was about harmony, grounding, hope for our Mother Earth (remember the “Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute” and of course the Native American with the tear?)

Women of the seventies were seeking an acceptable life among the work force, while also attempting balance between, work, home and family. As I mentioned in the media, the role of women were reflected as the “June Cleaver’s” and “Harriet Nelson’s” in the fifties, they shifted to magical powers yet still under control of the husband and the household in the sixties, then we ended up with these super powers and abilities to DO IT ALL in the seventies with the Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman (and of course, who could forget “Oh! Almighty Isis” of the Saturday morning crowd!)…

Not to be denied in the seventies color palette and throughout seventies society is the bright yellow “Smiley” Button! Bright yellow is about ego and self, career issues, self esteem and intellectual pursuits. It is also used in color therapy to treat depression and help promote a happier outlook on life. This utilization of the color yellow in the seventies as a major influence for confidence in moving forward is best illustrated by the Smiley face (“Happy Face”) and the affirmation that accompanied it, “Have a Nice Day!”

And on that note: I hope you have a nice day, and a nice week! Next entry will explore the decade of business: the 1980’s! Have a blessed week. Catherine

“The sixties were when hallucinogenic drugs were really, really big. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we had the type of shows we had then, like The Flying Nun.”

-Ellen DeGeneres

I like ideas about the breaking away or overthrowing of established order. I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos, especially activity that seems to have no meaning. It seems to me to be the road towards freedom – external freedom is a way to bring about internal freedom.

-Jim Morrison

Last week brought many reflections on the color of your grandmother’s (or great grandmother’s) kitchen. We shift from the palette of pinks, reds, and blacks (and turquoise too!) to the brighter more “action oriented” colors of the 60’s. The earlier part of the decade brought out the more psychedelic pop-art bold colors and then as we transitioned into the late sixties and on into the seventies, the palette became earthier and heavier.

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It was in the sixties, that women began their painful climb out of the sexual dark ages. They entered the work force, gained control over their bodies, and challenged male supremacy in all its forms:

• political
• economical
• ideological

Color did not emerge in the sixties, it EXPLODED and bled on everything from cars and vans to kitchens and appliances. The explosion of color and the introduction of “hot” “vibrating” colors reflect the energy, anxieties, rebellion, and anger we associate with this decade of change. The bold, bright patterns found their way in curtains, wallpaper and tablecloths reflecting the influence of Andy Warhol. Lime greens, oranges and yellows “popped” everywhere.

These issues did not solely affect women, it was becoming a societal shift along gender, race, religion and core values.

In essence it was not about women and their kitchens, it was about women getting OUT of their kitchens!

And with some of the colors, who could really stay in there anyway?!

Until the sixties, women labored under age-old disabilities. The colors that begin to emerge in the sixties reflect the confusion and undecided issues that concerned not only women, but also families and society in general. It was a decade of change, and it makes sense that red would be at the forefront.

Red is all about choice, survival, fear and family. Red can bring on the extreme in any situation.

The hue was warmer than the cooler red of the previous fifties decade, and the addition of this warmer red brought out more emotional upheaval along with the keywords of: action, hatred of old values and control, even rebellion. The warmer hue provided more energy for change, and this change was through action, rather than words. The cooler red of the fifties provided more influence through communication and talking things out because of its addition of blue. The existence of this warm red furthered the agitation of the times. It was restless.

In essence the sixties brought with it a new outlook on life, in career, relationships and personal relationships. The palette was diverse, and bright. The green hues of the time were more toward lime green and that promoted a new relationship with self. Green is all about relationships, related to the heart center, and yellow is all about ego and self, so combined they create a thrust toward self-discovery.

Yellow is also a color that promotes a happy attitude, it is a “feel good” color. It can create a more relaxed, laid back attitude. Two outcomes of this new perspective on life and living in the sixties were recreational drug use (yellows and bright pinks, as well as purples) as well as casual sexual relationships (greens and reds).

Even, the bright pink (deeper than the “Pepto Bismal” color of the fifties) still had a nurturing quality, but carrying with it much red undertones promoted excess with one’s body.

The sixties was termed the decade of change, but change does not come without confusion, and turmoil. Subconsciously we were a culture looking for “grounding” in a world where everything and everyone was in upheaval! It was a decade of confusion and sorting, experimentation leading ultimately to change, and the colors pulled and tugged at each other, adding to the energy.

So many complimentary colors were thrown together, fighting their way through the design and advertising messages of the day. Remember, it is not JUST about the colors on the kitchen walls, it is also about the colors of products and items you bring into the kitchen. Plastic and all its possibilities also came into our lives. All have influence as you use them, walk by them, see them constantly. Even aprons  have their influence.

Interesting to note, the one hue which was significantly missing was blue. It was there, but not a high profile color in the designs of the time. Blue represents communication, business, speaking one’s truth as well as honest open relationships. Women were reexamining their roles and not sure how to speak up, speak their truth.

They realized they wanted or needed to work outside the home. Even professional women were fed up with their second class status and the prejudice that surrounded them for choosing work outside the home over home making. They, too, needed to be heard.

Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique emerged in 1963 urging women to stop being doormats and to fight for equality. It was time for women to get OUT of the kitchen! NOW (National Organization for Women) was founded by Friedan. Bra burning and birth control were the tag lines of the day.

An interesting correlation with this “feminist movement” is the presence in the sixties and on into the seventies of the color orange. Orange helps with finding creative solutions to deeply rooted prejudices and political beliefs. In a sense, red (prejudices and deep seated beliefs) is encouraged by yellow (building change on intellectual pursuits)…the result is a prominent display of the color orange, in many shades, but the brightest shades were in the sixties.

Orange became more prominent in the seventies as creative solutions and paths for the change were initiated here in this decade with the brighter oranges. These oranges then would be “calmed” or even grounded in the seventies as things began to settle.

A wonderful book I mentioned last week by Susan J. Douglas: Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media (Random House 1994) talks about the television shows of the sixties and how suddenly female characters in sitcoms were capable of magic! (Now we have Medium and Ghost Whisperer). Looking at the colors and the “modern designs” of the time it is a clear picture of the continuity between color and culture–from anodized aluminum cups in all colors to the “Jetson-like” furniture kitchen sets in “space-age colors” and the depictions of female characters on television. It was not just the color of the kitchen any longer, it was the color on television and the color of OTHER kitchens on TV! Whose kitchens were they seeing?

I would like to share this passage from Susan’s book

“In shows like Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie, The Flying Nun, a new version of Pandora’s box was acted out. Seemingly normal looking female characters possessed magical powers, which men begged them not to use; if women did use them, their powers had to be confined to the private sphere…Although the men insisted (usually unsuccessfully) that their women not use these powers, there were three exceptions that the shows’ narrative systems permitted: to complete domestic chores, to compete over men, and to help the men out of embarrassing situations, which usually had been created by the woman’s unauthorized use of her magic powers in the first place.” Chapter 6 pp126-127

Next week we move into the muddy palette of the seventies. So prepare yourself as we reflect on the powers of Harvest Gold, Avocado Green and other earthy tones!