Divorce - The Astronaut Wives Club (2015) Discussion

[–] wab-3 9 years ago

Actually, the history of divorce law in the US is still visible in the paperwork you file to get split. All most states did was add "irreconcilable differences" as a cause for divorce onto all the old grounds, so when you go to fill out the form (at least in CA) it still reads something like "Insanity", "Cruelty", et cetera and then "Irreconcilable Differences." IIRC, the more liberal states had eased their divorce laws in the 60's but it wouldn't surprise me if Texas law was still difficult. Hell, it used to require an Act of Congress to get divorced!

"No fault" divorces didn't become the norm until the 70's. You could get a "quickie" divorce in Nevada prior to that but I think it played hell with your chances of getting child custody if you did.

In fact, Marge Slayton did have to claim one of those nasty grounds when she got her first divorce because her husband was a serious alcoholic.

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[–] wheelin176 9 years ago

My aunt & uncle divorced in the 1950's but I don't know the reason.

Grands...Glad to see you come and glad to see you go

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[–] boxerrebellion 9 years ago

If you watch movies from a few decades before this show, you find that people with wealth had an easier time getting divorced. Part of this was due to the ability for one of the spouses to 'relocate' to Reno, Nevada for the specified amount of time before filing. The Women is a good movie that details this. It is either the original or a remake of an earlier movie (they are both good).

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[–] LindaY 9 years ago

You had to live in Reno only six weeks, after which you could file for divorce. You had to be a resident of other states much longer (sometimes even a year) to file for divorce. Mostly rich people went there because they had six weeks of money to waste. They called it "being Reno-vated."

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[–] Rose-74 9 years ago

Women also had fewer options years ago. Most (not all) were Housewives with little education beyond High School. Women married young, a lot of times right out of high school, and went from Daddy's house to Hubby's house.

Thus, they were forced to stay in bad/abusive marriages - so fewer divorces.

We are so lucky today to have more options.

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[–] sunneyone 9 years ago

And men went from mommy's house to wifey's house.

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[–] dellahicks 9 years ago

Being that I am Canadian, I was interested to know how our laws regarding divorce, have evolved over the years. Apparently ubtil the late 60's, the only grounds for divorce were; cruelty or adultery. Then in the late 60's, that grew to include mental ir physical abuse, or a seperation of more than 3 years. I know my sister was married and divorced during the early 70's, but I was too young to understand any of it.

I do agree with those that say, because men generally controlled the finances, as they were the ones working outside the home, many women stayed in marriages long past there 'Best by' dates! You have to remember, many mid size or smaller cities did not have the shelters and resources that are available now. Abuse cases were not handled the same by law enforcement, and some of this I know from friend's mothers having experienced these situations.

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[–] pioneergrrrl 9 years ago

My dad's mom got hit by her husband---but stayed in the marriage till he died, because like everybody said, where would she go??

It upset my father obviously and greatly growing up in that type of family, but there was nothing for them.

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[–] dellahicks 9 years ago

I am so sorry to hear that Pioneer, what an awful trapped feeling those women must have experienced! I had a friend whose dad hit her mother, she went to police, and he managed to talk his way out of it, can you believe that? I know the women's movement caused a lot of infighting in some families.
You had mothers that grew up like my friends mom, and daughters that were; 'Mad As Hell And Not Going To Take It Anymore!'and it caused division in some households. The mothers worried what society would say about their divorced daughters, and the daughters resented the mothers for thinking they should stay in bad marriages. What a complex time it was!

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[–] pioneergrrrl 9 years ago

It is interesting because when my parents who just did not like living together in 1996, my reaction was okay, I am fine with it.

I wasn't traumatized when my parents were divorcing. I felt fine because society said it was perfectly acceptable and mainstream to separate if you just did not want to be married any more.

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[–] pioneergrrrl 9 years ago

Seeing how we've changed so much is part of the appeal of the show. It's not just technology, it's social progress too.

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[–] dellahicks 9 years ago

I guess it may have had a lot to do with personal family issues, situations and demographics. Age may have played a factor in it as well, the older the individuals involved, the more stigma they may have felt. I know my sister wasn't too bothered by her divorce, but my parents sure were!

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[–] pioneergrrrl 9 years ago

Both me (about 11th grade at the time) and my parents were happy.

My brother was only in 9th. but he was the one who was upset. Apparently teen boys don't confide everything to each other.

I knew what to expect by the time my parents were divorcing. He didn't, so it was a big shock to him.

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[–] LindaY 9 years ago

Yes, so many women had no skills, and no where to go when they got divorced.

You also had to remember that divorced women had "bad reputations" when they did so. People thought of them as "sluts" and "easy." Divorced women were supposedly after everyone's husband, so many women didn't want a divorced woman living in their neighborhood.

When I was in elementary school we had one classmate whose mother was divorced and had to go to work. We felt bad for her because instead of going home and seeing her mom she had to go home and have her older sister look after her. This was one child out of thirty. Statistics are much different today.

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[–] lyndaadams-643-548357 9 years ago

I found the fact that only 7 marriages of the 30 Mercury, Gemini and Apollo couples actually remained married! Kind of sad that they sacrificed their lives and happiness to follow their dreams t o explore space.

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[–] dellahicks 9 years ago

I could see that happening, as unfortunate and sad as that is. Not that any of this is an excuse, but it showed them being seperated for long periods of time, the technology like video chatting, cell phones etc., did not exist back then, so communication between spouses would be sporadic, both spouses were under pressure without being able to discuss it, and times were changing for women, like the series depicted.

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[–] lyndaadams-643-548357 9 years ago

I found the fact that only 7 marriages of the 30 Mercury, Gemini and Apollo couples actually remained married! Kind of sad that they sacrificed their lives and happiness to follow their dreams to explore space.

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[–] lyndaadams-643-548357 9 years ago

I found the fact that only 7 marriages of the 30 Mercury, Gemini and Apollo couples actually remained married! Kind of sad that they sacrificed their lives and happiness to follow their dreams t o explore space.

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