What does it take to become the ideal woman?**

From board games to beauty pageants, Pink Think: Becoming A Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons is a smart, witty, pop-culture history of the perilous path to achieving the feminine ideal.

Women from the 1940s to the 1970s were coaxed to "think pink" by persuasive advertisements and meticulous (though often misguided) advice experts. Feminine perfection meant conforming to a mythical standard, one that would come wrapped in an adorable pink package, of course. With a savvy eye for curious, absurd, and at times wildly funny period artifacts, Lynn Peril gathers here the memorabilia of the era--from the dreaded yet intriguing "Dud" of the Mystery Date board game and the impossibly glossy Campus Queen lunch box to a daunting array of self-proclaimed authorities whose books and magazine articles promised readers everything they needed to attain "true feminine success."

"Glorious!! Every woman with a brain should read this book."

E. Jean Carroll, Elle magazine

**Give up? Here's some advice from the "experts":

"Like a competent secretary, the popular girl anticipates the needs and requests of her friends."
Alfred Murray, Youth's Courtship Problems (1940)

"Don't fail to answer a man, and promptly, when he addresses you; he may feel slighted by the inattention."
Dr. Clifford R. Adams and Vance Packard, How to Pick a Mate (1946)

"[Y]ou can and should pursue your own interests and always do your best, but not to the disadvantage of that boy in your life, whether he be your date, your steady, or someday . . . your husband."
"The Secret of Being Feminine," For Teens Only (February 1963)

". . . hilariously entertaining."

Publishers Weekly