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Growing up as I did in the 40s and 50s, I remember a lot of wonderful old movies where the word broad was used to refer to grown women pretty much of any age beyond youth. It was a slang term, but I had never understood it to be insulting. I suppose how it was used could turn it into an insult but that's so of most words, isn't it?
In the films, women even referred to themselves as broads. I don't think though I heard it in my home. I guess it was never the really classy or aristocratic ladies in the films but more earthy women, the kind who could stand shoulder to shoulder, and sometimes toe to toe, with their men, get down and dirty when required, and mostly were tough.
Although I
When I got the idea of putting up a blog with a lot of photos of me from the beach, the title seemed it should incorporate the words-- old broad. I mean it's not like I am a chick or a bathing beauty on the beach but I do see myself as this strong earthy woman. A Woman on the Beach sounded too arty. Nope, it had to be old broad at the beach.
That is when I found out that not all saw the word as I had. My old dictionary simply defines broad (when it
I still saw it differently; so went looking for quotes referring to women as broads. Sometimes it's the context that changes the meaning of words. Through my search I found one blog with old broad as part of the title, learned the broad jump got changed to the long jump because of the derogatory way so
Elizabeth Tayler: Dress provocatively-- check. Several husbands-- check. Although there is more to her than that and it's also the earthy side to Taylor, her deep ability to love, her ability to be one of the boys, her toughness, her passionate side that leads me to not see broad as derogatory when referring to her.
Am I a broad? Dress provocatively-- sometimes. Several husbands-- not yet.
When I asked Farm Boss what he thought of using this as a title, he suddenly got a yen for the movie Mamma Mia-- not because he remembered it referring to the leading women as old broads but because they were.
The follo
"A lot of her is me. I've had this broad under my belt for fi
"I'm a tough old broad from Brooklyn. I intend to go on acting until I'm ninety and they won't need to paste my face with make-up." Barbara Stanwyck
"I'm too tall to be a girl, I never had enough dresses to be a lady, I wouldn't call myself a woman. I'd say I'm somewhere between a chick and a broad." Julia Roberts
"She was a great broad, in all the meaning of the word." (following the death of Barbara Stanwyck in 1990) Charlton Heston
"I'd have liked to have gone to bed with Jean Harlow. She was a beautiful broad. The fellow who married her was impotent and he killed himself. I would have done the same thing." Groucho Marx
Yes, old broad was the right title!
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Rain you are one sexy broad !! And that just begins to describe you !
ReplyDeleteWhenever I think of the word "broad" I think of those fantastic old westerns where a tough beautiful big-hearted woman ran the saloon. She was smart on her feet, could out-shoot anyone, and was always ten steps ahead in any situation. I'd say you are one beautiful broad!
ReplyDeleteI do remember one time when the word 'broad' was not a compliment. It was when Nancy Reagan was upstaged by Raisa Gorbachev at a State dinner and Nancy said, "Who does that broad think she is, anyway?"
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Rain. It's the context that counts.
I would rather call you a gutsy gal.
I LOVE this Post, Rain....There is a GREAT Scene in the movie "10" between Julie Andrews and Dudley Moore all about the use of the term "Broad" and is it derogatrory or not....It is wortb rentimg this film just for that scene alone---though I think it is a wonderful film all the way around....But they actually have a fight about this word---at one point he says something like 'my Grandmother was one of the greatest BROADS that I have ever known....'! At this point he is defending HIS use of the word, while she is on the 'broad is a derogatory term' side of the argument....! A GREAT SCENE!
ReplyDeleteI like what both Barbara Stanwyck and Julia Roberts said about this word, and in turn, what you said, too!
I hope I would be considered a broad too, in the nicest sense of that word...lol!
I've always thought of a broad as how you describe it. Tough, earthy, not a 'lady'. That's OK, because ladies are traditionally thought of as helpless and dainty, and where's the fun in that?
ReplyDeleteAll of that said, I don't think I'm grown up enough yet to consider myself a broad. I know I should be, I'm 43, but I guess I just don't think of myself that way.
I love this post - just LOVE it! It way more fun to be an old broad than anything else I can think of - here, here to us old broads. :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Paul that you are one sexy lady and the way you've used the term "broad" I have no problem with. But OLD! My God woman, I am a few days older than you so what does that make me? An old geezer? Well, maybe. It was a fun post to read. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI call myself an old broad as you well know. It suits me but then again I've always marched to the beat of a different drummer. Someone took me to task recently for calling myself that. My reaction? I'm proud to be an old broad. "Old broad" for me denotes strength, courage, survival and chutzpah.
ReplyDeleteI liked Julia's quote -- I can identify with it. When I was younger when anyone called me 'cute', my reaction was "I'm not cute. I'm too tall to be cute."