<p>No, it wasn’t, and I distinctly remember seeing a bra tossed in front of the screen showing MASH in a lecture hall cum theater weekend nights (the old days- before even VCRs so organizations showed a lot more movies). I actually wore a bra more often then, meaning all day even at “home”, than I do now. Many better endowed women went braless in my time in college. I know of many women who don’t wear bras at home- standing around the neighborhood talking when collecting a kid for dinner back when. Probably wouldn’t get a woman to burn her bra- those that didn’t wear them didn’t buy them…</p>
<p>It was more complicated picking up/dropping off son and friends. Finding access to a female bathroom when doors are locked takes some doing. It wouldn’t bother me too much to use the guys’ (presuming the cleaning had just been done) but I imagine having someone’s middle aged mother seeing them would freak them out…</p>
<p>One of my better UW memories was while playing tennis circa 1972 on the courts near the Lakeshore dorms. The girl on the next court decided it was hot I guess and off came the top–and back then bras were almost scarce so she was topless. I guess the word spread a bit because after about half an hour a small audience had formed at the exits to the Nat. Within a few years the beach near my house BB Clarke Park just off Jenifer became the most popular female topless beach in town. College in Madison. There is no substitute.</p>
<p>^ Bclintonk-
When one roommate is already in bed and the “amorous couple” show up, was the first roommate supposed to get up, get dressed and leave? Thats what I’d have had to do. No way. If I walked in on them, sure I left. But if I was already in bed and they came in… I just toughed it out. It was gross.</p>
<p>barrons, my husband started UW in 1972. From what he’s told me, it sounds like it was a pretty wild place! He actually got fed up with the atmosphere and dropped out as a senior. He hitchhiked all over the country, and went back to school at 28. That’s how he met me - I was 8 years younger.</p>
<p>My private dorm at the University of Texas was VERY strict (1980-1984). NO men on the hall. We had one Sunday afternoon a month where boys could visit. Parents could sign their daughters up for extra oversight - they had to sign out and in.</p>
<p>When I took my boys there a few years ago, I discovered that men are allowed on the halls more often now, and there was a public service announcement for birth control on the bulletin board. Times have changed!</p>
<p>Mid - 70’s. Dorms were co-ed by hall or by wing or single sex. Bathroom down the hall. Hours for “visitation” were regularly ignored, but getting caught sneaking a guy in or out was feared enough that we were very discreet. Heck, sneaking around is an aphrodesiac…
The fear wasn’t so much that the university would crack down, but the shame of getting caught In flagrante delicto.<br>
My sorority did require the “Man in the Hall” announcement, and we all abided by it (well, until midnight) It gave someone the chance to not step into the hall in bathrobe and hot rollers in front of a stranger.
MaineLonghorn, were you in the beautiful masonic dorm?</p>
<p>No. Absolutely not. That’s just rude, inconsiderate, boorish behavior. It would have been back in my day, and it is today. Making a reasonable accommodation for a roommate is one thing. Being asked to get up in the middle of the night to vacate the room, or alternatively to endure the roommate’s sexual activity, is not reasonable. That’s where I’d draw the line. I don’t think anyone has a right to be that inconsiderate. It’s not a question of what the college rules say, it’s just a question of basic human decency. And if the roommate is going to be that much of a selfish, inconsiderate slob, I’d try to find a new roommate.</p>
<p>Freshman year, I was in a “suite” - two doubles connected by a bathroom. We frequently dragged one mattress from one side to the other, so the amorous couple had privacy, and the other 3 shared the other room. As I recall, this was mostly on the weekends, so the “slumber party” became a practical way to deal with the “sexile”. During the week, it was a matter of knowing each others’ schedules and when the room-mate would be out of the room. </p>
<p>But I’ve got to share this story. There was a half-wall between the sleeping area and the vanity. My suite-mate was a Korean girl who had lived a quite sheltered life. One night, when we had a bunch of friends in the room, I was looking for something in the vanity, and I accidently dumped out a bag of elastic bands (my grandmother always kept me well stocked in office supplies.) My suite-mate exclaimed, “Where did you get so many rubbers, and in so many different colors and sizes?” Of course that got a gasp from the crowd on the other side of the wall.</p>
<p>And thanks for the affirmation, BclintonK. I toughed it out for that year (and I think she dumped the boyfriend eventually). I stayed out of the room as much as possible. We were roommates who had virtually nothing in common. When I arrived as a freshman she’d already laid claim to the better bed and desk. Didnt wait to see if we wanted to work it out together.Just staked her claim. I guess that was my first hint.</p>
<p>I just looked her up and listened to a piece of a lecture she gave (she is a professor on the other coast). At least after all these years she’d gotten rid of that awful faux affectation in her voice. I guess maybe people can change :)</p>
<p>Things must have tamed down a bit by the time I was at UW-Madison in the early '80s - I don’t remember anyone going topless, or even braless for that matter. I was there when the pink flamingo and Statue of Liberty displays were the biggest thing going on. My floor in Witte Hall had a male and female wing, so there was no issue with visitation and such. I think the only all-women’s dorm was Elizabeth Waters, which had very strict rules. We used to take thermoses of hot chocolate heavily laced with schnapps to the football games - yuck!</p>