It was never a retcon.

I don’t recall her being called out exactly. Sometimes Bobbie would talk about what she had overcome, even in scenes with Ruby. Luke seemed to take offense at questioning their past, but some of that was because he didn’t think any of them should be ashamed for having to survive. And especially later Ruby was very happy Bobbie had Tony and such a stable life.

15 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

I don’t recall her being called out exactly. Sometimes Bobbie would talk about what she had overcome, even in scenes with Ruby. Luke seemed to take offense at questioning their past, but some of that was because he didn’t think any of them should be ashamed for having to survive. And especially later Ruby was very happy Bobbie had Tony and such a stable life.

Maybe madams were though of as different back in the day? There is a point in late 1983 where Bobbie and Ruby's past is outed by Jackie Templeton ( and 40 plus years later her son would be trying to put Bobbie's grandson in jail) during Luke's campaign for Mayor and they acted like an outing of a person spending a few years as a sex worker as a teenager and a person who presumably spend decades running girls were equivalent outings.

2 hours ago, Spin865 said:

Maybe madams were though of as different back in the day?

The whole situation was not thought about the same way on tv or in real life. Look at Jackie’s article- it’s about shaming them. Now it would be about the trauma of the trafficked person, and hopefully about their resilience. Especially Bobbie’s resilience.

As far as Ruby is concerned, had Norma lived longer and been in good health they could have revisited this just like they did with Luke/Laura. But on the show, up to her death, her past as a madam was sometimes used to try to shame her, and she was pretty consistent in the fact that they lived a hard life, and were trying to survive. But she wasn’t ashamed. If Bobbie had trauma about it as an adult (and of course she would), she loved Ruby more than she felt traumatized by her. But again, had the show invested in Bobbie really at all after Carly as far as depth of the material things might be different.

Jackie Zeman doesn’t get enough credit for her work as Bobbie. She should have at least one Emmy for her early work, or for BJ’s heart story. But then again, Genie should have won for lead when Lucky “died”, or the year she was nominated for the Nikolas reveal, or both. Jackie’s own bright personality is there sometimes, but so is Bobbie’s grit, and her compassion. It’s fascinating to watch her early years, because Bobbie is vicious towards Laura, sexy with Scotty, often combative with Luke and almost bubbly as a student nurse with Jessie.

Did they ever make clear if Aunt Ruby forced Bobbie into the life of a prostitute, or if Aunt Ruby just reluctantly went along with it, seeing it as the only way to make ends meet in their life of poverty?

Edited 39 minutes ago39 min by Jdee43