Things have definitely improved!!

"Women couldn't attend any US military academy until 1976, when the women were admitted. In 2015, 16% of the graduating West Point class is made up of women. Female recruits couldn't serve in active combat roles until 2013.

The Federal government should have made it illegal for men and women to serve in actual combat! We could still pay for military bases, where women and men could safely serve. (New Mexico - as a whole - is supported by fancy federal installations. Who wants that cash-cow to die?) I don't think many female veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan support the recent, shared bathroom deal. Women traveled in groups to outside latrines in combat zones. There is a LOT of unrecognized, rape-related PTSD still haunting female veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

... we haven't come far enough on the military score, for sure.

And serve on Juries??!!

You know, this wasn't that many years ago. We've come a long way but have a long way to go.

At least for Massachusetts... others varied.

PLUS the prevailing attitude toward women then was damn condescending (to put it mildly)

They should be sure of their facts before making these pronouncements

many of their (true) assertions by the (weasel) words, "in every state" or "wasn't REQUIRED". For instance, it was only one state -Connecticut - that banned contraceptive devices and products. And just because something wasn't required doesn't mean it was prohibited. Just because it wasn't illegal to fire a woman who was pregnant, doesn't mean all pregnant women were fired.

This is basically entertainment; they aren't wrong, but they are misleading and careful reading is needed to get at the truth.

But you're right. I hesitated posting the thread in GD but ultimately chose it over the Lounge because the subject matter was important.

Still... I learned that Cornell was the first of the Ivy League universities to allow women entry-- back 146 years ago-- kudos!! (a family member graduated from Cornell)

Not me. No way.

And I'm with you. NEVER GOING BACK!

in the mid '70s I had just started at a new job when I got my first jury duty summons. I was young and didn't know what to do or what my rights were so, I showed the summons to my boss - who pointed out the part that stated I was exempt for being a woman (there were other exemptions, e.g., for being above a certain age). It annoyed the hell out of me but I had to opt out because of that.

before that, a woman would need her father, husband or another male relative to co-sign on a mortgage. Not sure of the exact date that stopped, but I think it was somewhere around 73 or 74

Still... amazing!!

Single women were considered in a temporary phase until a man could take care of them again. Single men on the other hand were considered stable.

Another prevailing/sexist belief (re single women)

But I meant women entering the workforce en masse-- that is, both in record numbers,
and in managerial positions. That happened later.

Sorry to be imprecise re the dates-- or even the decades this happened. I tried looking
it up but there was way too much info to plow through.

like employers being allowed to consider gender for jobs and promotions, not to mention compensation. It started to change only as the laws were enacted beginning in the '60s, but there were still many legal ways to treat women differently for at least another decade. Rather than the critical mass of women in the workforce effecting change it was legislation that made working (and attending college BTW) more attractive that boosted the numbers of women in better paying jobs/careers.

Jesus Christ, I grew up in Minnesota in the 90s and NOBODY cared if people were "living in sin" together. I thought people stopped caring about that in the 70s...

I didn't believe it either so I googled http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/florida-cohabitation-law/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohabitation_in_the_United_States#Legal_status

I broke Virginia's fornication laws when I lived there, but the law was rarely enforced. It was later made invalid by the 2003 SCOTUS decision that banned states from criminalizing relationships between two consenting adults.

I think it's why when someone tells me I can't do something a switch in my brain goes .."Oh yeah? Watch me". I do not take the rights I have for granted for 1 second. AND neither YOU.

Not included in this list is that if a wife inherited something, it automatically belonged to her husband - not her.

- I was denied more than one job because I was of "childbearing age".

- I was told that my income would not count toward purchasing a car for myself because I was a female. (I wanted to leap across the desk and grab the guy by the throat!).

- If a HS school girl got pregnant she was thrown out of school; not the boy (although sometimes the boy would be kicked out of Phys. Ed. like pregnancy was a contagious disease).

I could offer more instances. DO NOT TAKE EVER YOUR RIGHTS FOR GRANTED.

Should be "15 Ordinary Things Women WEREN'T ALLOWED to Do in 1960."

Which was, yes... crazy.

But then, that's what patriarchy is.

wearily,
Bright

15 ordinary things women could be denied the right to do in 1960

My fave:

Legally use contraceptives with your husband in every state.

from my childhood that girls were not allowed to wear pants to school. When it was winter we were allowed to wear pants under our dress/skirt but had to take them off at school. We also were not allowed to take shop. We had to take home economics. The culture also funneled us into doing "women's" jobs.

because they took mine away when I divorced. Same for Sears even though I made more money than a lot of men they refused me credit and all I wanted to do was buy a washing machine. As for a mortgage my ex agreed to sign for me because we had two kids. I was allowed to keep the house in my name only. A bank loan forget that. This was the 1960's and life as a woman.

Never late for a year and a half and when she asked to have the card put in her name only they just cancelled it because she was a single woman.