When we are in school, we learn a lot about various subjects in one of those is history. It is always interesting to learn about our history, regardless of whether it took place thousands of years ago or if it took place in recent years. It is something that can teach us a lot about our past and in some cases, it can even teach us about our future.
When we take a look back over the past 50 years or so, we see that there are certain issues that were cared for in a rather interesting way. One of those is the way that women are treated and considered in society. Admittedly, there may be some areas of the world where women are still held back from being all that they can be bought in most developing lands, they have the opportunity to do anything they want to do.
You might be surprised to learn that women didn’t always have this freedom and as a matter of fact, you don’t have to look back very far to realize that there were some rather unusual restrictions placed on women as well. In fact, it wasn’t until the 1920s that the suffrage gain women the right to vote. You would think that things progressed rather quickly from then but when you take a look back to the 1950s and 1960s, you realize that we didn’t come all that far.
When you look down through the following pictures, you will see 11 different things that women could not do in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be rather surprising to you, but it wasn’t all that long ago that these things actually existed.
1. Open a bank account
Until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, a woman could not open a bank account without her husband’s permission.
2. Jury duty
Different states allow women to serve on the jury at different times but in 1968, Mississippi became the last state to legalize it.
3. Practice law
Even if a woman went through all school and passed every test with flying colors, they could not plead a client’s case until 1971.
4. Take birth control
Contraceptives were not approved until 1960 but even then, it was said in several states for a few years.
5. Maternity leave
If a woman had a job, they were likely to lose it when they became pregnant. The pregnancy discrimination act of 1978 change things.
6. Public breast-feeding
Public breast-feeding was able to be prohibited until Congress passed a law making that discrimination illegal.
7. Attend an Ivy League university
Women could go to Harvard until 1977. Yale and Princeton were ahead of the curve, allowing female students in 1969.
8. Attend a military Academy
1976 all the first female students at West Point
9. Running the Boston Marathon
Women writers were not allowed until 1972
10. Serve in combat
Women were allowed to be part of the military but they weren’t allowed on the front lines until 2013.
11. Be an astronaut
Sally Ride became the first woman permitted to be an astronaut in 1978.
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