what were women not allowed to do

It wasn’t until then that. Maternity leave policies in the U.S. are far from perfect, but can you believe that 50 years ago, you could actually be denied a job if you were pregnant? Women have always been subjected to discrimination and endured countless indignities like sexual harassment at work. This paved the way for both businesses and society to accept the fact that a woman smoking in public was no more shocking or immoral than a man smoking in public.

Women today are free to use birth control if they wish or forgo it if they don’t. So, let’s all collectively take immense pride in — these (seemingly basic!)

Until 1848, if you were a married woman, you couldn’t own property. Famous female lawyers like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonya Sotomayor, and Sandra Day O'Connor make it easy to forget that 50 years ago, having a law career was virtually impossible for a woman.

The law was passed largely due to the efforts of ordinary women who changed the world, like the suffragettes Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Today, women's wardrobes are filled with everything from pantsuits to blue jeans to yoga pants. Today, many women choose to keep their maiden names after they get married. Can you imagine needing to be chaperoned in public at all times—as an adult woman? In the 1910s through the late 1920s, designers like Coco Channel started incorporating pants into their collections, and movie stars like Marlene Dietrich wore them with style and flair. The first female students at West Point Academy were not accepted until 1976.

Before that, they didn’t have a voice in who shaped America’s laws or ran the government. It's hard to imagine a time in this country when women didn't have many of the rights they do today...but it wasn't all that long ago when things were very different. So if you’re a woman who made the personal choice to end her marriage, be grateful you live in modern times. But, just because women were taking on court battles doesn't mean they had booming legal careers. There was a time when birth control or even information about birth control was difficult for women to get. For a fascinating glimpse into history, check out this account of what it was like to be a woman in 1923. However, that didn’t stop her from continuing to advocate for a woman’s right to control her own reproductive decisions, and the availability of birth control that women enjoy today is largely due to her efforts.

8. Although it was generally acceptable for women to smoke at home, society frowned upon them smoking in the same public spaces that men did. But a century ago, they had limited legal protections in the workplace and their hours weren’t regulated. Until the 1920s, single women had their own passports, while married women were issued joint passports with their husbands. 1 Having their own passport

It sounds crazy to us today, but of course, there was a time when pants weren't considered suitable attire for women. Finally, a married woman could decide what she wanted to do with her property while living, as well as to whom she wished to bequeath it in death. There was a time when such a thing wasn't possible. Be sure to SHARE the surprising look back at history with your friends on Facebook! We’re obviously still battling against several issues today, but seeing the things my mother and grandmother were forced to endure has really opened my eyes. She has a cat named Agnes.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to an entire gender being faced with oppression over the years. Here are a … She was arrested nine days later. While married women’s property acts were finally passed in all states by 1900, society wasn’t fully on board until much later. This changed in 1942 during World War II, when the Army was in such dire need of recruits that they allowed women to join and fill non-combat positions on an auxiliary basis. Soon, other businesses wanted to get in on the action, and many theaters and restaurants began opening their doors to unescorted women for the first time. And as much as we like to believe the United States has always been a progressive country, there are many other countries where women had the right to vote before they did here.

Public areas were still able to prohibit mothers from breastfeeding until a bill was finally passed by Congress, making this discrimination illegal. Today, women’s wardrobes are filled with everything from pantsuits to blue jeans to yoga pants. In 1848, the Married Women’s Property Act was passed in New York state, declaring that a married woman had just as much right to own and control property as a single woman did. Federal defunding of Planned Parenthood and government mandates threatening birth control coverage benefits have spurred women's marches all over the country. It wasn't until the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 that pregnancy discrimination became illegal.

In 1937, the rules were officially changed.

And so this is not like ancient history," she said in an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. There are more, but isn't it amazing how ridiculous things were? This changed in 1961 when the Supreme Court ruled that a Florida law exempting women from jury duty was unconstitutional. According to Time, the term "sexual harassment" was first coined in 1975 by a group of women at Cornell University when Carmita Wood, a former employee at the university, filed a claim for unemployment benefits. We at LittleThings care about accuracy. Here are some surprising facts you didn’t know about Labor Day.

The post 13 Things Women Weren’t Allowed to Do … "I am delighted that London 2012 will take its place in the Olympic tradition of advancing women in sport," Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Organizing Committee, said in an interview with The New York Times. Believe it or not, South Carolina didn't legalize divorce until 1949! Women’s soccer (football) teams sprung up and became a public sensation, drawing crowds of up to 53,000 people. Be glad that it's 2020 because America was a very different place for women not that long ago. The first department stores were designed specifically with women in mind and provided a safe place for them to gather, socialize, and, of course, spend money.

Columbia University, for instance, recently celebrated 25 years of coeducation. Here are some of the surprising things women couldn’t do a century ago. Eventually, the Army allowed women to formally enlist in the reserves by establishing the WAC, or Women's Army Corps, in 1948. But a century ago, they had limited legal protections in the workplace and their hours weren't regulated. Here are more Olympic moments that changed history. To show your support, please consider donating to our March fundraiser benefiting UN Women and Girls Who Code. However, that didn't stop her from continuing to advocate for a woman's right to control her own reproductive decisions, and the availability of birth control that women enjoy today is largely due to her efforts.

This was largely due to the fact that only five sports were open to them. Those “some people” were men.

I must have confused women with white men. But ask a woman trying to get a credit card in the 1960s and she'll probably have a very different story to tell. In 1848, the Married Women's Property Act was passed in New York state, declaring that a married woman had just as much right to own and control property as a single woman did.