I found this incredible list online and just had to share:
10 THINGS WOMEN COULDN'T DO IN 1971…
1. Get credit cards in their own names.
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 gave women that right. The law forced credit card companies to issue cards to women without a husband’s signature.
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 gave women that right. The law forced credit card companies to issue cards to women without a husband’s signature.
2. Legally get an abortion.
The seminal Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, which protected a woman’s right to choose, didn’t happen until 1973.
The seminal Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, which protected a woman’s right to choose, didn’t happen until 1973.
3. Access the morning after pill. Or birth control.
The FDA first approved emergency contraception in 1998. The morning after pill didn't become available over the counter until 2013.
The FDA first approved emergency contraception in 1998. The morning after pill didn't become available over the counter until 2013.
1965 The Supreme Court (in Griswold v. Connecticut) gave married couples the right to use birth control.
It wasn't until 1972 The Supreme Court (in Baird v. Eisenstadt) that single women's access to birth control was legalized in all 50 states.
4. Be guaranteed they wouldn’t be fired for getting pregnant.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 added an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, specificyng that employers could not discriminate “on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.”
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 added an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, specificyng that employers could not discriminate “on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.”
5. Marry another woman.
Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2004. That right wasn't extended to all 50 states until 2015. For the pitifully pedantic.......that right did include men.
Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2004. That right wasn't extended to all 50 states until 2015. For the pitifully pedantic.......that right did include men.
6. Fight on the front lines.
Women were first admitted into military academies in 1976. And in 2013, the military ban on women in combat (tied to a Pentagon rule from 1994) was lifted by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta. Prior to 1973 women were only allowed in the military as nurses or support staff.
Women were first admitted into military academies in 1976. And in 2013, the military ban on women in combat (tied to a Pentagon rule from 1994) was lifted by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta. Prior to 1973 women were only allowed in the military as nurses or support staff.
7. Take legal action against workplace sexual harassment.According to The Week, the first time a court recognized office sexual harassment as grounds for legal action was in 1977.
The 1986 case of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, was first time the Supreme Court recognized "sexual harassment" as a violation of Title VII.
The 1986 case of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, was first time the Supreme Court recognized "sexual harassment" as a violation of Title VII.
8. Decide not to have sex if their husbands wanted to.
Spousal rape wasn’t criminalized in all 50 states until 1993.
Spousal rape wasn’t criminalized in all 50 states until 1993.
9. Obtain health insurance at the same monetary rate as a man. Sex discrimination wasn't outlawed in health insurance until 2010. Until then, insurers regularly charged women more than men for even the most basic insurance.
10. Keep your husband who had been convicted of spousal abuse from owning a gun. Voisine v. United States, 579 U.S. ___ (2016), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that reckless misdemeanor domestic violence convictions trigger gun control prohibitions on gun ownership. In other words, until this year, the man that was convicted of beating the crap out of you and your children was still allowed to own a gun and keep it in your house if you decided to still live with him. In his house if you managed to get out.
In 1880 the age of "consent" was set at 10 or 12 in most states, with the exception of Delaware, where it was 7.
This is why we all need to VOTE!
*credit for this amazing list goes to Lisa Bialac-Jehle, https://www.facebook.com/LisaBialacJehle/
You are so right about getting out to vote. I hope swarms of women do. I graduated high school in 1971 and remember the struggle we fought for. Too many younger women have no idea what it was like before. They need to know the history so we don't revert back and lose our rights.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rebecca, I completely agree - young girls today don't really understand how different things were and not that long ago.
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