Women Have Come A Long Way

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On a daily basis, women go places by themselves, work in a variety of businesses, go to school and wear what they want whether it is a dress or pants. Can you believe there was a time when women couldn't do these things? In the 19th century, women had to be chaperoned in public at all times. When women left the house they had to be accompanied by a man. They weren't allowed to shop alone until the late 1800s when department stores began to be built around the country. Women could not open a bank account, or have credit cards, loans or mortgages unless their husband or a male relative gave his permission. Not until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974. Women could not attend an Ivy League university such as Princeton or Yale until 1969, and Harvard not until 1977. They couldn't serve jury duty. They could not attend a military academy until 1976. It was not just the fashion or frowned upon for women to not wear pants, it was the law. These laws went from the 1800s to the early 1900s. Each state had different rules when it came to divorce and judges were able to use their own discretion. States also had different rules as to how many times a man could abuse his wife before she could divorce him. South Carolina didn't legalize divorce until 1949. In the 60s some states banned birth control pills and in the ones that didn't a woman had to have her husband's signature before a doctor would prescribe them. It wasn't legalized until 1972.