15 Things Women Weren’t Allowed to Do 100+ Years Ago
This post may contain affiliate links.
Women’s lives looked entirely different a century ago. Rights and freedoms we now take for granted were hard won by a society that sought to limit women’s roles. For Instance, women in the U.S. didn’t win the right to vote until 1920, an achievement that was the beginning of the march toward equality.
Women faced barriers in every aspect of life– from getting an education to handling finances. It wasn’t just the law; culture and expectations also restricted them. Read on to discover 15 eye-opening things women weren’t allowed to do 100 years ago (some of them may surprise you).
Vote in Elections
The best-known restriction was that women couldn’t vote in many countries until the early 20th century. The U.S. didn’t ratify the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote until August 18, 1920, and at that point, women of color still had more roadblocks to overcome.
In some nations like Switzerland, women didn’t get the right to vote until 1971!
Own Property
Throughout society, most women were not allowed to own property by themselves, especially if married. Coverture was a law that gave husbands power over their wives’ monetary assets and earnings.
Women didn’t gain property rights until laws such as the Married Women’s Property Acts were enacted around the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Serve on Juries
Until the mid-20th century, most U.S. states barred women from serving on juries. Many believed women were too emotional or too delicate for such duties.
In 1911, California became the first state to pass a law allowing women on juries. Although by 1970, women could serve on juries in all states, they had to petition to be added to jury lists in some places.
Attend Higher Education
Women were almost always excluded from university education. Although they could attend sister schools like Radcliffe, prestigious schools such as Harvard did not award women admittance until the mid-20th century.
In 1837, Mary Lyon founded Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College), which was certainly one of the earliest institutions to admit women. Women were often sent to “finishing schools” where they would only learn homemaking, not academics.
Work in Certain Professions
Some industries explicitly banned women from joining. For example, law and medicine were male-dominated fields, and women risked ridicule for pursuing them as careers.
Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in the U.S., wasn’t admitted to medical school until 1847. When she was, it was no more than a novelty.
Open a Bank Account
Even up until the 1960s, banks required women to have a male cosigner, such as a husband or father, to make an account. Women were regarded as incapable of handling money, so finances were a rarity for them.
This was once the practice, but it is barely unthinkable today.
Divorce Their Husbands
Laws concerning divorce almost always favored men, removing women’s ability to escape unhappy or abusive marriages. In other countries, women had to have extreme proof of infidelity or cruelty, while men required no justification.
No-fault divorce wasn’t available in the U.S. until almost the 1970s. Under this law, couples could divorce without needing to prove that either was in the wrong.
Serve in the Military
Women were largely excluded from military service and relegated to nursing or clerical work. They didn’t become permanent, regular members of the U.S. military until the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948.
Combat roles were still off-limits even then.
Participate in Politics
Most women were unable to run for office or hold a political position. Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress in 1916, but she was an anomaly.
It wasn’t until the suffrage and civil rights movements were strengthened that women became politically involved.
Use Birth Control
Birth control was prohibited through laws like the Comstock Act of 1873, which criminalized the distribution of contraceptive information and devices.
The Supreme Court case Griswold v. wasn’t decided until June 7, 1965, when birth control was legalized for married couples and, later, for single women.
Keep Their Maiden Names After Marriage
It was rare for women not to pick their husbands’ last names upon marriage. Women in some states were forced to take on their husbands’ surnames to participate in legal activities fully.
This choice was reclaimed during the feminist movements of the 20th century.
Play Certain Sports
Sports such as marathon running and soccer were considered too difficult or unfeminine for ladies to play. Women could not compete in the Boston Marathon until 1972, and the decision to allow them even to do so was controversial.
However, women had unofficially participated in the race before that. In 1967, Kathrine Switzer made history by being the first woman to run the Boston Marathon despite the challenges she faced—and even some physical assault.
Wear Pants
Who would believe that in some places, pants were seen as too scandalous, even illegal, to be worn by a woman? In Paris, the law banning women from wearing trousers (except by police permission) wasn’t officially repealed until 2013!
Social ostracism or legal penalties were the outcomes of women daring to dress ‘like men.'”
Access Equal Pay
The concept of equal pay for equal work is a norm today, but it was nonexistent 100 years ago. Women who worked outside the home received significantly lower pay than their male counterparts for the same jobs.
Legal strides weren’t made until the Equal Pay Act of 1963, but there are still disparities.
Be Taken Seriously in Science
Many women in science were extremely discriminated, and their discoveries were often attributed to male colleagues. Take, for instance, Rosalind Franklin, who worked on DNA structure, but after that, her male peers stole the show.
Women like Marie Curie faced such things, but they helped pave the road for females to become scientists.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
17 Things Women Obsess About That Don’t Matter To Men
17 Things Women Obsess About That Don’t Matter To Men
31 Forgotten Household Items from the Past
31 Forgotten Household Items from the Past
15 Surprising Things That Decorated Every 70s Home But Are Now Extinct
15 Surprising Things That Decorated Every 70s Home But Are Now Extinct
