Society today isn't without its challenges when it comes to women's rights.
But while recent demonstrations have certainly raised awareness about women's equality in
the U.S., it's also important to remember just how far we've come.
Back in the 1960s - which wasn't too long ago - women weren't allowed many of the benefits
we take for granted today.
Here are some crazy things women couldn't do just 50 years ago.
Flash their own plastic
These days, almost anyone can get a credit card, even if your credit score is less than
perfect.
But ask any woman trying to get a credit line back in the 1960s and she'll likely tell a
very different story.
"When her needs are financial, her reaction is Chemical.
Chemical New York.
The bank that works hardest for you."
According to Smithsonian, women applying for credit cards back then could be hit with a
slew of personal questions, including whether she was married or single, as well as her
plans for having children.
Many banks even required women to have a man co-sign their credit card applications.
Hillary Clinton remembered her own credit card rejection, on Ellen:
"And I got a letter back saying that I could not apply for my own credit card, I would have
to use my husband's.
I was making more money than he was."
Serve justice
Believe it or not, there was a time when women wanted to serve jury duty.
"I need help getting out of jury duty.
Sorry."
According to the Library of Congress, 50 years ago, a female juror was practically fiction.
Even after the passage of the 19th amendment, which qualified women as "electors," it took
some time before states passed legislature to have them included in jury selection.
Until that happened in 1957, women were only called to serve on very rare occasions, typically
involving female defendants.
It wasn't until 1973 that women were finally allowed to serve in juries across all 50 states.
Get the pill
The FDA approved birth control as a contraceptive in 1960, but according to Planned Parenthood,
many states, including Connecticut, didn't actually allow doctors to prescribe it.
It was then that Estelle Griswold, then-executive director for Connecticut's Planned Parenthood,
opened a health center that provided birth control — resulting in her immediate arrest.
Her case went to the Supreme Court and in 1965, birth control became legal for married
women.
But emergency contraceptives, also known as the morning after pill, experienced their
fair share of setbacks as well.
According to CNN, the FDA finally approved the first emergency contraceptive kit in 1998.
Since then, as many as 5.8 million women have reported using the morning after pill at least
once to prevent pregnancy.
Rock the Ivy League
If you went to Harvard or Yale, count your blessings because women in the 1960s weren't
quite as lucky.
In fact, Yale didn't become co-ed until the fall of 1969.
Other institutions, like Columbia University, took even longer.
According to Columbia's paper The Record, the university was guys-only until 1983.
And while Radcliffe College at Harvard was founded in 1879 to educate women, men and
women were still taught separately until most classes became co-ed in 1946.
"There were several though, who felt like second class citizens.
All of the classes that I had were male professors."
It wasn't until 1999 that Radcliffe officially merged with Harvard.
Join the military
In the 1960s, getting into a military academy was impossible, before the U.S. Military Academy
at West Point first welcomed women cadets in 1976.
In an interview with the U.S. Army, retired Colonel Debra M. Lewis, said, "Of the 119
women entering that day, I suspect all of us, along with the men, can say those days
were life-changing."
"The best qualified, regardless of gender, are now afforded the opportunity to serve"
"We are American soldiers."
Work while pregnant
Maternity leave in the U.S. is far from perfect, but 50 years ago, you could actually be denied
a job if you were pregnant.
Even worse, a company could fire you for becoming pregnant.
It wasn't until the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 that those practices became illegal.
Since then, companies have been forbidden by law to discriminate based on pregnancy
when it comes to employment — including hiring, firing, and pay.
Report sexual harassment
The workplace was far from friendly for women 50 years ago, with zero protection against
sexual harassment.
According to Time, the term "sexual harassment" was first coined in 1975 by a group of women
at Cornell University when a woman named Carmita Wood "filed a claim for unemployment benefits
after she resigned from her job due to unwanted touching from her supervisor."
By 1977, multiple courts ruled that it was legal for a woman to sue her employer on the
basis of harassment.
Practice law
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 career in law was virtually impossible
for a woman.
According to a report published by Cornell University, in the 1960s, NYU reported that
"90 percent of the law firms contacting its placement office refused even to interview
women."
"People ask me when I'll be satisfied with the number of women on the court.
Where there are 9.
For most of the country's history, the were all white men."
Box in the Olympics
In the past 50 years, women have continued to shatter glass ceilings across all industries
— and sports is no exception.
In 2012, the Olympics made history when they officially added women's boxing to its roster
of competitions.
Former Olympic gold medalist Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Organizing Committee,
told The New York Times, "I am delighted that London 2012 will take its place in the Olympic
tradition of advancing women in sport."
"(Speaking Portuguese)"
Fighting for more
Despite the many challenges women still face in the world today, there's no doubt society
has made significant strides toward equality in the last 50 years.
But there's still plenty more strides to make.
Every day, strong women continue to fight for equal pay, fair maternity leave, and the
freedom to make decisions about our health.
Because if there's one thing that history has taught us, it's that a determined woman
can change the world.
"Together we got this.
We got this."
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