Who knew the fashion police were a real thing …
Fundamental human rights have never been a guarantee for women. From gaining the right tovoteto the struggles forfair payandreproductive rights, women’s equality has been a hard-fought battle throughout history. According to a 2023 UNreport, it will take 286 years for women to achieve full legal equality.
Throughout American history, many antiquated laws towards women have lasted far longer than one would imagine. From banned jobs to fashion taboos, it’s time to take a look at some of the most sexist laws and restrictions that have impeded women’s lives:
1.No high heels in Colonial Massachusetts…
Throughout account , many police have revolved around womanhood ’s feet and footwear choices . However , one of the strangest laws had to be the stance on high heel in colonial Massachusetts .
According toFeet and Footwear : A ethnical Encyclopedia , in the seventeenth century , the Massachusetts Colony enacted a police ban women from break high heels . The Puritans believe the shoes to be seductive and maybe an tool of witchery . Any fair sex found wearing heels to " ensnare " a man would be tried as a witch .
2.Pants were a frowned-upon fashion statement, as well…
3.Cleveland, Ohio, has strong opinions on women’s fashion choices…
For starters , it is illegal for cleaning woman in Cleveland to show " too much cleavage . " consort to the city’scode , char are prohibited from showing cleavage “ with a less than fully unintelligible ” cover .
Patent leather shoes are alsobannedfor women in Cleveland . A city ordinance declare that cleaning woman could not hold out patent leather brake shoe in public so men would not be tempted to look up their wench through the mirror image of their shoes .
4.In many states, women weren’t allowed to work the night-shift…
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries , night - shift jobs were significant for many charwoman , who relied on the redundant income they provide and the queer hour that enable them to deal for their kinsperson during the daylight .
However , in the early twentieth century , many state legislatures , including theNew YorkState Legislature , beganlimitingwomen ’s workings hours . They believed that " frail " and " weak " women should be home during the night to protect their moral and physical wholeness . Thus , women in New York were prohibited from work from 9 p.m. to 6 ante meridiem
5.In 1948, the Supreme Courtuphelda Michigan law prohibiting women from becoming licensed bartenders.
After losing in the District Court, Goesaert and her daughter took their case to the Supreme Court, where they argued that Michigan should not have been able to restrict women from working at bars while making an exception in favor of the wives and daughters of male bar owners.
However , the banning was bear on in a 6 - 3 balloting . Theopinion , authored by Judge Felix Frankfurter , stated that the Constitution " does not preclude the States from draw a needlelike line between the sex " and that " The Court found that the Michigan legislature , in enacting the statute , could have ascertain that appropriate women to bartend could ' give rise to moral and social problem against which it may forge preventative measure . ' " He then concluded that the Court was in no position to " hybridise - examine either actually or argumentatively the judgment of Michigan legislator . " The Bachelor of Arts in Nursing stayed in topographic point until 1976 .
6.Women in Washington State weren’t evenallowedtositat a bar…
The rule originated from a 1948 initiative that banned women from sitting at bars in cocktail lounges, but not taverns. Page 8 of the1948 Washington Voter Pamphletreads, “It shall be unlawful for any Class H licensee to sell liquor to women, except when seated at tables.”
However , the country legislature overturned the ban in 1969 after a charwoman sued the Washington State Liquor Control Board because she was ask to move when seat at a Tacoma bar .
7.Dining in restaurants wasn’t allowed in many locations.
8.Unchaperoned shopping was a big no-no…
In the nineteenth century , it was considered improper for woman , especially those of the middle and upper classes , to be alone in public . Oftentimes , stores and other public space were closed , and in some character , it was even illegal for them to put down on their own . Historian Emily Remuswrote , " America ’s downtowns were primarily quad that women were expected to move through , not linger in or love . Without a male escort , woman were refuse divine service in most restaurants , cafés , and hotels , while saloons and private clubs just closed their door to female customer . Moreover , proper etiquette monish woman from lingering on sidewalks , stopping to look into store window , handling merchandise , and even carrying packages . Indeed , women were discouraged from pursue the public practices that sustained a culture of consumption . "
However , once section stores werepopularizedin the late 19th century , they quickly became char - favorable shopping spaces . They allowed women to become consumer and declare oneself job that gave single women financial independence .
9.Keeping one’s birth name was pretty much out of the question…
