Although men and women now enjoy relatively good social, economic and political parity in this country, it wasn’t always the case. Believe it or not, these were all real things that women could not do.

      1. Wear Revealing Swimsuits

      During the 1920s, beachgoing women were expected to adhere to strict guidelines about how much skin they could reveal. There were actually law enforcement details whose sole responsibility was measuring women’s suits with measuring tapes. Infractions could be punished with arrest.

      2. Run in the Boston Marathon

      Up until 1972, women were barred from running in the Boston Marathon. Roberta Gibb wasn’t about to wait, though. In 1966 she insisted on running uninvited and unregistered. The next year, a woman named Katherine Switzer signed up as “K.V. Switzer” and was issued a number. She was greeted by a number of angry men, including Jock Semple, a race official who chased her, tried to rip off her number and (unsuccessfully) attempted to bully her off the track.

      3. Have Credit Cards

      Not until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 were women allowed to have credit cards without male supervision. Before then, single women were often (completely legally) refused credit cards, which were reserved for married women who had their husbands as cosigners on their accounts.

      4. Work While Pregnant

      It used to be legal for employers to fire female workers after they became pregnant. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act put an end to this practice in 1978. Before then, it was extremely common for companies to fire the pregnant. It is estimated that up to forty percent of employers adhered to the practice.

      5. Become Astronauts

      NASA did not hire female applicants to train as astronauts until 1979. It wasn’t until the 1983 Challenger mission that Sally Ride became the first female astronaut to enter space.

      6. Serve On Juries

      Until a 1975 Supreme Court ruling, women were legally excluded from being members of a jury. It was believed that they wouldn’t be able to handle the violent details of some crimes and were also too prone to emotion to make rational judgments. It was also believed that jury duty would distract from their homemaking responsibilities.

      7. Smoke In Public

      Between 1908 and 1927, women in New York were barred from smoking in public businesses. Smoking was actually very rare for women until Edward Bernays launched a marketing campaign that redubbed them “liberty torches” and framed them as a symbol of gender equality.

      8. Watch the Olympics

      In the original Olympics, held in ancient Greece, it was forbidden for married women to observe the games, under punishment of death. In 1930, British women were similarly banned from watching Olympic boxing matches by the army, including the wives of the fighters themselves.

      9. Take Birth Control Pills

      The birth control pill made it through the FDA approval process in 1957, but was reserved as a treatment exclusively for menstrual issues. The pill was greenlit as a contraceptive in 1960, but even then was only prescribed to married women. General consensus at the time was that it was immoral and encouraged prostitution.