No Slacks In The Office: Gail Collins And Lesley Stahl Relive the Birth of Feminism

wowOwow:

With the release of When Everything Changed, Gail Collins's new book, Lesley and Gail recount the amazing revolution of American women from 1960 to the present -- from female-free airplane routes to Gloria Steinem's reaction to Sarah Palin's brand of feminism.

Read the whole story: wowOwow

Comments

[BlueZoo]

I remember those "dresses only" days! I also recall having to make coffee, even lunch if my boss was eating in! I also had to go to his home and walk his dog when his wife and kids were out of town AND water the plants! I took his Ferrari and his BMW to be serviced and was on a first-name basis with his accountant, attorney, mechanic, broker and various others employed by him. I actually went through an IRS regional audit of his tax return!!!! Thank heaven, those days are now gone for good but I do wonder whether the "Gal Friday" of today realizes how good she has it!

[NoSillyName]

No, the females of today take it all for granted and don't even realize how recent the changes are.

Women couldn't even get credit in their own name until 1974.

I had a hard time renting an apartment in 1969.

[BlueZoo]

I forgot about renting an apartment! In 1967, I went to rent an apartment and they intimated I was a hooker! I had to prove I actually worked at NASA before they reluctantly agreed to rent to me. GAD!

[SarcasticFringehead]

Gail is great. She writes funny and insightful columns in the the opinion section of the LA Times regularly.
I'm an admirer. I wish her a lot of success with her book.

[msbadger]

How about not being allowed to wear pants to school? We could freeze to death in Chicago winters but no pants in school. Finally, in the late 60's, we were allowed to wear pants as long as we could change out of them before classes. And this was public, not parochial or private schools. Thanks for the memories.

[Callyson]

Love Gail Collins.
BTW. if you are in the LA area, Gail is speaking at the downtown public library tomorrow night (Thurs Oct 22) at 7:
http://www.lfla.org/calendar/#10-22-2009

[javaz]

Long, long ago, I worked in a bank as a teller where slacks were forbidden and heels required.
There was a woman at the branch who was pregnant and when she began to show, she was no longer allowed in the bank lobby, but given a job in the back where she tallied checks and did other odd jobs.

Upon graduating college, and entering the job market as a female engineer, which was a rarity in those days, I was told by one recruiter when going for an interview to wear a short dress that would show off my legs, do my hair and wear attractive makeup so that I would appeal to the men interviewing me.

Oh, the stories I could tell!
I'm actually very happy to be retired and not forced to play the games any longer.

[Hollywooddeed]

I remember it well. I was the first RN in my hospital to wear a pants uniform, in spite of not being allowed to do so. We were expected to wear dresses (short, if we could get away with it). How impractical is that?