A People's History of the United States
[In 1900] teachers formed a Teachers League that fought against the automatic firing of women who became pregnant. The following rules were posted by the school board of one town in Massachusetts:1. Do not get married.
2. Do not leave town at any time without permission of the school board.
3. Do not keep company with men.
4. Be home between the hours of 8 P.M. and 6 A.M.
5. Do not loiter downtown in ice cream stores.
6. Do not smoke.
7. Do not get into a carriage with any man except your father or brother.
8. Do not dress in bright colors.
9. Do not dye your hair.
10. Do not wear any dress more than two inches above the ankle.
5 comments:
This book is so worth it.
Almost enough to make a woman wish she had access to a time machine. Those were the days!
When I taught I felt the legacy of these expectations for how teachers lives should be. I was the only teacher on a big staff who was living with a boyfriend but not married to him. That was considered edgey! The social conservatism in the profession keeps a lot of creative and interesting people out of schools and away from kids. Its part of what keeps the rabble in line.
Katie
What's crazy is that this was only 100 years ago in this country, and yet we deliver sermons daily to the rest of the world about how their culture or religion doesn't respect women... American women only gained the right to vote in 1920!! Newspaper editorials warned about how suffrage would take away a woman's femininity.
Nah, they've found other ways to punish smart women.
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