“I had to have a male cosigner just for a checking account pre-1974.”
Since then, women’s rights in the US have come a long, long way.
Here are their stories:
Note: this post contains mentions of domestic violence, abortion, and suicide.
“This is about my mom, but I witnessed it in the ’70s.
My mom made enough to buy a house.
She saved up and had plenty for a deposit.
But no bank would give her a loan.
So, she was forced to have my grandfather co-sign for the loan, which was humiliating.
He made less money, and part of her reason for buying was to break from him.
u/gadget850
3. u/NANNYNEGLEY
4.
“My mother (47 at the time ) got breast cancer in the late 1960’s.
At that time, it was required that my father had to sign off on any surgeries she needed.
Her doctors wanted to do a procedure to see if the cancer had spread.
He had been a manipulative, mean, and nasty drunk for many years previous.
That was the last straw for my mother.
She filed for divorce.
My father committed suicide the day he was served the papers.
My mother got the procedure and went on to live a much happier life for almost nine years.”
u/MsTerious1
6.
Employment agencies and company HR departments also still designated jobs as being for men or for women.
“Even in 1979, when I was newly graduated with a B.A.
I did eventually land a job as a junior accountant.
I told her that could not be correct because I was an accountant.
Her answer was that ‘all the women in the office have to take turns doing this.’
It was only when I threatened them with legal action that they relented.
Great way to start a new job.
u/QV79Y
7.
“My dad said the office secretary broke down crying at work because she found out she was pregnant.
She and her husband had two kids and a new house and really needed her income.
And the company was going to fire her because she was pregnant.”
“My dad died unexpectedly in the early ’70s; my mom was about 35.
We ended up destitute and had to go live with relatives for a couple of years.
But she rallied, got a job, bought us a house, and became a spokesperson for PlannedParenthood.
My mom freaking rocked!”
u/baskaat
9.
The salaries were public and based on years in the school district.
u/Charming-Charge-596
10.
“My mother (born 1927) was an MD in that time when not many women were.
She got married at 27 and was at that point considered a desperate old maid.
She married another MD because she said no other man who wasn’t would have her.”
“All my money came from babysitting.
The one dad who always wanted to walk me home was a groper.
It was expected for men to get handsy, expose themselves, and shout stupid things.
And we were expected to resist in a ladylike manner and ignore it.”
u/Poohgli16
12.
She tried to take the legal way out, and then she set a fire.”
u/americanrecluse
13.
“I had to have a male cosigner just for a checking account pre-1974.”
Yes, I left the pile of clothes on the counter and walked out.
I also could NOT get a credit card in my name only.”
u/Crafty_Witch_1230
15.
“I had three friends who had back alley abortions in the ’60s.
One was a friend whose family was wealthy, so she flew to Puerto Rico to have it there.
That was pretty common for folks with money at that time.
The second one also had money and got a Park Avenue doctor’s number.
He did discreet abortions on the side for wealthy clients.
The third one was my closest friend.
She had no money, and hers was a horror show of an abortion.
I went with her uptown to get it from god knows who.
I don’t remember how she even found this supposed ‘medical professional.’
She was a mess and in great pain.
She bled on the subway ride back downtown.
u/oldnyker
16.
“My mom was divorced, and everybody in our neighborhood looked down on her.
She had to have my grandpa buy it for her.
She couldn’t purchase a house.
She had to have my grandpa buy it for her.”
“My mom was a teacher.
She came back to the US in the 1950s and decided to go for a graduate degree.
u/booksandcats4life
18.
“One of my colleagues is an attorney.
She’s been practicing since pre-1974.
In her first job as an attorney, she couldn’t have her own bank account for her paycheck.
It had to go to her husband.
She’s still salty about it, and I don’t blame her.”
u/disjointed_chameleon
19.
“My grandmother was physically abused by my alcoholic grandfather for their entire 30-year marriage.
He had her committed to institutions multiple times to basically nullify any of her abuse claims.
He gaslit her for years.
Or, ‘A mans home is his castle.’
The courts wouldnt grant her a divorce.
u/mladyhawke
21.
There was no support system, there were no benefits, and there was no daycare.
No one would even talk to an unmarried single mother, let alone hire her for anything.
It was surrounded by cultural stigma and shame.
Most of these women hid their secret and tried to go on as if it never happened.
They really didn’t have much of a choice.
22.And finally, “My mom had her last child in her early 40s.
Difficult pregnancy and birth.
Her life was literally not her own.
It was my father’s.
He did consent after she told him she would never have sex with him again.
At least that’s the story she told us all.”
