Mary Jo Bellner Swartzberg
Female facts
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 prohibited financial institutions from any discrimination based on sex or marital status. Before 1974 women were not allowed to have credit on their own.
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg, supreme court justice, became pregnant while working for the Social Security Administration in Oklahoma, both her rank and pay were reduced. She subsequently wore oversized clothes to hide her second pregnancy. This overt discrimination led to her pioneering work to dismantle many sex-based and pregnancy-based discriminatory laws.
During the 1950s and early 1960s television programs such as Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, and The Donna Reed Show—wherein the women were apron-wearing, dependent on men, stay-at-home mothers— gave way to independent women in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, One Day at a Time, The Golden Girls, and Maude during the 1970s.
Until the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Yale University, Princeton University and Columbia University did not admit women.
The first female co-anchor to break the evening news barrier as a female co-anchor was Barbara Walters in 1976.
During the 1970s a woman spent $20 to $50 per year on makeup; today a woman spends between $300 and $400 annually.
In the 1950s, 90% of American families dined at home and around the dinner table. (Thanks to stay-at-home mothers!) Today, about 30% of American families eat together; roughly 50% endeavor to share a meal three to five per week. According to the Survey Center on American Life, only 38% of Gen Zers (who are now adults) report that their family ate together when they were growing up.
In the 1950s less than 7% of women in the U.S. owned their own business; today 39% to 42% of U.S. businesses are owned by women.
During the 1950s the Screen Actors Guild (now called SAG-AFTRA) had between 10,000 and 15,000 members who were women; today there are over 160,000 members who are women.
In the U.S., women make up approximately 50.9% of the population, and men make up 49.1% of the population. Women outnumber men because of the life expectancy of women.
Women hold 428 out of 1,686 mayoral positions in U.S. cities and towns with populations over 30,000 (from the Center for American Women and Politics).
The total prize money for the entire LPGA tour season in 1960 was $186,700. Today, the total prize funds exceed $131 million for the tour season.
There are roughly 40,000 apparel and fashion designers in the U.S. today, including 80% to 84% women and 16% to 20% men.
Female cookbook authors outpace male cookbook authors in the U.S. today (according to Bon Appétit and Food & Wine).
Women try to lose weight and shape their bodies at a higher rate (56%) than men (42%), per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, men score higher for the federal physical activity guidelines.
Women account for approximately 93% of all cosmetic and aesthetic procedures in the U.S. The U.S. city with the most facial plastic surgeons, per capita, is Miami, followed by Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Austin, and New York. Yes, I too was surprised about Salt Lake City!