Saturday night nostalgia: The things women today wouldn’t believe

We may not have achieved full equality just yet, but when we look back at the way things used to be, things sure have improved in a lot of ways for women. Let’s take a walk down memory lane, and reminisce about some of the difficult things we faced fearlessly when we were growing up. 

1. Uncomfortable smalls

Before yoga pants and active wear became the go-to uniform for women everywhere, regardless of whether you were actually active or practiced yoga, fashion made life pretty uncomfortable. There were corsets, girdles, and all kinds of crazy and uncomfortable bras. We didn’t even have pantyhose for crying out loud!

2. Poor selection of sanitary products

When you look back, we didn’t have the most pleasant introduction to womanhood. If it wasn’t the uncomfortable underwear, it was the dreadful sanitary products we had to deal with. If you were luck enough, you had the hideous sanitary belt to keep basically a surfboard in place. If you weren’t so lucky, you might have found yourself dealing with all manners of rags (which you had to wash yourself), or even newspaper!

Menstruating still isn’t the world’s most pleasant experience, but at least women have better management options these days!

3. Birth control, or lack thereof 

Didn’t want babies back in the day? Too bad. Until the birth control pill came in, women had few choices in family planning. 

4. Restrictive clothing

Little school girls these days in their gender-neutral trackies and polos will never know the struggle of wanting to run and jump and swing upside down while navigating restrictive skirts and tunics. 

5. Workplace sexual harassment 

These days it will get you a summons from HR before you can say “sweetheart”, but back in the day all manners of condescending nicknames and bottom pinches were just a part of working life. 

6. Advertising straight from Hell 

“If your husband finds out …” wait, what? Can’t he do his own shopping?

7. Not being allowed to work post-marriage

Speaking of workplaces and husbands, remember the days when you were no longer welcome in the workplace once you had tied the knot? Because once you were married, being married was a full time job. 

8. Because housework was different then too

It was a heck of a lot more difficult without the modern conveniences we had today! And you had to be careful not to get scalped or lose a finger.

Ain’t basic rights grand?

What has changed the most for you over time?