General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Over all - was life better 50 years go today - or was it worse? [View all]enough
(13,259 posts)To my mind, the greatest change is in the lives of women. Even though things seem incredibly sexist now, it was much worse back then. Women now work routinely in every profession. Not so back then. I know many women who were "the first" to work prominently in their fields.
Abortion was illegal. Finding an abortion was dangerous, expensive, and full of stigma, shame, and psychological peril. And to repeat, DANGEROUS: people died.
Women's love of physical activity was nowhere near where it is now. I go to the gym as a 70-year-old woman and get huge energy from joining the daily vitality of women of all ages challenging themselves and experiencing that mind/body joy. Out on the trails, on the fields, in the water, everywhere, women are there doing every sport, and nobody thinks twice about it. In 1963, this was available to some women, but not in the wonderfully ordinary the way it is now.
Having written this, I realize that there are two other great areas where the same could be said. As a straight white woman, I haven't said anything about race or sexual orientation. But in fact the changes in both those areas are as great or greater. In the same way, the progress is huge, yet the challenges are still enormous.