The feminism tag

Oooh, I got tagged but good by our own favorite vegan Ironman-in-training, the Ex-Athena herself.

What five things can I thank feminism for?

Let me put this in a little perspective. I was born in 1957. I was required to wear dresses to public schools until I was 12, I think. Title IX was after my time. As a student I never participated in any school sport outside of P.E. class, ever. None of the girls that I hung around with did. I remember well when the classifieds listed jobs separately for men and women. I was not eligible for admission to any of the military academies when I graduated high school in 1975, since females weren't allowed (not that they would have taken me anyway). I don't recall being aware that there was such a thing as an "athletic scholarship" (and certainly not for women) until I was well into graduate school myself. Nevertheless, I was voted in a straw poll in high school the "Most Women's Libber" of my high school class, primarily based on my rants in the school newspaper. I was quite disillusioned when the Equal Rights Amendment to the constitution failed. What are we women, chopped liver!?

1. Career choices. I got the scholarships, degrees (all the way to a PhD), and jobs that I wanted most. Even though I recall being asked in an interview for veterinary school (by an all-male faculty panel, naturally, shortly before their student bodies became female-dominated), "What are you going to do when clients won't accept you, as a woman?" (I've always wished I'd had the presence of mind to respond, "And what question do you ask the male candidates?")
2. Comfort. I wear jeans or running shorts and running shoes almost every day, all day. I can't remember the last time I curled my hair, and very seldom wear makeup any more. I never would have made it as Donna Reed.
3. Living well alone. I was able to support myself quite well and live as a single woman for over two decades before I chose to marry. That just isn't an option for many women around the world, even today. And even now, I live like a single mom 5 days per week!
4. Travel. I've been able to travel over a large part of this planet, solo, and very seldom felt that my gender was an issue in safety or mobility.
5. Birth control, including abortion. This allowed my entire generation of women to have a freedom that women never before had. Abortion was illegal before I was a sophomore in high school, and still infrequent after that. I can remember certain girls who just "disappeared" from high school, permanently. I can remember others my age who "had to get married", and we meant it literally in those days. These are two things that rarely happen in today's world, thankfully.

I tag (even though I'll bet they won't take the bait) Bolder, Commodore, Kahuna, Ellie, Shawn, Dawn, Karen, Linae, Jeanne, and whomever else would like to play.