Otis sent over this 1943 Guide to Hiring Women in an effort to help me with my Employee Handbook writing project. (Thanks, honey :P). Here are a couple of my favorite excerpts:

1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.

Let's see, this statement discriminates against oh, at least 3 legally protected characteristics.

4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.

There are so many things wrong about this statement that I don't even know where to begin.

After reading this I realized that, beneath the humor I found in the article, the woman in me was greatly offended. If I had lived 60 years ago I would have been stereotyped and categorized in this way. Would I have been as offended then as I am now? Were my grandmothers offended by thinking like this? Did they feel trapped by the social ideals and behaviors women were held up to in those times? I wonder. It's amazing to think of the social progress women have made in the last 60 years. I'm thankful for all of the women who fought against injustices like the ones laid out in this article, because if they hadn't had the courage to stand up against them, this would probably be in an Employee Handbook today.