From shopping chaperones to high heel bans, here are 9 weird laws that were created to control women

Fundamental human rights have never been a guarantee for women. From gaining the right to vote to fighting for fair pay and reproductive rights, women’s equality has been an uphill battle throughout history. According to a 2023 UN report, it will take women 286 years to achieve full legal equality.

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Throughout American history, many outdated laws against women have survived much longer than you might think. From forbidden professions to fashion taboos, it’s time to take a look at some of the most sexist laws and restrictions that have made life difficult for women:

1.High heels are not worn in colonial Massachusetts…

Throughout history, there have been many laws regarding women’s feet and footwear choices. However, one of the strangest laws had to be the stance on high heels in colonial Massachusetts.

According to Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia, In the 17th century, the Massachusetts colony passed a law banning women from wearing high heels. Puritans believed the shoes were seductive and possibly a tool of witchcraft. Any woman caught wearing heels in an attempt to “entangle” a man was tried as a witch.

2.Trousers were also a disliked fashion item…

According to the book by Clare Sears Arresting dressMany American cities have passed laws banning women from wearing pants, one of the most famous being San Francisco. In 1863, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors made it a crime to appear in public in “a dress not belonging to his or her sex.” Similar laws have since been passed in Chicago, Houston, Orlando, and about two dozen other U.S. cities.

On May 28, 1923, the U.S. Attorney’s Office issued a statement announcing that wearing pants in public was indeed legal. However, it would be another forty years before pants became a common part of women’s wardrobes.

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3.Residents of Cleveland, Ohio have strong opinions about women’s fashion choices…

For starters, Cleveland prohibits women from showing “excessive cleavage.” According to the city’s code, women are prohibited from showing cleavage “with less than completely opaque” coverage.

Patent leather shoes are also banned for women in Cleveland. A city ordinance stated that women could not wear patent leather shoes in public, so that men would not be tempted to look up her skirt through the reflection of the shoes.

4.In many states women were not allowed to work night shifts…

In the 19th and 20th centuries, working the night shift was important for many women, who could earn extra money and care for their families during the day.

However, in the early 20th century, many state legislatures, including the New York State Legislature, began to restrict women’s work hours. They believed that “weak” and “frail” women should be home at night to protect their moral and physical integrity. As a result, women in New York were banned from working from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

5.In 1948, the Supreme Court upheld a Michigan law banning women from obtaining bartending licenses.

On November 20, 1947, Valeria Goesaert, a bar owner in Dearborn, Michigan, and her daughter challenged in the U.S. District Court in Detroit a Michigan law that barred women from obtaining a bartending license in cities with populations over 50,000 unless they were “the wife or daughter of the bar owner.”

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After losing in district court, Goesaert and her daughter took their case to the Supreme Court, where they argued that Michigan should not be able to prohibit women from working in bars while making an exception for the wives and daughters of bar owners.

However, the ban was upheld in a 6-3 vote. The opinion, authored by Justice Felix Frankfurter, stated that the Constitution “does not prohibit the States from drawing a sharp line between the sexes” and that “the Court found that the Michigan legislature, in enacting the statute, could determine that allowing women to bartend could ‘raise moral and social problems against which it may devise remedies.'” It further stated that the Court was not in a position to “cross-examine either factually or argumentatively the mind of the Michigan legislature.” The ban remained in effect until 1976.

6.In Washington state, women weren’t even allowed to sit at the bar…

In 2020, Washington state research librarian Kathryn Devine found a strange law in a 1962 tourism brochure. Originally a guide for those seeking a “non-touristy” experience in Seattle, it listed the rules and regulations of the local bar scene. In the section “What to Know and Where to Go,” the author reminded visitors of the rules: “A cocktail bar may sell liquor, wine, or beer, but not to go. It must operate in conjunction with a restaurant. The restaurant may choose its own hours of operation, but may not sell alcohol after closing time. Women can’t sit at the bar.”

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The rule comes from a 1948 initiative that banned women from sitting at bars in cocktail lounges, but not in taverns. Page 8 of the 1948 Washington Voter Pamphlet reads: “It is prohibited for any holder of a Class H license to sell liquor to women, except women seated at tables.”

However, in 1969, the state legislature overturned the ban after a woman sued the Washington State Liquor Control Board because she was told to move while sitting at a Tacoma bar.

7.In many places, eating in restaurants was prohibited.

In the past, it was not uncommon for women to be excluded from restaurants, or at least restricted when they were there. Many restaurants either banned women altogether or did not allow them to eat in certain areas or during certain hours of the day. The argument for many of these establishments was that working men only had a limited amount of time to eat, and women delayed the process by eating slowly and gossiping.

However, this situation began to change in the 1960s, when women began to question these sexist policies and advocate for change. In 1969, the National Organization for Women (NOW) declared “Public Accommodations Week” and took action in several “men-only” eateries, one example being the Berghoff in Chicago. Previously, the restaurant had a men-only bar; this practice ended when NOW members went to the bar and demanded service.

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8.Shopping unsupervised was a complete no-no…

In the 19th century, it was considered improper for women, especially those of the middle and upper classes, to be alone in public. Often, stores and other public places were closed, and in some cases, it was even illegal for them to enter alone. Historian Emily Remus wrote, “America’s heartlands were primarily spaces for women to move through, not to linger in or enjoy. Without a male escort, women were refused service in most restaurants, cafes, and hotels, while saloons and private clubs simply closed their doors to female customers. In addition, proper etiquette discouraged women from stopping on sidewalks, stopping to look in store windows, handling merchandise, or even carrying packages. In essence, women were discouraged from engaging in public practices that sustained a culture of consumerism.”

But as department stores became popular in the late 19th century, they quickly became female-friendly retail spaces. They allowed women to become consumers and offered jobs that gave single women financial independence.

9.Keeping the family name was probably out of the question…

Due to the coverture doctrine in the United States, when a woman married, she lost her legal identity, including her surname. If she tried to keep her maiden name, it always led to legal problems, ranging from her employer refusing to honor her wishes and, in some cases, even losing her right to vote.

Women began to question the practice in 1855, however, when Lucy Stone, a Massachusetts suffragette, inspired a movement for women to retain their family names. When Stone married her husband, Henry Blackwell, she wanted to keep her family name. Fellow suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton said of Stone’s decision, “(she) was the first woman in the country to protest the marriage laws at the altar and to show sufficient self-respect to retain her name to represent her individual existence throughout her life.”

But keeping your maiden name hasn’t fully caught on yet. A 2023 Pew Research Center study found that only fourteen percent of women kept their maiden name after marriage.

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Which of these laws do you think are the weirdest? Can you think of any other weird, old laws or restrictions that have been imposed on women? Let us know in the comments!