1969

1969 came up at church last night because it was embroidered on a two-year-old's jeans. The mom had bought them at GAP. I told the mom that 1969 was actually a very good year for me. I was protesting against a war and working actively for womens' rights and for protection of the environment. An older lady at the table said she didn't think that much had come of the womens' rights movement. I have learned some wisdom through the years and knew that leaving that remark alone was the polite and politic thing to do.

However, I disagree. Here is what my life was like in 1969. Louisiana State University, based on the doctrine of in loco parentis , decided what I could and couldn't do as a woman student. There were no do's at all that I remember besides going to class. But there were plenty of don'ts. I couldn't wear pants anywhere (unless I was going bowling-which I did more than you would have believed possible), I couldn't go out after dark unless I signed out saying whom I was with and where I was going, I couldn't go to a man's apartment unless I had a signed letter of permission on file from my parents, I couldn't stay out later than 11 o'clock PM Monday-Thursday, 12 o'clock on Friday and 1 o'clock on Saturday. (I think I remember those numbers right.) And, my room was checked every day to make sure I had made my bed and had put my clothes up neatly, emptied the trash and cleaned the sink. I still have the nasty note from my housemother that she left because she found my bed unmade and pizza boxes in my trash can. These rules wouldn't have been half as galling if the male students had had to follow any of these rules. So the boys brought us to our dorms at curfew, we were literally locked in and then they went off to do whatever the heck they wanted (wearing pants.) You can laugh at these rules as much as you want until I tell you what the consequences were for breaking them. Any small infringement was a minor. Three minors made a major. You could also get a major for any large infringement like missing curfew. What was the punishment for a major? Again, my memory is fuzzy but I think it was being locked in for two weekends at six PM. Three majors and you were expelled. They had expelled Miss LSU outright the year before when they found a boy in her dorm room. (Not doing anything, just being there.)

As a sidenote to all this, there were maybe twenty black students (male or female) on campus at the time out of 18,000 students.

Can you really tell me we haven't made a little progress since then? It would also be interesting to look up in a 1969 Shreveport phone book (my hometown) to see how many lawyers, doctors, insurance agents, real estate agents, school principals, and accountants there were who were women. If you found more than three in any category I would be shocked.

I can't help but be gratified by the tickets of the major parties this year. To all you misogynists/racists out there, you have no choice whatsoever! Hah! You have to vote for either a black man or a woman! Yes the womens' movement went too far. Mixed-gender combat units are an abomination, in my humble opinion. But some change was necessary. Just like the Civil Rights movement was necessary. My part was small but there weren't a lot of us on my campus brave enough to push for change and I'm glad I did my little bit.