Henderson history: Local teenage girls talked about women’s liberation in 1974
They rejected burning bras. But a half-dozen high school girls interviewed by Judy Jenkins in The Gleaner of Jan. 13, 1974, were determined to overcome barriers that had held back their mothers.
“I do think the (women’s) movement has resulted in some healthy changes,” said Linda Odle (Priscilla). “Not too long ago a girl had a choice of becoming a housewife, a teacher, a secretary, or a nurse. Now her career opportunities are just about unlimited.”
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on gender – as well as race, religion, or national origin – but getting societal attitudes to conform to the letter of the law has been a problem. According to Forbes magazine, in 2022 there was an average 11-percent gap in take-home pay between men and women working the same job with the same seniority.
“I think a woman should get equal pay for an equal job and I don’t think she should be kept from doing something she really wants to do because she’s a female,” said Karen Miller (Welch). “I know they have a law about this, but it doesn’t seem to be too strictly enforced.” All six of the students agreed on that point.
“A woman should get equal pay,” said Cheryl McBride (Mathias). “It’s just like everything else, though, she usually doesn’t. What really burns me up is that a woman has a real sweat getting a credit card. If she’s married, they don’t even take her job into consideration. They’re just concerned about her husband’s job.”
They also all said they had faced discrimination at school.
“Girls get the second-best things – no football or basketball for us,” said Miller.
“I always wanted to play basketball in school,” said Debbie Silkwood (Sherer). “There aren’t enough opportunities for girls to do things like that in the school curriculum.”
“I resent the fact that girls have only one year of physical education, and that’s as a freshman,” said Leslie Newman. “Good grief, we keep hearing about what an under-exercised nation we are, and schools don’t seem to be doing too much about it. For girls, anyway.”
“I agree,” said McBride. “Boys get to take advanced physical education in their senior year, in addition to being eligible for all kinds of athletics. Needless to say, girls can’t take advanced P.E.”
The girls were more traditional in their views about whether girls should ask boys for dates, or if they should split the bill for a date.
Sherry Bibbs (Johnson) said she wouldn’t directly ask a boy for a date. “I might tell one of his friends that I’d like to go out with him and hope the friend would get the word to him.”
Miller said she wouldn’t initiate a date “unless it was something like a girl-ask-boy dance. I’m not that liberated.”
“Same here,” said Odle. “I even feel funny about that on Sadie Hawkins Day.”
Odle had strong feelings about splitting the tab. “I’d shoot any boy who asked me out and then expected me to pay half – much less all of it.”
“I think most boys are too proud to let you pay anything,” said Bibbs.
“I don’t see anything wrong with paying for things every now and then,” said Newman. “Of course, Sherry (Bibbs) is right. Most boys won’t let you.”
The girls were also asked about more sensitive topics, such as, “What do you think of the sexual double standard?” They said it wasn’t fair.
“A guy doesn’t get talked about no matter what he does,” said Miller. “Girls are still expected to be lily white, though I don’t think too many actually are.”
“Boy, that makes me mad,” said Odle. “It really burns me up. If something’s wrong for a girl, it should be wrong for a boy too.”
“It’s a two-way street,” said Bibbs. “If one is going to be looked down on, the other should too.”
“If a girl gets pregnant in high school she’s considered an outcast,” said Newman. “Most people don’t take into consideration the fact that two people were involved.”
Miller said she would leave the “obey” language in her wedding vows “if my husband had to promise to obey me too.”
“Things should be done by agreement,” said Bibbs.
“I certainly wouldn’t obey my husband if it went against what I really believe,” said McBride.
“I suppose I’m old fashioned in some ways, but I intend to obey my husband,” said Silkwood. “In my family, my dad is boss, and I like it that way.”
The women’s equality movement had some drawbacks, however, according to a Nov. 18, 1984, feature package written by Lifestyle Editor Connie Holman, which was the same year the Democrats nominated Geraldine Ferraro for vice president.
Lorraine Gerni said full-time homemakers “may have been hurt by putdowns of their traditional choices.”
Mary Herrera made the same point. “I think it’s made the women who really want to be at home, the housewives, guilty,” she said. “It’s made a lot of mice out of men. It’s put the man in the position where he doesn’t know what do to.”
Jackie Taylor, however, saw nothing but positives in the women’s movement. “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to our society,” she said, because “it’s given women the right to make their own choices. It’s helped men and women both.
“The women’s movement has made men more open. They’re kinder now. They’re more sensitive to women’s needs. The big winners are wives and mothers, but the whole family has benefited.”
“It’s certainly opened opportunities for women that didn’t exist before,” said Carol Lambert. “I don’t think all our attitudes could have changed without it. We’ve been given a chance to rethink, to redefine our roles. Who says only a man should do a certain job?”
Along with her interviews with six teenagers in 1974, Judy Jenkins also wrote a separate story after interviewing Janet Whittington, who had been out of high school for several years by that point.
“I’ve never thought of myself as a rebel,” Whittington said. “When I transferred from the high school I was going to in Arizona to Henderson City High, both students and teachers thought I was. I had my hair cut very short, sort of like Mia Farrow’s, and I wore miniskirts. I didn’t wear a bra, and some people may have felt I was trying to be sexy. That wasn’t it at all. I was just being myself.
“To me, true liberation is knowing yourself. Being what is naturally you.” Many of the leaders of the women’s liberation movement “are conspicuously anti-male and they profess to hate the idea of woman as a sex symbol.
“I don’t dislike men, and I enjoy having a man think I’m attractive. I want to be admired. I think most women do.”
100 YEARS AGO
Mayor Clay F. Hall’s first meeting with new city Commissioners J.H. Hart and J.W. Johnson saw him listing the things he wanted to get accomplished, according to The Gleaner of Jan. 8, 1924.
They included completion of the street paving program, extension of city utilities to all areas within the city limits, beautification of the riverfront from Audubon Mill Park to 12th Street, and obtaining additional fire-fighting equipment.”
He also advocated “that an ordinance be drawn or some action taken prohibiting the sale of firecrackers, toy pistols, etc. in the city.” A number of injuries had occurred over the holidays.
75 YEARS AGO
The nightclub known as Club Hollywood was destroyed by fire, according to The Gleaner of Jan. 9, 1949.
Club Hollywood was owned by Ches Bridwell and was located on what is now U.S. 41-Alternate near the Canoe Creek bridge.
“When city firemen reached the scene, the building was engulfed in flames.”
25 YEARS AGO
The city Board of Zoning Adjustment signed off on plans for a condominium complex at 604-620 Merritt Dr., despite objections from neighbors on Elm Street, according to The Gleaner of Jan. 13, 1999.
The property was owned by Joe Mattingly and Anthony and Brad Hazelwood. They had earlier subdivided the land into five separate lots for single family homes but decided instead to go with condos.
The zoning board was involved because the development was 17 feet closer to Sixth Street than would normally be allowed.
The zoning board unanimously approved the variance, despite the objections of three Elm Street neighbors who said it would block their views of the Ohio River.
“I’m sure there will be some view blocked,” Anthony Hazelwood conceded. He added, however, “We think this is going to be an addition to this area of town.”
Readers of The Gleaner can reach Frank Boyett at YesNews42@yahoo.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Henderson history: Teen girls talked about women’s liberation in 1974
