The Right To Look Back

To help mark the 150th anniversary of the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y., we offer these important moments in our country’s history:

1855 - The University of Iowa becomes the first state school to admit women.

1870 - Women serve on an American jury for the first time - in Wyoming.

1916 - Margaret Sanger is arrested after opening the first U.S. birth-control clinic, where women are advised on using condoms.

1917 - Jeanette Rankin of Montana is the first woman elected to Congress.

1920 - The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants women the right to vote; black women in the South are forced to take literacy tests before they’re allowed to register.

1923 - The Equal Rights Amendment is proposed. It has never been ratified.

1936 - Tampons are introduced. Religious leaders call them immoral, claiming they destroy physical evidence of virginity and encourage masturbation.

1960 - The FDA approves birth control pills.

1973 - The U.S. Supreme Court establishes a woman’s right to an abortion.

1986 - The U.S. Supreme Court says sexual harassment is against the law.

1993 - Marital rape is now a crime in all 50 states (Nebraska led the pack on this issue, making it a crime in 1976). (From: February Marie Claire)

Put this in the ‘oh, please’ category: It seems the oh-so-famous and princess wannabes are donning tiaras for fancy evenings out or cocktail parties. The New York Times labels them “the crowning accessory of the moment.” The jeweled hair attire has been spotted recently on Courtney Love, Salma Hayek and Naomi Judd. The price tag for this strange accessory? Handmade tiaras are running $295 to $650.

Really, outside the two centers of the universe - New York and Los Angeles - just where would one wear a tiara, other than to a Halloween party? (From: New York Times)

Factoids: Average number of performance days lost per high-school cheerleading injury each year: 28.8.

Average number of performance days lost per high-school football injury each year: 5.6. (From: January Harper’s)

Quote of the week: “All women desire to be as fat as myself … but fear doing so. Because they think they won’t get any men, but .. you’ll get more men, and better men.”- Roseanne (From: Jan. 12 Time)

Think about it: There are more models in New York City than there are people in Jackson, Wyo. (From: February Marie Claire)

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: Susan English is the Weekend Editor at The Spokesman-Review, contact her by mail at 999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201; by e-mail at susane@spokesman.com or by phone at 459-5488.