"3 Women Beat Some Men in Run"

That was the headline after 19-year-old Julia Chase-Brand and two other women became the first of their gender to run the Manchester Road Race. According to the New York Times, the entire sex were barred from running races of any length beyond a half mile.

"Even in the Olympics, women were not allowed to run more than a half-mile lest, it was believed, they would risk their femininity and reproductive health. The most alarmist officials warned that a woman who ran a more ambitious distance might cause her uterus to fall out."

No kidding, direct quote from the story. "Well, that was so long ago," you might be saying. "They didn't even have catchy headlines back then, what was it turn of the century, the teens, hmm? Clearly no one understood anatomy or medicine, the twenties perhaps?" No, the year was, wait for it, this will blow your mind - 1961! Yes, the same year JFK challenged the nation to go to the moon with science, people still feared a woman's uterus could just pop out. It never ceases to amaze, the lengths people will go to justify discrimination.

Dean

Dean lives in a modest one-bedroom apartment with his dear wife and television. He studies and performs comedy here and there and is a big fan of wordplay, swordplay and pressing play.

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