Profiles article index >> Women Smash Barriers At the beginning of the century, women were literally corseted and, for the most part, metaphorically bound to the home and family. Most women lacked access to any professional work outside of the home, and were refused admittance into the halls of higher education. After all, scientists held that the female reproductive organs would atrophy to nothing if a woman focused too much on intellectual pursuits. Women also could not vote or run for office, and therefore, had no formal political representation. Women began to pose a serious challenge to many of the traditional female roles In the 20th century. By 1920, after decades of campaigning, women finally attained the vote. In the 1940s, women made essential contributions to the war effort in the factories on the home front and in every branch of the military as WASPS, WACS, and WAVES. In the 1960s and 1970s, women experienced the greatest changes ever as the conventions of femininity began to crumble at an astonishing rate. Since the early 1950s, the economy was completely transformed so that the majority of women even those with small children, worked outside of their homes. New Dreams for New Women , anew feminist movement accompanied these changing roles as many women grappled with the challenges of balancing work, family, homemaking, and other personal goals. Today it is almost unthinkable that a girl could not dream of entering politics, becoming a doctor, an anchorperson, or even a basketball player. Girls have so many options now because the twentieth century has been a century of opening doors for women, particularly in the public domain. Women's work has shifted from the privacy of home to the public factory and office. Women have claimed a larger and larger portion of the public world of politics as constituents, volunteers, In celebration of their 115th anniversary the Ladies' Home Journal has created 100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century, an exciting photo-journal of the women whose contributions in this past century are so extraordinary that their influence will be felt well into the new millennium. From the world's science laboratories and athletic playing fields to the dynamic entertainment industry and the realm of beauty and fashion, women have left their marks on the way we think and live. The LHJ magazine editors and a panel of the nation's top women historians have named their choices–the women they feel have exerted the most power and influence on our times. http://www.lhj.com/sfeatures/100women Profiles article index >> News I Health I Wellness I Exercise I Profiles I Business I Links I Women ROCK! Product Review I To the Point I Contact I Home Created by: Art Street Design Studio. © Concerning Women Communications, Inc. all rights reserved.