Women’s advances over the years in US Congress

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) — They sponsor bills. They pass laws. They’re some of the most powerful politicians in the United States.

But they couldn’t even wear pants to work until the mid-1990s.

There may be more women in Congress than ever before, but Capitol Hill hasn’t come close to achieving gender parity. And recent revelations of sexual harassment of female aides and even lawmakers by their male counterparts have thrust the “boys’ club” culture of Congress into the spotlight.

Here is a timeline of hard-won victories for women in Congress, as they fought to achieve equal treatment and access.

1962: Women in Congress press for the establishment of a women’sonly lounge on the first floor of the Capitol. That year, H-235 was dedicated as a powder room and lounge for female members, and included the only women’s restroom on the premises; the men’s bathroom was situated right outside of the House floor. The reading room was renamed after Lindy Boggs in 1991, and remains the only room in the Capitol named after a woman. (20 congresswomen – 2 senators, 18 House members)

1965: Congress opens a “Ladies Health Facility” for female members. The facility was significantly smaller than the two-floor men’s gym in the Rayburn House Office Building, which also had a locker room and pool for use by male members. The women’s facility was inferior, offering antiquated wooden rowing machines and wooden bars; Rep. Pat Schroeder described the facility as “six hair dryers and a ping-pong table,” according to the Office of the House Historian. (13 congresswomen; 2 senators, 11 House members)

1969: Rep. Charlotte T. Reid, a Republican from Illinois, is credited with being the first woman to wear pants on the House floor; she showed up to work in a “black wool, bellbottomed pantsuit” and caused a stir. In the decades that followed, female representatives were discouraged from wearing pants, but some continued to do so. (11 congresswomen – 1 senator, 10 House members)

1971: Senate allows the appointment of women in patronage positions, including pages, doorkeepers, elevator operators and police officers. (15 congresswomen – 2 senators, 13 House members)