The “escape the corset” movement didn’t come out of nowhere. Instead, it’s just one part of a feminist revolution that has swept the country in the wake of its #MeToo movement. These shifting principles are filtering out into how women spend their time and their money, in a country in which a premium has long been placed on beauty.

John Quincy Adams had ambitious political aims, but lacked the charisma many believed was a necessity. Louisa Adams saw herself as his “diplomate,” organizing social events and entertaining the ladies of Washington D.C. in order to raise his social status. She was the dominant hostess of the day, holding balls and Tuesday evening soirées to keep her husband in the limelight. And despite claiming an active disinterest in politics, she watched Congress debates, read newspapers assiduously, advised her husband, and did whatever she could as part of her “campaigne.”

Yet when women did join the army by the thousands, the officers discovered they were woefully unprepared and had created rules that were impossible to follow. Hair was supposed to be kept above the collar, but there was often nowhere for women to get it cut or set. WAC hats were so badly designed that they cut women’s foreheads. But perhaps the greatest oversight was in what women wanted to eat: Thousands of WAC members unexpectedly gained weight on rations designed for male combat fighters, or were forced to skip meals to avoid sexual harassment.

The Professional Golfers’ Association originally had no regulations relating to the race of its players. But, in 1934, it introduced a bylaw stating that it was only “for members of the Caucasian race.” Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, black male golfers attempted to challenge this ban legally. It only began to be lifted only when the PGA came under enormous public pressure, particularly after ex-champion boxer Joe Lewis drew attention to it. The “Caucasians-only” policy was maintained in general, but a few, specific black players were allowed to take part. Finally, in 1961, the ban was lifted for good.

Initially, hatpin injuries were relatively innocent, and occurred in the crush of train carriages or busy streets. They were hazards for men wooing even approving women, said the Times. “Nonetheless, young men with streaky scratches on their right cheek have been turning up at their places of business of late with a variety of explanations savoring of more ingenuity than truth as to how they won their wounds; and most engaged young girls have a hat for evening walks that is independent of hatpins.”