I said I'd start a thread called #ThankABoomer where I looked at aspects of life that have got better specifically because women in that cohort fought really hard against sexism. #VintageMagTweets

It's only the tip of the iceberg, not least because my thread is constructed from random magazine clippings I happen to have stumbled across. The broader strokes are lost and there will have been millions of other women working quietly away without recognition.

Nevertheless, there's a strong pattern.

You can #ThankABoomer that if you sit an important exam today, the pass mark for you as a woman won't be set higher than for a man sitting exactly the same papers.

You can #ThankABoomer that women are now allowed to work in the London Stock Exchange and not treated as jokes, nuisances, and objects to be bullied and harassed.

Here's a teenage girl writing to Oh Boy magazine in the early 80s. She's asking for reasonable career advice. Guess what the response is? (1 of 2)

(2 of 2)
#ThankABoomer that, by and large, women now don't get told they're by nature unfit for jobs which they're perfectly capable of doing.

Massive thanks to Boomers that hospitals are now no longer allowed to turn women away when they need abortions.

If, as a married working woman, you deal with your own tax, and any rebates you get don't get sent directly to your husband's bank account, #ThankABoomer.

Another example of how Boomers had to fight to break the sexism of the tax system.

#ThankABoomer if you're taking exams at 16 and you don't get marked down just because you're a girl.

Thank people like Dawn Spiers that female employees don't have to grin like maniacs all day or risk being sacked.

And finally for tonight, cheer loudly for the women who saw off this particular example of sexist stupidity.

I'll continue with these on Sunday.

Right, I'll add another batch to this #ThankABoomer thread.

That nowadays you are able to pop your baby or toddler safely in a specially-designed trolley when you go supermarket shopping, and not risk your child's safety:

If you've not been summarily sacked for getting pregnant, thank women like Margaret Mellor.

If, as a woman, you're able to buy something on your credit card without requiring a male guarantor to oversee the purchase, thank women like Carrie Dunne.

It used to be entirely legal for eateries to throw single women out on the streets after dark - never mind their personal safety - but women like Susan Evans stood up to that treatment.

I don't know this woman's name, but the fact she and others like her argued must have had an effect because now young women expect to go into a bar or cafe or restaurant on their own and would be amazed to be turned away.

In 1975, MP James White tried to pass a bill seriously reducing women's access to abortion. The tone was draconian and sinister.

Here's footage of some of the thousands of women who marched to protect our right to bodily autonomy. Some came from other countries.
(37 seconds in) https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/this-week-in-london-15000-women-march-against-the-abortion-amendment-act-in-1975-a3280726.html

And here's a rally against the same Bill in Hyde Park. Those women and men pictured will all be 60+ now, but the fact that young women can currently have legal, safe and free abortions when needed is thanks to them.

Thank you to Jackie Bat-Isha who fought for her right simply to do a job she knew she could do. Thousands of women struggled to access jobs, with many employers blatantly flouting the law.

If as a young woman you've been able to study the same subjects as boys at your school, #ThankABoomer.

If you're a woman on benefits and you can claim the same as a man, #ThankABoomer.

I don't know who these women are, I just love the photo. This is activism!

Thank Mary Winter for refusing to take off her Lesbian Rights badge at work.

Cheers for these thirteen-year-old girls who stood up the their headmaster and got him to change the class so they could join.

If you're a girl or young woman and you've been allowed to play football, thank students like these who protested at their unfair treatment.

I'll pause it there and do another batch midweek. There are heaps of these, I warn you now. It's going to be a long thread!

A bit more #ThankABoomer now. It wasn't till 1978 that married women got to keep their own tax rebates (instead of the money going to their husbands).

You can #ThankABoomer if you got to do the same tech subjects as the boys at school.

Thank you to young Helen Whitfield who not only raised the fact that being excluded from classes was unfair, but took it all the way to the Equal Opportunities Commission.

And did young Helen succeed? No. Unbelievably, she lost her case, even though I can't imagine anything more clear-cut.

I have read over and over again that the EOC were toothless.

If your child isn't bringing home reading books that are complete sexist drivel, you can #ThankABoomer for that, too.

Thank you to Kim Turley, who was dismissed from her job for being pregnant and tried to fight the case. She lost, but women like her paved the way for stronger maternity rights that young women now enjoy.

That last clipping was from 1980.

#ThankABoomer that men are no longer legally allowed to rape their wives.

And thank you to teenagers like Zoe Petrides, who saw the wrong in it and spoke out.

Thank you to Belinda Petty who fought for THREE YEARS to be allowed to referee men's judo at national level.

And thank you to Susan (we don't know her last name) who was refused a job in a bar and took the case to the EOC. She didn't get the job, but she made her point.

Well done to Jo Hughes, who didn't let the sexism of the Football Association stop her playing the game she loved. (1981)

Thank you to these women union members in 1981 who took us a step further towards being able to call out sexual harassment at work.

1981 and Stacey Lee manages to break into a competition that's previously been closed to girls.

Imagine being sacked from your job just because your boss found out you were a mother. Well, it used to happen, and women like Ursula Hurley made it stop. (1981)

If you grew up using textbooks that weren't full of snidey sexist comments, #ThankABoomer. (1983)

If a UK doctor hasn't injected you with contraceptive drugs against your will, #ThankABoomer. (1983)

If you are able to go to the doctors confidently expecting to be prescribed the contraceptives you need, #ThankABoomer. (1983)

If you received your state pension without having to pass a "household duties" test, #ThankABoomer. 1983

If, as a married woman, you get an allowance for looking after a disabled spouse, #ThankABoomer (1983). Married women were expected to do the role unpaid, 'as part of their marriage duties'.

If you're married but you're pretty sure no one sees you as a "dependent", #ThankABoomer

And if your male colleagues don't get extra tax relief just for being male - yes, you guessed it, say a great big thank you to those boomers who cried, "Unfair!"

That's the end of tonight's batch, but these are still several to go. See you on Sunday. x

Adding another series of cuttings to my #ThankABoomer thread now. Staring with these amazing Greenham women.

For protesting about the siting of US missiles on UK soil, these women suffered ridicule, threats and often actual violence.

Here are some miners' wives in 1985 protesting about the way women are portrayed in the media. #NoMorePageThree @EverydaySexism

Thank you to women like Wendy de Launay, whose employers, the police, discriminated against HER because they thought their male officers couldn't be trusted.