We are invincible!

It wasn't that long ago that the birth of a daughter meant a big financial burden for the family. If you wanted to survive, you had to work and earn money, and that wasn't easy as a girl. In Austria, Empress Maria Theresia introduced the Theresian school regulations (general school regulations for german normal, secondary and trivial schools) on December 6, 1774. This gave girls the right to be taught reading, writing and arithmetic, but they remaind excluded from higher public schools, high schools or even universities. It was not until 1892 that the first girls' high school was founded in Vienna, and from 1897 onwards the admission of women to study at universities was gradually approved (women's studies). For a long time, there was a dispute whether women were at all suitable for university studies in terms of their mental capacity and physical condition.

Today women can take up practically any profession. But that wasn't always the case. Or did you know that female teacher in Austria were not allowed to marry until the 20th century? Vienna and Lower Austria were the first to lift the ban on marriage, but it took several decades before this applied throughout Austria.

Speaking of marriage law, women in this country also had nothing to laugh about for a long time. According to Austrian marriage law, the husband was the head of the family. As such, he had the right, for example, to forbid his wife (or daughter) from working outside the home. In addition, he managed the marital property. This meant that the wife could not even order a magazine subscription without her husband's signature. The new marriage law, in which both partners have equal rights and obligations, did not come into force until 1975.

But all this has probably strengthened us women. Because today women are to be found practically everywhere. In compulsory school, girls perform better on average than boys, they attend secondary schools more often, acquire more Matura certificates in percentage terms and have also made strong gains in university degrees. Nevertheless, fewer management positions are held by women in companies. Conclusion: the battle goes on. Because giving up is not an option for women.