"Michael Odom" > wrote in message
...
> From the New York Times
>
> "Old Law Shielding a Woman's Virtue Faces an Updating
> By SARAH KERSHAW


I would guess that at one time there were a lot of laws like that
which were originally intended for the protection of women. In
California it was illegal for a woman to work as bartender until some
time in the 1970s. Women could work as barmaids, pouring and serving
beer or they could serve mixed drinks but could not mix or pour
distilled spirits.