50 years after Earhart, Dr. Harriet Hall reported a similar glass ceiling in the US military. She says she was prohibited from attaining the rank that men were, purely due to her sex. She wrote a book about her experiences, Women aren’t supposed to fly. It’s a fun read and I recommend it.
Now in retirement, Dr. Hall is active on the JREF site with good medical advice.
Even today, there are “unwritten” barriers only recently broken or yet to be broken.
No law prevented a Person of Negro Ancestry from being president, but it was nevertheless Big News even in modern times when it happened.
No law prevents a Person of the Female Description from being president, but it will nevertheless be Big News when it happens. It was even Big News when the first Person of the Female Description was candidate for Vice President (Geraldine Ferraro, 1984).
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Amelia Earhart is still seen as a local home-town hero in North Hollywood. Her home base was at the then-Lockheed Airport (now Hollywood-Burbank Airport, a.k.a. Bob Hope Airport). The North Hollywood public library is named after her, and there is a statue of her in front. (Photo.)
[/aside]
Maybe the evidence is the numbers themselves. Maybe you should approach your analysis from the other side. If women make up approximately half of the population why weren’t there more of them in aviation at that time?
What was causing the obvious numerical bias?
To late for edit.
I once met Ila Loetscher who became the first licensed native Iowa female pilot. She was encouraged to get her license by Amilia.
Sorry, I didn’t ask her if she saw any barriers.
Just as Lindbergh was the fourth pilot to fly across the Atlantic.
A lot of arguments here miss the critical categorization:** Each was the first of their gender to fly *solo *and nonstop across the Atlantic. That’s one (1) flying record, which does not necessarily compare to earlier nonstop flights with multiple pilots, or solo flights that involved interim stops. They aren’t even necessarily among the greatest events in flight.
Each just happened to be an achievement that caught the imagination of the public.
In a gipsy moth. Holy cow!
First female candidate for the vice-presidency from a major party.
Angela Davis ran for the vice-presidency in 1980 and 1984 as a member of the Communist Party USA. Geraldine Ferraro’s run as a Democrat was not until 1984. (I am not sure whether other women in minor parties preceded Davis, and, if so, on how many states they got on the ballot.)