I don't understand why you added emphasis to "unless they are the support of the family." Obviously the whole thing is pretty regressive and messed up by moder

I don't understand why you added emphasis to "unless they are the support of the family." Obviously the whole thing is pretty regressive and messed up by modern lights, but the emphasized passage is a mitigating factor, one that, I think, shows that while there was plenty of institutionalized prejudice, there was little actual malice. IBM's policy was, "Naturally women should go home and be housewives if their husbands have jobs. But if their husbands don't have jobs, and the family depends on the wife's income, then the woman can keep her job." The first part is the risible bit, the second part much less so.