I agree with you. I was watching Miracle on 34th Street one time, (the Maureen O’Hara version.) Her character, Doris, is an executive at Macy’s, and throughout the movie she appears to be equal with the male executives, (she has her own office and secretary, etc.) Apparently nobody in the 1940s blinked an eyelash at this, though the 1940s was supposedly a horrible, sexist, terrible time for women.
Anyway, there’s one scene where all the executives are called in to the big boss’s office. Several male executives are already seated when Doris walks in, and they all stand up when she enters. I always thought that was lovely. Here was this lady who had an important job, but she was still a LADY, and treated as such. I don’t think we should have thrown such manners away in the name of “equality.”
Anyone who didn’t stand up for Maureen O’Hara would probably lose a limb! My youngest daughter is named “Kathleen” for her character in “Rio Grande.”