When we look back at media from before the 1970s, it’s often to laugh at how casually sexist it was. Slogans like “Buy this coffee or your husband will beat you!” and “Work as hard as possible around the house because it makes you prettier!” don’t sound like great shout-outs for the sisterhood. But how about “Women are naturals at computer coding because of the way their brains work!”?

The number of women taking up computer-science courses in the US began to plummet in the 1980s, with some media organisations suggesting this was due to the way that personal computers were almost always pitched to boys and men in their marketing. But coding was actually previously seen as a woman’s profession, as seen in the below article from a 1967 edition of Cosmopolitan Magazine.

(Image: Twitter/pagankennedy)

While the piece does betray its 60s origins in its choice of language we would consider quaint today, it still is rather positive in its depiction of a STEM lifestyle for women by way of coding:

“It’s just like planning a dinner,” explains Dr. Grace Hopper, now a staff scientist in systems programming for Univac (she helped develop the first digital computer, the Eniac, in 1946.) “You have to plan ahead and schedule everything so it’s ready when you need it. Programming requiers patience and the ability to handle detail. Women are ‘naturals’ at computer programming.

What she’s talking about is aptitude—the one most important quality a girl needs to become a programmer.