I grew up in the 1950s as well and from earliest childhood I wanted nothing more than to grow up, get married, and raise a family but by my early teens I had seen so many women who were trapped in bad situations by 'financial dependence' that I determined I would always have a marketable skill to fall back on and that's what I did.
With transition/SRS at 24, I got to experience the workplace from a woman's side first hand and became a bit of a feminist - not a placard-carrying protester but a woman who spoke up for equal-pay-for-equal-work and for equal opportunity. The opportunity to become a wife and mother never worked out for me so what started as a 'job' became a career and I continued as a feminist 'soldier' striking a number of blows against discrimination and sexism in life. Had I married and been able to start a family, I would probably have been quite happy doing that because I can be and am naturally 'submissive' but if circumstances warrant I can also easily become a force to be reckoned with - the contrast is really quite striking LOL!