Helen Hulick Beebe walked into the courtroom wearing slacks. She wasn't doing so to make any kind of statement. Rather, the comfortable pants were simply part of her daily work attire as a kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles, CA.
But this was 1938. And when Helen took the witness stand to testify in a burglary case against two men who had broken into her home, the judge commented on her slacks. He told her to come back the following court day wearing a dress.
As she told reporters at the time, “Listen, I’ve worn slacks since I was 15. I don’t own a dress except a formal. If he wants me to appear in a formal gown that’s okay with me. I’ll come back in slacks and if he puts me in jail I hope it will help to free women forever of anti-slackism.”
She arrived the next day wearing her pants again. To which the judge said,
Click on headline above to read what the judge had to say.
Una gran mujer.Amigo venezolano, Cúcuta
ReplyDeleteScott from Massachusetts said,'
ReplyDeleteGood for her by golly. I never knew that women were required to wear a dress to court. But like the article said it was 1938 (not that should have matter)! I loved though when she got all "dolled" up, she looks beautiful, but she made a good point. Love what she did with her life. Does anyone know if she won her case. Were the men sent to jail?
This post hits a raw nerve! During that time period and before, women were still under the control of old men in many areas of life. Although she looked presentable and covered up. she was still forced to conform to the dictates of her male peers. And remember, most juries were comprised solely of men at that time.
ReplyDeleteSome of you will know what I'm talking about when I say I'd like to see a dress code imposed on all of us now. I've seen far too many young girls boarding school buses in tiny tees, pajama bottoms and fluffy bedroom slippers; men boarding planes dressed in sweaty workout clothes and shower shoes, and morbidly obese people shopping for groceries in too small swearpants with their butt cracks exposed and tiny tops that defy physics of restraint. I long for the days of early commercial aviation where everyone that boarded a plane wore their special occasion finest.
*And while I'm on a rant, why are we still in a time when the jean bottoms we buy for $100s of dollars look like the family German Shepherd ripped them to shreds and then uses them for a bed? I mean, WTF? Yes, I'm older and crankier now, but in the olden days, if your jeans looked like that, you were poor and unfortunate and couldn't afford to buy a new pair. Now the people who have money can look like people during the Great Depression and call it fashionable. Would those who lived the depression come back to say, "Gee, I guess we're not as bad off as I thought"?*
**Down the the pulpit, go and have a tolerable day as we enter another needless war and all that it will bring.**
Milleson - I hope you feel better now.
DeleteConservatives just love to denigrate women. God forbid a woman like Ms Beebe speaks up and out !
ReplyDeleteIn democracy you have to speak up and be heard or you end up in a tyrannous dictatorship.
-Rj