John Shirley

We forget how relatively recently women had to fight for the simplest most basic rights.

"On this day in 1923, Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty pronounced it legal for women to wear trousers anywhere."

Now when will it be pronounced legal for women to take responsibility for their own bodies?

May 28, 2023 at 7:49pmWeb
Show threadClare Harris šŸMay 28, 2023

@JohnShirley2023

Good question. Not enough American men think women should have that right.

Nor women, for that matter it seems.

Show threadSeanMay 29, 2023

@JohnShirley2023

Only 15 years later Helen Hulick was sent to jail for wearing pants while serving on a jury in Los Angeles.

https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/zz002h8j98

Helen Hulick, who had been found in contempt of court for wearing pants, appears in court wearing a dress, Los Angeles, 1939 - UCLA Library Digital Collections

Show threadPrickly Pam (D-PA)May 29, 2023

@JohnShirley2023

And even when I was in public high school in the late 1960s we had to wear dresses. Finally in my senior year we were allowed to wear pants.

Show threadNinašŸ€šŸŒ»WTAF America?May 29, 2023
@PricklyPam @JohnShirley2023 Yep. In elementary school in a West LA suburb we had to wear skirts or dresses until they changed the rules in the late 60s. In fourth grade we could FINALLY wear jeans and stop skinning our knees so badly when we fell on the playground. That seems like a little thing but it wasn't because some of the girls started playing kickball and were just as good as the boys.
Show threadMichelle HughesMay 29, 2023

@JohnShirley2023

I'm having a hard time finding a reference to this by a serious source. So far, all I've found is "wacky history" type websites blowing your mind with this factoid without any citations. Can you point me in a direction? I'll check out my library's online newspaper archives, but that might take a bit.

Show threadMichelle HughesMay 29, 2023

@JohnShirley2023

I searched the New York Times archive for the word "Daugherty", from May 28-30, 1923. The only thing I found was an article about him denying that he was going to resign.

Show threadMichelle HughesMay 29, 2023

@JohnShirley2023

Also, nothing relevant in Los Angeles Times, Detroit Free Press, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, or Washington Post. That's all my library has online.

Maybe I could get into some smaller feminist papers if I visited the University library in person. But for now, I'm suspicious of this.

Show threadJaime RobertsonMay 29, 2023
@JohnShirley2023 And not until the early 70s before women could get a bank account without a husband co-signing.
Show threadSuzMay 29, 2023
@JamesPadraicR The checks for my parentsā€™ joint bank account listed my mother as ā€œMrs. [Dadā€™s name]ā€ until the mid-1980s. When she opened a new joint account at a different bank to receive direct deposit from her new job, my dad wasnā€™t present with her, and the bank listed her real name first then then my dadā€™s name, and my dad was shocked and offended. (He got over it eventually.) Btw, she signed everything else as Mrs. [Dadā€™s Name] for several more years.
Show threadJaime RobertsonMay 29, 2023
@sbtan I think my father had to co-sign for my mother to get an account and buy a car, while they were getting divorced. She didnā€™t need him when she enlisted in the army.
Show threadSuzMay 29, 2023
@JamesPadraicR Surprising they didn't require her father's signature.
Show threadJaime RobertsonMay 30, 2023
@sbtan She was a little older than the average recruit, with 2 kids.
Show threadgavinisdie May 29, 2023
@JohnShirley2023 they did in 1973, then lost it in 2022
Show threadWhoaNellieMay 29, 2023
@JohnShirley2023 and also, why do women need such pronouncements? We should be able to do what we please and with pockets