Today's episode is about a woman named Amelia Bloomer, who became the main proponent of women wearing pants—a fight she started in the 1850's.
Dress reform became a big issue in the mid-nineteenth century because women were sick of wearing multiple heavy skirts. They could be wearing as many as eight layers and this ridiculousness was causing all kinds of problems—from adversely effecting women's health to the restriction of their movement. Since this getup could weigh up to 15 pounds, you can see why women were desperate to be rid of them.
Bloomer, having her own women's newspaper, made the issue hers when she not only advocated for women to wear pants, but more scandalously, wore them herself!
This fight has been harder and has gone on a lot longer than we could have ever imagined. Remember Hillary Clinton's pantsuits? We are still talking about women wearing pants more than 150 years later.
The issue gets at the heart of women's freedom and how much it has been restricted throughout history. Amelia Bloomer made real headway in this fight, one that would eventually involve the Attorney General of the United States. Seriously.
So, the next time you go to put on that pair of pants, remember that it was Amelia Bloomer who began the fight for your right to do so.
What a lady.
You can check out the pants ensemble that Amelia wore here:
Sourcing always matters!
You can check out all my research here:
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/amelia-bloomer
https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/woman-suffrage/bloomer-amelia/
https://www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/amelia-bloomer.htm
I'm Allison Klein, a women's historian. Let me be your guide through the absolute insanity of American women's history and the fascinating, shocking and downright absurd stories and women that we never learn about.