They turned their noses up at her in disdain. “She was one of those women who thought they could be just like men. It was great that she was arrested and brought to court. Her sentence would serve as a deterrent for others like her”. I’m sure those were some of the thoughts that ran through the minds of those present at the court on that day in 1919 when Luisa Capetillo was arraigned for wearing trousers in public. She was a labour union leader and a woman rights activist. Luisa Capetillo was the first female to wear trousers in public in the United States. The judge actually sent her to jail but later dropped charges against her.
It might surprise us that the wearing of trousers could actually take someone to jail, but it happened about a century ago. This means that females wearing trousers just might not have been a norm sometime ago. So, it brings us to the question, why do women wear trousers?
Different people have different reasons for wearing trousers. Some people say it is for religious reasons, some people, for reasons of comfort and some because their jobs demand it; diverse reasons, but where exactly did ‘female trouser-wearing’ emanate from?
During the First World War (1914 – 1918), women had to do jobs that were previously assigned to men. They worked in factories they could not possibly do these jobs with their big, full skirts, and so for ease and comfort in doing the jobs, women wore their husbands’ trousers. After the war, they kept on wearing them as leisure wear and also for gardening, but most of them did not wear them out of the house or to important occasions.
In many ways, the story of women’s employment during First World War (WWI) was repeated in the Second World War although they did more ‘male’ jobs than they did during WWI. They worked in war industries, building ships, aircraft, vehicles and weaponry, and so they had to wear trousers. Another reason for their wearing trousers was because in Britain, during WWII, clothing was rationed. Women took to wearing their husband’s civilian clothing because it allowed them to save up their money instead of squandering it on clothing allowance. They also wore them as common casual wear after the war, just as they did after the First World War.
However, it was still considered scandalous for women to wear trousers. Much later, some females began feminist movements to have equal rights with men. This was one of the reasons that an actress called Audrey Hepburn, in 1961, wore trousers in a movie called ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’. Females thought it was a very daring thing todo at that time, but the movie influenced some women to start wearing trousers as part of their everyday wear. This prompted Andre Courreges, a designer, started making jeans for women.
Still, it was not until 1969 before a woman wore trousers in the U.S Congress; Charlotte Reid. Even at that, females were still not allowed to wear trousers on the senate floor until 1993. In 1993, Senators Barbara Mikulski and Carol Moseley Braun wore trousers onto the floor, disregarding the rule. Sooner than later, some other female staff followed suit. The rules were amended later that year to allow females to wear trousers on the floor as long as they wore a jacket over it.
Nevertheless, some people do not believe women just started wearing trousers in the early 90’s. There is an alabastron (pottery vessel) kept in the British Museum that dates back to about 470BC. It has a painting of an Amazon wearing trousers and carrying a shield. Amazons were a tribe of female Greek warriors.
Amelia Bloomer, a women’s rights and temperance advocate, in 1851, debuted her ‘shocking’ ensemble of loose-fitting ankle-length trousers underneath a shorter dress; not unlike the ones supposedly worn in the Middle East and Central Asia. She started wearing this having the affirmation that ‘the costume of a woman should be suited to her wants and necessities.’ Amelia’s dressing was called the Bloomers, after her surname. Although, she was not arraigned in court for dressing this way, she was subject to ridicule in the press and harassment on the street. Later, in 1859, Amelia dropped this style of dressing. All these prove that women started wearing trousers before the First World War.
Also, some documents prove that on 13th November, 1866, Pope Nicholas 1 wrote a letter to the king of Bulgaria that contained a statement that wearing or not wearing of trousers neither impedes salvation nor increases virtue. From this statement, it can be inferred that trouser wearing by women is not a recent development. It can also be inferred that trouser wearing has always been controversial; if the King of Bulgaria needed clarification on its “virtue” or it’s of virtue.
We could also say that the current religious controversies that surround trouser wearing by women is not in any way a recent issue. In contrast to Pope Nicholas’ statement, Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican Priest who died in 1274, made a statement; ‘outward apparel should be consistent with the estate of the person, according to general custom. Hence, it is sinful for a woman to wear man’s clothes or vice versa.’ He said this citing Deuteronomy 22, a chapter from the Bible.
Deuteronomy 22:17 says that ‘A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man nor shall a man wear anything that pertains to a woman.’ Many people in Christendom quote this passage of the Bible when asked why they do not support females wearing trousers. Some other Christians do not believe that the Bible actually meant females should not wear trousers in this passage.
The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Bible Commentary explains that in the days of the Bible, people worshipped different gods that were either male or female. So, in worshipping some of those gods, people had to take on the gender of the gods they were worshipping. Therefore, when they were worshipping Mars, a male god, all the people, male and female, would wear armoury, which was only for men in those days and when they were worshipping Venus, a female god, they all wore female attire. They explain that the Bible just wanted to guard against people cross-dressing as a sign of worshipping other gods.
Still in support of the Bible not saying females should not wear trousers, some people say that the Bible could not have literally meant females should not wear trousers since trousers were not even male wear in those days. It is said that males wore robes. This point of view is not cogent, though. In some parts of the Bible, it is clearly stated that men wore breeches (which could be said to be mini-trousers) at that time.
Some Muslim women wear trousers and some do not. Some of those that do not wear trousers give the reason to be that it could constitute Fitna for men. They do not totally condemn wearing trousers, but they condemn anything that could amount to Fitna (temptation) to men. Journalist Lubna al-Hussein was arrested, along with 10 others, for wearing trousers in Sudan. She said Islam does not say whether a woman can wear trousers or not, so she wore what was comfortable for her.
Females wear or do not wear trousers due to reasons such as their religion, job, comfort, fashion or just because they can. Whether we agree or disagree to females wearing trousers, it appears that this trend has come to stay.
