In about fourth grade I decided that I wanted to be a suffragette. I announced this to my mom. I'm sure she was a little surprised by this choice but maybe a little proud of my early penchant for women's rights.
We drove to Jo-Ann Fabrics and I be-lined it for the shiny, red material --- the stuff with the sequins that has made a comeback thanks to H-Croo and the Ultimate team. My fabric choice revealed my mistake. I did not want to wear a Mary Poppin's-esque sash that proclaimed: "Votes for women!" Instead, I wanted to wear short, sexy clothes of a flapper.
One might cast flappers and suffragettes as complete opposites, but I disagree. They both were fighting for increased independence for women; flappers for sexual freedom and suffragettes for voting privileges. Both groups of women wanted to voice their opinions in a male dominated society.
I suppose we can thank these women, despite their irreconcilable dressing styles (gighman or rhinestones) for the freedoms Dartmouth women have today. We can vote and we can dress in whorish costumes. Thanks! Maybe I will dress up as a suffragette this year. That would be new and refreshingly prudish.
Why am I rambling on about costumes and the women's lib movement of the 1920s? Well, I've never lived in NYC. I've visited, yes. The big, tall, grey buildings aren't brimming with the same sense of community as my home town. New Yorkers intimidate me too. I hear you can't trick-or-treat in NYC because people put razorblades in the popcorn balls. What kind of wackos live there? At least in Vermont we got to trudge through the snow risking our young lives for a bite-sized Mounds. But hey, those morsels of chocolate were a hell of a lot more delicious than that granola we were force fed by our parents (ex-New Yorkers).
Happy Halloween. And, women enjoy
your freedom to choose your costume.
