4 Places Other Than Dadeville, Alabama, That Have Tried to Ban Miniskirts
Spoiler alert: it generally does not go so well.
After striking upon the (mercilessly unkillable) idea to ban baggy pants, the town of Dadeville, Alabama, followed up with a proposal to ban miniskirts as well. Councilwoman Stephanie Kelley said the skirt ordinance would help the city to avoid "showing favoritism," because government micromanaging of wardrobes and free expression "should be for everybody," not just the sex more likely to wear sagging pants.
In attempting to ban miniskirts in modern times, Dadeville joins the likes of Uganda, Indonesia and areas in Chile and Italy. Here's a brief review of how miniskirt-outlawing proposals went there…
Uganda: In February 2014, the Ugandan government made "stimulating" clothing illegal as part of a wide-reaching anti-pornography bill. "If you dress in such a way that you irritate the mind and excite the people then you are badly dressed," said Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo. "If you draw the attention of the other person outside there was a malicious purpose of exciting and stimulating him or her into sex."
Ugandan women marched the "miniskirt ban," saying it takes the country "backwards in regards to women's empowerment," makes women responsbile for the actions of sexual predators, and would be impossible to enforce. Ugandans on Twitter protested using the hashtag #savetheminiskirt. It's "not about showing off legs, this is about gov't trying to take over our lives," tweeted Ugandan journalist Grace Natabaalo.
The porn bill passed, though it doesn't specifically criminalize (or define) miniskirts. Still, that hasn't stopped Lokodo from speaking as if it does (leading to a lot of the confusion), nor kept hem-length vigilantes from stopping and stripping women in miniskirts for their perceived law violations. And while women in Uganda's city nightclubs continue to wear short skirts and dresses, women have also been sanctioned for wearing them.
Indonesia: Hired to head an anti-pornography task force, Indonesia's religious affairs minister, Suryadharma Ali, turned his sights toward women's fashion in 2012. Ali suggested that women wearing above-the-knee skirts in public could be found guilty of committing a "porn crime." Around the same time, Indonesian parliamentarians suggested requiring female staff to keep skirts and dresses below-the-knee to prevent "untoward acts" by male colleagues. The proposals attracted outrage from women's groups and many on social media, and were never passed.
Castellammare di Stabia, Italy: A seaside town near Naples with a population of about 65,000, Castellammare di Stabia outlawed miniskirts and other "skimpy clothes" in 2010. Breaking the law can earn sartorial rebels a fine of up to €500. The town's mayor simultaneously banned playing football, sunbathing, and men going topless in public places. While there was a lot of (international) media about the ban taking effect, there's ben almost zilch about it after, suggesting either/both little protest from Castellammare di Stabia's small population or little enforcement of the rule.
Coquimbo, Chile: In 2011, the Chilean region of Coquimbo attempted to ban miniskirts for public employees. Gov. Sergio Gahona signed into law the ban on both short skirts and exposed shoulders, but Chile's women's affairs minister and some female legislators protested, calling the ban a joke and refusing to comply. The Gahona administration quickly conceded that the move had been ill-considered and repealed the dress-policing plans.
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We get GIFs?
We’ve made it to the 21st century!
Some of us hate GIFs substituting for video.
There is a name for people like you.
Normal.
No, that’s not it.
Luddite?
UnforGIFing?
I’ll be here all week, please tip your waitress.
I’m pretty disappointed to see H&R go down this path.
#NOTEVENONCE
The GIF is mesmerizing. STOP IT!
STOP IT! BAN IT!!!
“If you dress in such a way that you irritate the mind and excite the people then you are badly dressed.”
“I don’t like stuff that sucks. I like stuff that is *cool*!”
I fear we have infected ENB with the “You know who else…” meme. Luckily there is a cure.
*cranks blacked out van*
Is that Freedom Rock? Tuuurn it up.
It’s just Nickelback.
The cure is worse than the disease!!!
They sure are.
90) An article in the Washington Post today explains that California for the past four years has been in its most severe drought in 500 years. And of course, the state is “facing a mega-drought that could last up to 30 years if greenhouse gas emissions are not dramatically curtailed by 2050.” But, if global warming climate change is the culprit today, what explains the drought 500 years ago? Apparently, a study at Columbia University finds “California’s current drought is part of a natural pattern, but human-caused climate change has made it significantly worse.” We don’t actually know that though. We’re relying on tree rings to estimate the moisture from centuries ago?which is a valid method. But that method doesn’t tell us the temperature. All it tells us is the Southwest goes through very dry cycles from time to time. And now we’re in another one. Far from being evidence for global warming climate change, this should reassure us that what we’re seeing is no different from what the Earth has gone through tens of thousands of times before, and will do so again.
Y’all aren’t just going to ignore the fact that I hit the submit button instead of the preview button, are you?
cool story, bro
Feel better now?
I imagine you hit the submit button too quickly as a general rule.
Premature submission. Pretty common. Happens in a lot of guys.
This climate change thing is a religion. There’s no other way to describe it. It is an article of faith that every bit of bad weather is made worse by climate change. Doesn’t matter what it is. Warmer than average? Colder than average? Drought? Flood? These are climate events, made worse by climate change. When the weather doesn’t conform to their dire predictions, well, then, it’s just weather. Heads they win, tails you lose.
Seems as if Climate Change? has left people
[dons Fist’s sunglasses]
under the weather.
You need to
[dons sunglasses]
cool it.
I’m gonna call you “Foreigner” cause you’re
[dons another pair of sunglasses]
cold as ice.
You look awful silly with all those pairs of sunglasses on the front of your head.
Miniskirts (and bikinis). We should appreciate global warming.
You keep discounting the landwhale insfestation some places have.
The problem will take care of itself – they’ll either sweat off the pounds or they’ll die of hot-weather fungal infections in their folds.
True story.
I was saying something similar when Texas had its big drought (I grew up in a seven year drought). Everyone was screaming about how Climate Change meant we would never get rain again, you know general sky if falling stuff. I kept trying to point out to them that if you read Texas history (like it is mandated by the state too), we had historical records of Texas going through multi-year droughts. Droughts years running back to back are a natural part of our weather patterns and aren’t really evidence of anything.
Yeah, but climate change makes it worse! It makes the droughts longer and dryer! All because of corporate greed and profits!
So,DiFi won’t be the only shriveled old thing in California?
There’s the Pelosi, too.
“facing a mega-drought that could last up to 30 years if greenhouse gas emissions are not dramatically curtailed by 2050.”
“This problem could last 30 years if we don’t “fix” it in 35 years”
whut
We have a good topic and you guys have to get out the soapboxes.
Get back on topic, fucker.
Banning miniskirts? These monsters must be stopped. Being able to sneak a glance at a strange, nubile thigh is one of the high points of living in this dark and dismal time. If this passes surrounding towns should be prepared to receive Dadeville refugees.
Moving pictures! Shiny! Must… look away… before… too late…
So Shiny
I propose a ban on animated gifs as they are not conducive to reading.
At least change the protocol that gifs do not automatically animate and must be actively initiated by the viewer.
Luddites. All of you.
ALL HAIL KING LUDD!
And really? Animated gifs were annoying and stale back in the 90s. Their slow die-off is one of the few joys I get from the march of technology.
GIFs don’t come with indestructible flash cookies and attention-getting sounds that alert my co-workers.
*goes back to working on Frontpage website*
Looks like SOMEBODY’S still bitter about the dancing baby!
Are gifs dying off? Their use has shifted of course (no more twinkling banners or thumbnail puppies) but they seem as ubiquitous as emoji.
Animated GIFs are great. Shut up.
right click
block
no more annoying gifs.
You talk like a fag and your shit is all retarded.
Don’t worry, scrote! There’s plenty of ‘tards out there living really kickass lives. My ex-wife is ‘tarded, and she’s a pilot now.
Go away! ‘Batin!
You sure you ain’t the smartest man in the world?
Is that a GIF or a video on a loop?
Oh quit crying, I applaud her attempt at entertaining us.
“If you dress in such a way that you irritate the mind and excite the people then you are badly dressed,”
So they need to dress like Muslim women and be covered head to toe then. That’s about the only way you can guarantee no man gets sexually excited by the sight of a woman. It doesn’t take a miniskirt or low cut top to turn guys on.
Even that won’t do it. Then a flash of ankle or wrist will be enough to raise the flag.
Ever seen a woman’s fine ass in a tight pair of jeans? Ever seen some gorgeous tatas fully enclosed in an angora sweater?
No flesh required.
And speaking of Muslim women. I’ve lived in some “Muslim” places and lots of women “modestly” cover their heads and still completely rock their money maker in the way I just described above.
It’s “not about showing off legs…”
Uh huh.
So, a couple of city councillors in a town of a little over 3,200 people are talking about possibly passing an ordinance banning sagging pants, miniskirts and short shorts(to make it gender neutral) and this merits an article?
How did anyone even find it? When you look, you get snark articles like this rife with G-M amnesia moments.
Wait! I know! Unlike Kim davis, in this situation there’s actually a Republican that can be belittled, right?
But they didn’t ban penis gourds or merkins.
Penis gourds and merkins. Now there’s a niche business.
Um. Neither the blog post nor the linked article mentions party affiliation of anyone involved.
But obviously the only reason to post this story is because Reason is secretly playing the long con for the purpose of supporting Democrats and trashing Republicans.
Jared Polis set them back a little.
Meh, I don’t know about any partisanship, but clearly this is a ridiculously minor story. It would probably be newsworthy if they actually passed such a ridiculous ordinance, but this is more of the look at the stupid rubes story than a subject of serious concern.
Zeb, it’s not much of a secret.
Reason writers routinely head off to leftist publications after their stints at reason–hell, a former reason writer was one of the founders of the Journolist.
We’re libertarians–as organized as a box of cats. We’ll take what we can get.
But I wasn’t kicking at Reason so much with the line about republicans as I was relishing the embarassed silence that happens when it’s pointed out that Kim davis is an elected Democrat and Obama supporter.
Let me ask a devil’s advocate question – why isn’t banning baggy pants, but not miniskirts, showing favoritism? Don’t get me wrong, the obvious answer is to end the ban on baggy pants. But, the principle isn’t illegitimate.
Do people want to ban baggy pants? I’ve heard of people wanting to ban having your underwear show above your droopy waistline.
I suppose the tradition of laws against public indecency could justify both bans. But I think that the reason behind the two things is quite different.
That was the context for Dadeville’s miniskirt ban. “Baggy” was ENB’s formulation. Sagging or droopy, I suspect, would be a valid reference. As far as I can tell, the miniskirt ban was an afterthought of the former.
Good golly miss molly, This is the worst thing to happen in the wasteland since the HOA issued a mandatory scavenged rags dress code!
Really? cause you never think of those other four as having their shit together.
“The town’s mayor simultaneously banned playing football, sunbathing, and men going topless in public places.”
Are you sure this mayor is Italian?
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Maybe it’s time for a flying spaghetti monster for parodying the gaia folks. They certainly behave in ways that are easily mocked.
You know what doesn’t look nice with miniskirts? Panties!