Abstract
Throughout the 1960s, as high school students across the country began to assert their independence, dress codes were up for debate. At one New York high school, female students were not allowed to wear pants. Two sophomores defied the rule and spent the day in the principal’s office. According to the fashion story: “Laura and Lauren don’t look the suffragette type, they’re slender and fragile-looking in their sweaters and pants. But they are the heroines of a dust up that has clarified the standing of the pants-wearing girl in the New York high schools.” The ACLU filed a complaint against the school and won. Fashion editor Judy Lunn earned a Penney-Missouri Award for her articles about dress codes in Houston. The news hook for was based on a young boy with a “malformed head.” His parents wanted to allow their son to wear his hair a bit longer than the local school district would allow. It led to a three-part series on dress codes. Lunn addressed history and the restriction of Puritan dressing. “There’s nothing new about dress codes,” she wrote. Her story went on to address clothing and social class, historical dress, and political issues. Another story addressed the 5-year-old Houston boy and the school’s decision to punish the child for his long hair. This is a study of American newspapers from the 1950s and 1960s about public school dress codes.
Presenters
Kimberly VossProfessor, Journalism, University of Central Florida, Florida, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Journalism, Fashion, Soft News
