Amelia Bloomer Sings for Fashion Reform

 

Listen ladies, you’ve got me to thank for

Letting you show a little more

of your leg, your legs!

I’m not talking about your shorty-shorts,

your hot pants, leggings or your skinny jeans

Not even in my dreams

In my day, a woman couldn’t show her ankles

Not even the legs of a table could be seen

it would be deemed obscene to show the length of your leg

your leg, your legs,

your legs: your political legs

 

My name is Amelia Bloomer

I endorsed those long baggy pantaloon-ers

That you see in the pages of history

I would wear them out on the town,

But folks didn’t like a gal who didn’t wear a gown,

No, flattery isn’t why they named them after me!

But in pursuit of emancipation

in the face of a scandalized nation

I said, to be free, a woman needs mobility

She needs the use of her legs!

Her legs, her legs, her legs: her political legs

 

They told me I was off of my head

That a respectable woman should rather be dead

Than dress so indecently, but isn’t it funny

How the simplest fashion innovation

Can have striking political implications:

From bloomers to bikes,

To women gaining their rights

 And so I say to all the fashion traitors, and all the innovators:

Don’t take for granted what you’ve got, and please don’t stop

Going out on a limb, fighting to win the rights to your political legs

Your legs, your legs, your legs, your political legs

 

Would you go out on a limb?

Would you go out on a limb?

Would you go out on a limb?

Would you go out on a limb?

For your legs, your legs:  your political legs

 

 

evalyn parry SOCAN 2011