Skirting the Law

I haven't posted a story about the history of the skirt in a while, but this item is too good to pass up. Yesterday the mayor of Castellammare di Stabia, a southern Italian resort town, "has ordered police officers to fine women who wear short miniskirts or show too much cleavage, as part of a battle to raise what he describes as the level of public decorum," according to an article in the Guardian today.

Banning short skirts and arresting women for the length of their hemlines began long before the miniskirt was introduced in 1964, though Tunisia was the first country to ban the skirt altogether, soon followed by other African and Muslim nations, including Malawi, Madagascar and Swaziland. Twenty-six years later miniskirts were again outlawed in Swaziland in 2000 when it was believed that wearing them encouraged the spread of AIDS. Many men vocally defended the ban, vowing to rape any women they saw wearing miniskirts, saying, "They want to be raped and we're giving them what they want." The classic "they're asking for it" theory often comes up when a skirt ban is on the books. One example is from 2006, when then South African deputy president Jacob Zuma allegedly raped a 31-year-old AIDS activist because she crossed her legs in a knee-length skirt, signaling her desire to be raped, according to Zuma. "In Zulu culture you can't leave a woman when

Interview on A Full Plate

Writer, editor and busy mom Sarah Jio recently interviewed me and posted the results as a kind of "All About Ali" on her terrific blog, A Full Plate, where she dishes about writing, motherhood and what's for dinner. Sarah writes for top-notch publications, including O, Glamour, Health, SELF, and Fitness, among many others, so it's great to be affiliated with such esteemed company! Check it out at A Full Plate and then take a look at the rest of Sarah's blog. I especially like the food section, although I'm in awe that a woman raising a little one has time to make a gorgeous tray of Meyer lemon souffles, not to mention prune cake along with the rest of her Christmas feast. Who even knew you could buy Meyer lemons in December? Not me!