Dress codes have changed drastically since the seventies. From girls only wearing skirts to boys always having a cleanly shaven face. We can all agree that the dress code back then was way more strict than today’s. Girls wearing pants was a big story topic here at GBHS. In the 1970-1971 Panther Tales Newspaper the dress code stated,”Culottes and pant dresses approaching shorts’s length will not be permitted,” but the girls of GBHS revolted against this rule. On October 28th, 1970, girls wore pants and slacks to school, the revolt only lasted until first hour then the girls were sent home to change into the proper dress code. Makayla Satterfield (Fr) said, “If people chose what I had to wear, I would think that it is stupid and should be protested.”

Some males during this time were very opinionated some saying that girls lose their femininity or even fat shaming girls who wear pants suits.

The girls here at GBHS did not back down and continued to fight until, December 7th, 1970, the Board of Education altered the dress code so girls could wear slacks. The revision stated, “girls may wear appropriate slack outfits and pant suits – not jeans.” This proposal was drawn up by then, senior Kim Schultz, who presented her proposal to the student council, which then was passed from the council to the Board of Education. Kelvin Mercer (Jr) said, “If I was a girl back then I would probably try to wear like dark jeans instead of slacks.”

It’s odd to think that girls couldn’t wear pants back then, it’s even harder to imagine it now.