Dress codes and female dignity

How many among us recognize the name of Yolande Betbeze Fox, the Alabama beauty who died recently at the age of 87? Fox blazed quite a trail through American culture when, as Miss America of 1951, she refused to reign in a bathing suit. The swimsuit-maker sponsoring the pageant was not pleased. Educated in a convent in Mobile, Fox championed a certain propriety in dress. She found the idea of parading half-naked around America most distasteful. Fox moved on to become a prominent progressive act

How many among us recognize the name of Yolande Betbeze Fox, the Alabama beauty who died recently at the age of 87? Fox blazed quite a trail through American culture when, as Miss America of 1951, she refused to reign in a bathing suit. The swimsuit-maker sponsoring the pageant was not pleased. Educated in a convent in Mobile, Fox championed a certain propriety in dress. She found the idea of parading half-naked around America most distasteful. Fox moved on to become a prominent progressive act…