SISSY CITY
Miss Law had one more giggle then she put away photos of two hundred and twenty three of Simon city's citizens. All the photos featured men. In every case they wore frocks. In every case they were diapered. All the diapers had been used and in most cases this was obvious from the pictures.
Otherwise the boys were all very different. They varied in age from just 21 to 82. Some were clean shaven. Some wore huge beards and whiskers. Others had neat goatees.
The photos would not be needed for four years. Simon city had just elected a female mayor, city council and astonishingly sheriff. This was 1882.
There were also a LOT of similar, though mostly older, pictures of her brother the Reverend Paul Law- who had just been elected to the territorial legislature. He would ALWAYS vote the way his sister and his wife ordered.
* * *
It had all happened in 60 days. The ladies of the town were angry but powerless. It was the only town in the territory which did NOT allow women to vote. Basically it was dominated by boys from four places- the rail-yard, two ranches and the small coal mine.
Matron Marshal of the hospital knew that every Friday she and her staff would be busy. The four big employers each paid monthly- in arrears. They each chose a different Friday. They each owned shares in the three huge saloons.
There would be men badly injured in brawls. There would be women beaten by their husbands. There would be victims of alcohol poisoning- the quality of the whisky was none too high. The matron had asked Dr Stevenson why men got so drunk. He said:
"Well they like to drink because it proves they are truly manly- whatever the boss says to them."
Nurse Jenkins worked on the children's ward. She overheard what was said and later talked to her boss the matron:
"MANLY, that's a joke. You know that for most of the week I work with babies, and they need diapers. Well after fella's get very drunk half the time they piss their pants you know. They should be taught that such drinking is babyish."
* * *
Miss Law had two interesting conversations just before a meeting of the Women's Purity League. The first surprised her. Lureen, one of the girls at the saloon tentatively tapped on the classroom door.
"What are YOU doing here?"
The big well endowed young woman burst into tears. Miss Law felt guilty.
"Er I em heard tell that you would give reading classes on Sat-days. See I got to thinking. Well, maybe if I could read an' all maybe I could do some thing better than er - than what I do. An' some of ther other gals would like reading too."
The respectable teacher talked to the saloon gal:
"Well officially the classes are for ALL adults. But well, I don't think my board had- er people like you in mind. I don't know."
"Er would it help if you knew lots of us agree with lots of what you want. We'd like to vote an' lots of us would PREFER to work respectable if we could."
The hospital matron had a little chat a minute before the meeting.
"The doctor's just too easily sold a pup. We've got lots of a useless pill. Tends to make folk piss themselves. Then all those sleeping powders, what do we want them for?"
* * *
The crazy plot was hatched. The next Friday Miss Lureen and several of her colleagues slipped some powders into some of the miner's drinks. They went to sleep rather faster than would be usual. This worried the main man behind the bar a little- but then well with the quality of the whiskey they had this could happen.
The last thing Geraldine O'Leary had said to her husband was:
"Please don't get too drunk tonight. Frances MUST have new shoes."
Willy O'Leary was cross with his wife. He wished she wouldn't nag so. He would teach her a lesson when he got home.
Very quickly he started feeling tired. The whisky Lureen served had tasted a little odd- but then it often did.
He remembered a bright flash. He thought he saw a camera but he was so tired. It was some kind of nightmare. What was he wearing? What was happening. He just went back to sleep.
It was usual enough for him to start waking up at after eleven in the morning the Saturday after pay-day. But this was very different. He was more tired than usual. He was more confused than usual. He wondered if he was still dreaming.
Frances had hated her father's drinking for as long as she could remember. She was now a clever, strong, fit, fifteen year old. She enjoyed what she now did:
"Time for baby Billie's diaper change."
It had to be a dream. His daughter was unpinning heavy wet diapers from his loins. She and his wife washed round his balls. They then pinned clean ones on.
William Patrick O'Leary woke up properly at six that evening. He was now sure he was not dreaming. The discomfort of hands firmly tied behind his back told him that. It was Frances who took the lead. Likely as not her mother would never have had the nerve to do what the purity ladies said. But Frances had not been beaten down.
"Dad, Sir, you are NEVER going to hit me or Mom again. If the only way you can be sure of that is to stop going to the saloon that's fine with us.
"But please remember this, if you lay a hand on Mom, or me or little Sean copies this photograph will be seen by everyone on town."
"Baby Billie" looked at the mirror. It showed him wearing a short dress. He was sitting on a rubber sheet. He could see the dampness of his diapers. He could feel it too. He was helpless with his hands behind his back.
The drunk also looked at the photograph. This too clearly showed him wearing a short dress and drenched diapers. The difference was that he was not, as far as the observer could see, under any restraint. It looked like he just happened to CHOOSE to put on a baby frock and petticoats and to wear and wet diapers.
Frances had not fully understood the importance of the other demand which was to be made. Geraldine knew.
"And you will apply for an absentee ballot- after all the mine is a long way from town - and you will give it to me. You'll do that when the men vote on women voting and when we ALL vote for the city government."
* * *
Caroline Brown was a good photographer. She knew how to develop film. She was hired by the Simon Citizen- in spite of her being a lady. For those four Saturdays she was very busy. She visited lots and lots of homes. Each photo was similar. She knew exactly how to get the picture to prove that the drunk's diapers were damp.
She also asked some of the wives, sisters, daughters or mothers to pose their erring men folk. They would look as infantile as possible. Some had rattles in their hands. Some had dolls on their laps.
* * *
The other members of the "Ladies' committee had been very worried when they found out that there were nearly 250 absentee votes when Simon City held its fifth vote on women's suffrage. They all seemed to come from a section of the community which rarely bothered to vote but were likely to be hostile to women voting.
The respectable women were as astonished as they were pleased when the vote was won 592-429.
Those same respectable women thought that all those women running for office weeks after winning the vote was frankly mad. A lot of these ladies did not even vote for the slate. They thought it meant that the worst elements were most likely to win.
Geraldine Law and her sister in law really wished they could tell their friends exactly how the matriarchs had won. More than two hundred men to gave their wife- or in some cases daughter or sister- their absentee ballot. The thought of anyone else knowing how they had been not only been humiliated in dresses and diapers, but also photographed, was terrifying. It was far worse than the thought of, say, being wounded in a gun fight.
So Simon city was now the only place in America, or anywhere, governed by women.
* * *
Miss Victoria Law had always been a "tom-boy". Her brother Paul had always had sissy tendencies. Had their father lived maybe Paul would have gone away to private school and have been hardened. But as things were they were short of money.
The girl's governess so loved them that she would carry on her teaching just for her keep. And she would teach Paul as well. He was upset to be taught with the girls but had no choice.
The family had once had three servants. Now for most of the time they had none. Miss Davidson the governess was very strict. She also did not think that it was good for girls even of good family to be spoiled. The idea of making doing the maid's job punishment seemed really good.
It so happened that Paul was the least well behaved child. At first he was just told to do dishes or peel vegetables. But the girls thought it unfair that they had to don the maid's uniform when they were naughty and he did not. Then too he was very lazy both in doing his chores and in school work.
So Miss Davidson decided that whenever Paul was being the maid he would be dressed as such. You should have heard the way all the girls laughed at him.
"I can see Polly's petticoat."
Victoria's sisters often said that even when it was not true. Every way he tried to sit down he was told was wrong. He was told to do the dusting three times because it was never right.
One day the younger girls Mary and Patricia discovered the ultimate punishment. Polly had been specially inept at doing the dishes. Miss Davidson agreed to accept their offer:
"Polly Mary and Patricia will do the dishes. Then they want to play mummy and Daddy."
Patricia dressed in Paul's old clothes. She put on a false moustache. Mary dressed as she usually did. They had been busy in the sewing room for just such an occasion.
Paul- er baby Polly was dressed in an incredibly short, incredibly frilly dress. The petticoats pushed it right up. As intended this revealed the many layers of diapers.
Paul thought that this was not very nice. But then neither was doing the jobs he used to do. Maybe playing baby was better than being the maid.
Paul soon changed his mind.
"I need to go to the bathroom."
"Babies go to the bathroom in their diapers."
Paul went towards the outhouse. Miss Davidson grabbed him and tied his hands together. She left him sat on the floor.
After about an hour it happened.
"Baby's wet his didies, baby's wet his didies."
Sang both of the girls. Paul- baby Polly- just sat there crying. He was left in that state for about an hour.
At last he was changed. Mary lifted him up. Patricia lifted his petticoat. Victoria unpinned the diapers. Miss Davidson washed round his intimate area.
But his ordeal was not over. Miss Davidson and each of the three girls took it in turns to sit on the floor. The child- Polly- was laid across each females knees. His petticoats were pulled right up. Heavy, humiliating hairbrush blows were landed.
Perhaps it was to avoid suffering too many similar encounters that Paul started working harder at his school work. He did well enough to go to a theological college.
* * *
When Paul returned from the college- that was in 1872 Victoria introduced him to his future wife- Gloria. She and Gloria were already very close. Both had taught school in Mississippi.
Gloria had learned another skill useful for the frontier life. That of drawing, aiming and firing a six gun. People like the Klu Klux Klan did not like people teaching "their n*****s". They thought a female would be very easily intimidated.
One particularly odious man broke into Gloria's bedroom. He believed that a woman like Gloria had no honor and would therefore submit to his will.
Gloria did NOT kill him. She aimed the gun far more effectively. No woman would have her honor threatened in that way by that man. The man was not even able to hide what had happened. In a sense the bullet had taken away his adult status as well as his manhood. His pants had big bulges in all the wrong places- he needed diapers. He left town. It allowed the school to stay in peace for two years.
* * *
Gloria was also very amused to hear about Paul's childhood. Miss Davidson had taken some photographs. Gloria also explained something of her philosophy:
"I know we all say that men and women should have equal rights but I don't believe that."
Victoria was shocked.
"You mean you DON'T think women should have the vote."
Gloria explained.
"NO! I don't think MEN should have the vote."
Victoria was amused by Gloria's comment. She thought it was a good joke. But of course Gloria was not joking.
* * *
Gloria was an effective tough sheriff. She was able to ensure that the town was cleaned up. No guns were allowed in the town proper. Alcohol was not actually banned- this would only lead to rot-gut making men even worse. However the amount a man could drink was limited. The quality was controlled. Women were much less at risk from drunken husbands.
Gloria's husband wired her and Victoria every day when the legislature was in session. He voted the way he was told. It might be thought that Gloria would be very lonesome at night. But Victoria was also good at keeping Gloria company.
People did not understand how often one visit from the sheriff was so good a taming troublesome men who had scared off the law before. They would have known more had they been with her at the O'Leary.
"Now Sheriff, I've got some pictures for you to see."
Frances showed Gloria pictures of her father in his diapers.
"Now do you want those pictures on the wall of the saloon?"
"Billie" did not want such pictures seen by his drinking buddies. He agreed to pay back the man who's property he had damaged. He also agreed to submit to a private humiliation.
"Diaper time for baby."
The Sheriff watched whilst Mr William O'Leary was first undressed, then put into diapers and then a dress. The man was crying. The sheriff was laughing.
Gloria then spoon fed him vegetable soup. She knew that he did not like that particular food.
There was one more shock that was due for him. He needed to go to the bathroom. He said:
"I must go out. I really NEED the bathroom."
Frances told him:
"Babies go to the bathroom in their diapers."
Billie said:
"I don't mean that I mean..."
Gloria informed him:
"Babies do their DOO DOO in their didies as well as wee wee."
The man spent the rest of that evening in tears. This kind of visit was very effective at keeping order in the town.
* * *
Editorial in the "Simon City Citizen": 31 December 1885
"Papers from outside our community call this place `Sissy City' because we allow women to hold positions of responsibility. We reject that view
"`Safety city' would be a much better title. Since 1882 there have been NO murders and no shootings in our fair town. Women AND men are safe to walk the streets. Crime does not threaten us. We all enjoy a new prosperity."
It is a pity that the ideas that created "Sissy City" were not more widely used in the following century.
Betty Pearl's Sissy Stories 20.1
Topic: Sissy City repost (Read 5221 times)
