"show ankle" query

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

     Some years ago I visited several southern U.S. cities and took a tour in one of them--I believe it was Savanna.  The guide showed us a house with an outside dual-staircase and explained that the reason for the two staircases was to prevent the men from catching a glimpse of a woman's ankle as she walked up the stairs.  One staircase was for the women and the other was for the men.
 
     I know this isn't conclusive evidence, but now that the question has arisen, it should be easy to check it out with a Southern historical society.  
 
Gerald Cohen

________________________________

From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Amy West
Sent: Tue 2/13/2007 10:00 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "show ankle" query



What's the support for this claim of origin/use for the dual
staircases? I am skeptical of these sorts of claims as there are
myths like the "closet tax" that circulate about historic houses and
there is absolutely no documentary evidence (no statutes, no records)
for such things.

---Amy West

>Date:    Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:32:24 -0600
>From:    "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
>Subject: "show ankle" query
>
>     I explained that showing ankle derives from the days when
>well-bred women would not not show their ankles in public, and to do
>so was a decided bit of coquetishness. Cf. the dual outside
>staircases before some homes in the South--one coming from the right
>and the other from the left--so that the men and women would not go
>up the same one and produce the risk of a man catching a glimpse of
>the ankle of a woman ahead of him.

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