I came across two portraits that  immediately interested me. The subjects are named but I could find any information about them. I’m sure you’ll pick up on the unusual aspect right away.

The first picture is tentatively identified as Mrs. J. Hagan(?), Montreal, QC, 1891. She’s a fairly intense-looking person.  I do love her collar .

McCord Stewart Museum Montreal

The second picture is Mrs. Cephas Ouimet. She was also photographed in Montreal in 1891. I’m curious about her clothes and jewelry. I wonder if she might have been associated with the clergy. She wasn’t a nun though so who knows?

McCord Stewart Museum Montreal

What I noticed right away is that both of these women have very short hair,

In 1890, even an elderly lady was expected to keep her hair long and pinned up.  A woman’s hair was tied to her femininity and respectability.

It would be another 30 years before women could wear their hair short without social blowback. It wasn’t illegal for women to have short hair— but it also wasn’t illegal to refuse to send girls home from school because of their short hair or to dismiss a woman from a job for cutting her hair short.

In 1890, a woman of any age couldn’t easily cut her hair short.  A young woman’s marriage prospects could be destroyed but a married woman (like both of these subjects) could face other consequences. Other women would gossip about her, of course.  But it could also impact her standing in society or at her church.

I looked for more information on Mrs. Cephas Ouimet. and Mrs. J. Fagan but I didn’t find anything more about them.

What can we divine from the pictures? As far as I know, these two women weren’t associated with each other, though they were both photographed in Montreal in 1891.  It cost money to have your picture made in a studio and they’re both dressed nicely so they both had some disposable income. Mrs. Cephas Ouimet.was evidently a religious woman.  If Mrs. Fagan had been photographed from the front, instead of in profile, we would have assumed her hair was pinned back. It seems like the photographer deliberately took her picture at an angle to show her short hair..

What do you say? What are these rebellious ladies up to?