Rantings of a Working Mom: Are Yoga pants The Root Of All Evil?

Petra's Yoga Poses around the world (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Marriages end at a rate of about 50%. If you listen to one blogger, it appears that yoga pants may be the cause. In "Why I Choose to No Longer Wear Leggings", Veronica Partridge outlines her vow to give up wearing yoga pants for the good of her marriage and respect of her husband. According to Partridge, during a conversation with her friends, God enlightened her to the sin of wearing yoga pants.

After being enlightened she discussed what God told her with her husband who agreed wholeheartedly. He even confessed that he gets turned on by seeing a woman in yoga pants. This confirmed the sin for Partridge and she vowed to never wear yoga pants outside of her own home again. To be fair when researching this issue myself, I found no mention of the term "yoga pants" in the bible generally or in the Ten Commandments specifically. That said, the "do not covet your neighbor's wife" commandment" basically covers all lustful thoughts.

Far be it from me to get between another woman and her convictions or her marriage. So, if the Partridge family believes that yoga pants are the root of all evil, that is good enough for me to support her decision not to wear them. That said, the thought process underlying her decision bothers me at the core.

Wearing Yoga Pants Is Not the Root of All Evil

The message is clear. Don't be too pretty. Don't let your shape show. And by all means, be modest for the sake of society. All of that will be possible if you simply forgo wearing yoga pants.  Who knew that article of clothing had such power?!

As a fashion choice, yoga pants are a much better option than the shapeless sweatpants worn by moms of prior generations. Also, they are infinitely better than those hideous "mom jeans". That said, I think that yoga pants have become a lazy choice on the part of women who really want to avoid getting dressed. Wearing Lululemon yoga pants has even become a status symbol on the mommy circuit because they are expensive and if you can afford to wear them and not work you have arrived! 

The church has a long history of "slut shaming", wherein women are made to feel guilty for their attractiveness and have to work to dim their lights in order to make it easier for men. Since Delilah allegedly caused Sampson to lose the kingdom women have been blamed for leading men astray. 

That line of thinking has to stop. It is destructive to women. It is also destructive to a society that has long struggled about how to deal with sexual assault. If we teach our daughters that they will be safe only if they wear the right clothes, it suggests that they deserve what they get if they don't. 

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