Wear Pants to Church Day

See, that’s the funny thing. I would happily wear pants to church just because I don’t have a problem with it.

However, this FB group is pretty popular in some circles, but doesn’t really have clear motives, now I’m considering not because I’m not clear what “statement” people would think I was making.

MY statement is “Here are these pants, they are clean, dressy, and warmer than my skirt, I can’t imagine why you care, but there you go.”

There is a good discussion on NOM right now dealing with this issue.

The Facebook group is trying to point out the disparity of the sexes within the church…gender inequality.

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SamBee, I hear where you are coming from. As early as a preteen I was highly self aware how boring the dress style was with men at church. I wasn’t aware of all the formal rules or customs though. Just that we all dressed very blandly, especially compared to the much better and colorfully and varied dressed wormen whom I noted always looked nicer and sharper then us. I was probably late teens of I remember right when I oppertunity came from out of nowhere. One of my Scottish friends had felt left out in church. He happened to have several wool kilts. As a show of support, I suggested that maybe we and a few friends of his who also expressed interest in trying kilts could wear them. Not to church but to The church Fireside. The 4 of us went to the fireside that week in wool kilts(red,black, grey and a few other colors if I remember right, like a plaid). Needless to say I wasn’t expecting all the looks and comments, as I was quite niave and didn’t see the big deal, I was focused on supporting my friends culture so he didn’t feel so “out”.

On the plus side a few people including adult women gave us compliments. So it wasn’t one sided view all the way. It was quite the experience for me and opened my eyes to how quickly people are judged on the dress and not just in the church. But I think USA as a whole has become more excepting of culture “attire” differnces. A Ex GF of mine was Indian and tried to wear a Sara to church, it was muxed results as well but I loved it. Not the same old same old, color and spice but still with reverence and respect toward god. But that’s not always how people of “tradition” view things. Tend to be stuck with holding to “tradition” right or wrong or inbetween.

See, that’s the funny thing. I would happily wear pants to church just because I don’t have a problem with it.

However, this FB group is pretty popular in some circles, but doesn’t really have clear motives, now I’m considering not because I’m not clear what “statement” people would think I was making.

MY statement is “Here are these pants, they are clean, dressy, and warmer than my skirt, I can’t imagine why you care, but there you go.”

Well said, Rebeccad!! What a perfect way to sum it up. How often have I tried to come up with a sentence to describe reactions to my occasional non-white shirt or my ever-present goatee

…The men, on the other hand, wear … shades of gray….

I feel very frustrated a….

How many shades of Gray do the men wear….Fifty perhaps? That would keep me awake in church…though might not help the feelings of frustration 😯

Our ward is roughly 20% Pacific Islander, and several of the brothers wear lavalava on Sunday — with a white shirt and tie. Always very conservatively coloured – black, brown, etc.

And I totally agree that even though women wear dresses, it would be perfectly acceptable for a good Molly Mormon to ruck up to Church in an Old Navy ring-necked t-shirt, a hippie-style cotton tie-dyed skirt and Birkenstock sandals. I’d take that level of comfort any day over a freakin’ Mr. Mac suit.

I’m glad to hear that the suit has not entirely won out in the Pacific! Polynesian clothes are much more practical in the heat and humidity I think.

I wonder if Japanese sisters wear kimonos to church or not, or if Chinese brethren wear those wonderful Chinese suits? I doubt it.

I think very few men in the church with Scottish backgrounds wear the kilt to church… but why?* And the crazy thing is that tartans reflect pride in our ancestry, something the church is always banging on about. I’d love to wear a kilt to church, but wouldn’t be comfortable doing so. (I’ve worn one on numerous occasions outside the church)

There is a gender issue here, but in this particular context, I don’t think it’s purely a female one. I would say the issue of the priesthood, that IS mainly a female issue, because we’re allowed to have it, and you’re not. In this matter though, both genders are restricted in what they can wear. You ladies are looking over at us men, and wanting to wear pants, and at least some of us, are looking back over at you, and envying the variety of clothing that you get to wear already.

* Certainly worn on other occasions e.g. dances etc, but seemingly not in sacrament meetings etc.