Talking to Myself: Leggings

You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything
You've got to be your own man, not a puppet on a string
Never compromise what's right and uphold your family name

You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything

© 1991

This chart was showed to me by a dear friend about a year ago, and I love it to this day. Very useful.

I consider myself lucky to have been raised in a conservative household. I realize that conservative is a relative term, but believe me when I say that if my family could pick a favorite decade, it would probably be the fifties—which should say a lot about our values. Within my crazy household that at one time had 8 people running around in it, I was taught that having opinions is a good thing, but only to a point. But also, education is the best way to fight ignorance.

For those of you who have known me a long time, you know that I am prone to having conversations with myself. Once in a blue moon, these conversations are productive. I have been having a recurrent conversation over leggings lately, and over time it has morphed into something that I thought was worth sharing. Take it or leave it, but please read the whole “conversation” before commenting in agreement or disagreement. As always, thank you for taking time out of your day to read my ramblings.

“Leggings and yoga pants should be accepted as a piece of fashion, and girls should not be shamed for wearing them.”
I agree that shaming is bad, but you should be willing to listen to the other side of the arguments. This also includes not making assumptions about people who oppose the legging fad.

“I wear leggings and yoga pants because they’re comfortable!”
That’s awesome. If they are comfortable, that means they are serving their purpose. Leggings go farther back than yoga pants, but they are lumped together in one category today which is most times dubbed “athletic wear” or something similar. As much as going through the stresses of everyday life might require grace and lots of practice to master, it’s not a sport. Unless you’re on your way to gymnastics, ballet class, or the Tour De France, please consider wearing real pants.

“But Amy, if I can’t wear leggings and yoga pants, the only thing I have left is sweat pants.”
Story time! A long long time ago, during the time of the Gold Rush in the 1800s, lived a man named Levi Strauss. He had a friend named Jacob Davis. Together they created a new kind of clothing called jeans. To this day, they are still a widely acceptable and accessible piece of clothing. In fact, they became so popular, that Levi’s “jeans” are now duplicated by every clothing manufacturer in one form or another.

At this point, I have gone to just saying “leggings” instead of listing similar pieces of clothing, but my views are the same for all items.

“But jeans are expensive. Leggings are so much cheaper!”
The fabric that makes up leggings is, most times, some combination of spandex, polyester, lycra, and/or elastin. These fabrics are made synthetically from threads that are pretty much pure plastic. The main ingredients in these plastics come from coal, oil, and natural gas. By creating a demand for these fabrics, more drilling and mining must be done. This destroys the precious environment. Also, the gasoline industry has to share their oil with fabric manufacturers, raising prices. So which would you like: paying $10 more for pants, or $25 more on that fill-up?

“My car is environmentally conscious and I only need to fill up twice a month.”
You are still condoning/causing the destruction of the environment with your pressure on the synthetic fiber industry. Don’t try and pretend that having a diet full of items from Whole Foods and driving a car that gets 50 mpg makes you environmentally conscious. If you don’t look at the whole picture, you are simply a hypocrite, whether it is intentional or not.

“I should be able to wear whatever I want. Freedom of expression!”
I am not even going to touch that issue. I will urge you, however, to think about how what you are wearing portrays how you view yourself. It does not necessarily portray how you act, but it shows a lot about how you much respect yourself. If you go around with painted-on bottoms, people are going to make assumptions about you and how you perceive right and wrong. It’s not an issue of whether you should be allowed, but more of an issue of the consequences of your choices.

“That makes no sense. You are just an anti-feminist.”
I whole-heartedly disagree. I think women having more rights is a great thing. I am not trying to tell you what to wear. I am simply giving you my views on the subject, and letting you take from it what you will. A few years ago, this issue was described to me by a teacher and that discussion has stuck with me and I think about it every time I decide what to wear. I don’t remember the exact words said, but here it is in a nutshell:

When you put on an outfit, it can greatly change your personality. No matter who a person is, they are going to act differently in sweat pants than they would in a ball gown or a suit. Take for example, the FFA jacket. When a student slips on that corduroy, they become a piece of the greater whole. Members are encouraged to act with respect, dignity, and kindness. If you run into someone in an FFA jacket, no matter where they are from or their background, you can expect these virtues to be displayed. It says a lot about the organization that over the entire nation, the members are some of the nicest people there are.

I took those words to heart, and I notice these personality differences in people I see on the street. That’s not to say I condone judging of strangers, but you can tell that people act differently, as a whole, when they have different clothing on.

“Wait, so what’s your point?”
Personal expression is great. I completely advocate for it. Whether you want to wear a burka or booty shorts, I care not. But what I do care about is the young people who are being raised into this culture. In today’s society, greater emphasis is on self-image, and people are getting involved with social media at younger and younger ages. When I was 8, I was not concerned about how many ‘likes’ my selfie had on Instagram-I was more concerned with the new book that the library at school had gotten last week. Young people need to be taught that beauty is on the inside, not the outside. And that’s a cliché that has been around for ages, but it is more prevalent today than ever before. Girls—and boys – are increasingly exposing themselves with their fashion choices in order to be liked and fit in. As a society, we need to do a better job of teaching respect, whether that is towards ourselves, or others. The rest will come naturally.

     So there it is folks. A glimpse into the inner workings of my psyche. This might make more sense to me than it does to others, and I’m expecting that; after all, these ideas have been swirling in my head for about a month now. I welcome feedback, positive and negative. What I ask is that we all respect each other’s beliefs, ideas, and thoughts. Please no bashing just for the heck of it. Also, if you would like more of these “conversations” I have a few saved up that I could share on different topics.


As a side note: If you happen to share my beliefs on the emphasis for teaching about inner beauty, check out the Gardiner Sisters. They are a group of actual sisters that are pushing their way into the music scene using YouTube, and they use their popularity to spread the word of true love and beauty. Their Be Real Beauty campaign is fantastic work. Thanks for reading!