My response to maryann white's letter

Maryann White’s letter expressing her opinion on the group of women wearing leggings and higher cut tops in church resonated strongly with me. I am not disgusted by her letter, nor do I completely disagree with her words.

I was born into a half-Catholic, half-Jewish family, two religions that had a major impact on my upbringing. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother and grandmother, both former models, picking my outfits. My clothes were chosen for me, specifically to reflect a sense of respect for my body. If I wore one tight piece, the rest of what I was wearing had to be loose. Skirts had to be a certain length. I could not wear a bikini until well into middle school.

As I approached adolescence, I felt trained in dressing. I knew my clothes often did not reflect styles as they came and went. I wore what was good for my body, not the people around me.

My all-female, Catholic high school had the greatest impact of all on my fashion choices. Maybe it was the uniform we were required to wear, which included a skirt that needed to fall about an inch above my knee, tall socks, and a collared shirt. Or maybe it was the strict rules we followed on “tag days,” when we were allowed to wear our own clothes to school. Ripped jeans, low cut shirts, and pants highlighting backsides (leggings) warranted demerits and trips to the principal.

I was taught that a church is God’s home, and we should dress as if we are visiting it. That being said, leggings highlighting our bodies are not appropriate to enter God’s home in, in the same way as they are not appropriate for a fancy restaurant or a nice dinner party.

These pants, I argue, are completely appropriate for everyday wear. Women should be free to dress as they wish when the situation is appropriate. If I could have worn leggings to class, I would have. I now wear them weekly in college.

Leggings, therefore, are not inappropriate because they objectify a woman. They are inappropriate because they are not the correct attire in which to attend certain events.

Our society is inherently flawed when it becomes a woman’s responsibility dress in a manner that does not attract male attention. This is where White’s and my opinions differ. I truly respect White for teaching her four sons not to ogle women. However, her decision to teach them that a woman’s clothes highlight how men think of her is wrong.

“I talk to my sons about Princess Leia and how Jabba the Hutt tried to steal her personhood by putting her into a slave girl outfit in which her body became the focus,” White said.

The way a woman dresses should matter only to her. I say this as someone who has been catcalled on public streets since I was fourteen years old, wearing skirts that my mother let me out of the house in. I also say this as someone who was taught by nuns, nuns who punished girls for wearing leggings.