People are pissed about a “New York Times” op-ed that claims yoga pants are “bad for women”
Following the February 17th publication of a New York Times article titled “Why Yoga Pants Are Bad For Women,” many have taken to Twitter to share their displeasure with the article’s author, Honor Jones. Jones argues that women aren’t wearing yoga pants for their functionality, but for their sexiness.
Jones suggests that by wearing yoga pants, women are buying into societal pressure to always look their best for others, even while doing something solely for themselves. She writes,
"We felt we had to look hot on dates — a given. We felt we had to look hot at the office — problematic. But now we’ve internalized the idea that we have to look hot at the gym? Give me a break. The gym is one of the few places where we’re supposed to be able to focus on how our bodies feel, not just on how they look. We need to remember that. Sweatpants can help."
Many have since taken to Twitter to argue that by choosing to wear yoga pants, whether for their design or functionality, women are in fact practicing liberation.
How about women wear whatever they want and other women stop judging them for it.
— Kate Lew (@PNW_Klew) February 18, 2018
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Countless others wrote that more often than not, yoga pants aren’t worn for their appearance at all. They actually make exercising and practicing yoga (which is their actual purpose) easier.
You’ve never actually done yoga if you are asking why people prefer to wear tight-fitting while practicing.
This may just be the most vapid thing I’ve read in a good while. You’re about as edgy as my nieces’ hand-me-down Fisher Price silverware, @nytopinion. https://t.co/Ya2Sm1FhxW
— Kylie (@KylieD87) February 18, 2018
I did yoga in loose sweatpants once, my toe got stuck in the elastic cuff and I fell forward on my face. Sorry for now wearing yoga pants for doing you know, yoga.
— Allison Peterson (@Lucy_1972) February 18, 2018
exactly the pt I was going to make. Yoga pants are shorter so ppl don’t trip, get caught up. Perf fabrics breathe, dissipate moisture, non-chafe seams; sweatpants are not athletic wear. What she was describing are athleisure and not designed for working out.
— Michelle S (@CelticknotterTO) February 18, 2018
Others were angered by her implication that women over a certain age shouldn’t wear yoga pants because of how they look. Jones wrote that yoga pants “threaten to show every dimple and roll in every woman over 30.” Obviously, her body-shaming rhetoric didn’t sit right with many.
I see someone has posted yet another op-ed on the perils of wearing yoga pants after 30.
Lemme clear this up for everyone:
Wear yoga pants if you want to. If somebody doesn’t like your over-30 dimpled rolls… tell them not to look. Dress for you, not for anyone else
— KodiKat (@puma_legal) February 18, 2018
Perhaps it’s time to stop quibbling over women’s wardrobe choices. Let’s support each other and focus on the larger issues at hand rather than yoga pants vs. sweatpants.
