7 But the Lady said unto Samantha, Look not on her appearance, or on the manner of her attire ... for the Lady seeth not as mortals seeth; for mortals looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lady looketh on the heart.
You know, I've seen women wear pants to church numerous times over the years. It hasn't been often, but it has happened. When I was young, it always surprised me but I never commented. The women always looked appropriate and put together. Granted, I live in a very liberal area of the US that has a reputation for bucking tradition and the ward I grew up in was very loving and open, but the prevailing winds within the Mormon community have still leaned heavily to skirts and dresses. However, pants were not looked down upon, to the best of my knowledge, beyond a few surprised expressions before everyone got on with their day. Investigators and new members have generally been given a pass to wear whatever they want or have.
That being said, you wouldn't think this event would cause much of a ruckus, but the Event page on Facebook has been slammed by many orthodox members of the Church (and some random non-member trolls) for being disrespectful, sinful, daring to suggest that women are treated unequally, etc etc etc. Because once you're in and experienced (and Heaven help you if you're a lifer and you should "know better") your free pass goes away? God suddenly starts caring so much more about what you're wearing... even though we know that God very specifically does not look at the outside.
It calls to mind the many modesty lessons I've been given over the years in which some variation of this question was posed: Would you be ashamed by your clothes if the Lord came back and you had to bow before him?
No. No I would not. Not in a turtleneck. Not in a V-neck. Not in a skirt. Not in pants. Not naked as the day I was born. Never unless my heart was out of place, and not even then because I know that is why I have a Savior who loves me enough never to shame me. Instead, he suffered and died for me, to cover me with His grace and make Him and I at-one. Where there is God-like love, there is no shame; Where there is shame, there is no God-like love.
Therefore, I'm going to wear pants to church on Sunday and speak as my father's High Council companion about the spirit of Christmas and radical love.
I was really surprised by the response on the Facebook myself. I will admit that I struggled with the women ware pants day myself. Maybe you can help me. I consider myself t be a feminist. But I do acknowledge the idea that woman are equal but different. I haven't recoiled if this is practiced in the church as of yet. For me wearing a dress or skirt is a proud representation of my womanhood. It would be far more scandalous to see men in a dress at church than to see woman in pants. Therefore in a weird way I see waring a dress as a privilege that I have with my being a woman. Perhaps my thinking is contrary to feminism, but that is how I see it currently..
ReplyDeleteFrom everything I've read, I'd say it wasn't so much a thing about whether a person in particular likes to wear pants or skirt, but more about standing with those who feel different, whether for preferring to wear different clothes or hold unusual ideas. (I heard something interesting about Mayan women and skirts that I hope to blog about soon once I get more detail.)
DeleteThat aside, though, one thing I got to thinking about yesterday was that we're all very aware of the differences between men and women; they're a frequent topic of both secular and spiritual discussions. Maybe we should spend some time talking about how we're similar. We invest a lot of resources making sure everyone remembers that the sexes are different and gosh darn it, making sure it stays that way. But what about all the stuff that's just about being a person? I think differences would be easier for some people to deal with if we talked more about that. We're attracted to similarity in other people, being able to see ourselves in them, and it shields against feelings of Otherness. Diversity is to be celebrated. So is sameness. I should babble more about that soon...