While Maryann White was attending Mass with her family, she noticed something about what the girls were wearing that couldn’t be ignored.
It was their “snug-fitting” leggings.
In an attempt to call on women everywhere to stop wearing the garment, this Catholic mother of four sons sent in a letter to the editor to The University of Notre Dame’s The Observer, claiming she was “ashamed for the young women at Mass”.
“Some of them truly looked as though the leggings had been painted on them,” White wrote. “I thought of all the other men around and behind us who couldn’t help but see their behinds.”
White said that looking at the girls’ nether regions was “unavoidable”, though she assured readers her sons definitely weren’t the ones staring.
“These are not just my sons — they’re the fathers and brothers of your friends, the male students in your classes, the men of every variety who visit campus,” she said.
“I’m fretting, both because of unsavoury guys who are looking at you creepily and nice guys who are doing everything to avoid looking at you.”
White expressed confusion as to how some women find leggings comfortable, likening them to being naked.
“The human body is a beautiful thing. But we don’t go around naked because we respect ourselves — we want to be seen as a person, not a body,” she said.
“We don’t go naked because we respect the other people who must see us, whether they would or not.”
White proceeded to coax girls to keep the mothers and sons in mind when going shopping next time, encouraging them to choose jeans over the “exposing” alternative.
“You have every right to wear them. But you have every right to choose not to.”
In response to White’s letter, women everywhere have started the Twitter hashtag, #leggingsdayND, accompanying it with photographs of them wearing their own leggings.
Top Comments
You have to love how the catch cry of modern feminism is "Don't you dare treat me like an object". Of course this is a valid point and something that decent men don't do; but you have to admit the message loses a lot of it's power when at the same time, young girls dress, act as and live their lives as objects and are told that this is "empowered"? Any wonder young girls are so confused!
And the idea that no one ever can possibly dare tell a young girl how to dress is utterly ridiculous! Companies have dress standards, uniforms etc so refusing to talk about dress in high school/university is just ridiculous. I am at uni now as a mature age student and am shocked by what young girls and boys think of as appropriate clothing! Immodesty aside, it is just completely unprofessional. It isn't any wonder that the universities inform uniforms when we go out on placement!
Schools aren't workplaces, they are places to learn and I fail to see why people cannot wear what they like to class and be as comfortable as possible so that they can learn without worrying about what some old dude thinks of their outfit choices.
Also, what feminist literature have you been reading? Because feminists don't tell young girls how to dress, act and live their lives as objects or that this is empowering, in my general experience.
If she this worried it shows one thing, What a crap mother she was. Only taught her son's that women are sex objects no matter what, didn't teach them respect or self control. Didnt teach them women are people and it's not on us to hide so poor men's don't feel tempted
She specifically says her sons aren't the ones doing it.
Well, there is a possibility she was watching the leggings too closely to notice her sons reactions - not that I'm a Psychologist.
Well, i'm not a PROFESSIONAL psychologist, but sounds very Freudian to me, noticing another person showing legs, butt, etc and thinking how distracting it would be.
I don't believe her for a second. For her to come out with this letter they must have said or done something for her to think it