I’m already tired of what I have deemed The Yoga Pants Kerfuffle of 2015.
I bet you didn’t know yoga pants could kerfuffle, but they’ve caused quite a stir. Or, rather, one Christian blogger’s decision not to wear them has caused a stir. Veronica Partridge made internet headlines when she announced her conviction to ditch yoga pants in order to prevent lust in men.
Many writers and bloggers replied that Partridge was shaming women and removing responsibility from men, while Partridge maintains that she was only sharing her personal journey.
Much as I’m not a fan of the modesty narratives, I’m going to leave that point to other capable Christian bloggers because I see a glaring issue that seems to be falling through the cracks of the discussion. It’s staring us right in the face but my guess is that you, like me, didn’t see the forest for the trees at first.
In explaining why she wants to avoid tight pants that might cause lust, she cites her daughter as a major factor, saying:
I want her [my daughter] to know, her value is not in the way her body looks or how she dresses, but in the character and personality God has given her.
Fair enough. I agree with that.
But does this belief extend to any area beyond yoga pants?
Partridge appears on her blog and in a recent Buzzfeed article looking absolutely pristine. Her makeup is that combination of smooth, stunning, and natural that comes from careful study and a practiced hand. Her abundant hair is styled with every lock in place–and trust me, as someone who had long hair, I can attest that this would take a bare minimum of 30 minutes. Her clothes are trendy. The main picture on her blog honestly makes her look like a model.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with spending time on your appearance, but because women have been socialized to put so much worth in looking pretty, it’s an area of life where every woman should honestly explore her motives. Is she frilling up because she loves doing that? Or because she gets a sense of self-worth from meeting the visual standards in movies and magazines? If it’s the latter, that frantic need for approval becomes a cage that she might need freeing from.
It’s entirely possible that Partridge is completely consistent in her values, and spends time on her appearance for the sheer enjoyment of it, rather than from any sense that she should look this way or that way. I’m not trying to pick on her or guess her motives, I just want readers to not overlook that aspect of the conversation. You can (rightly) teach your daughter not to place her self-worth in societal standards of sexiness, but if you teach her that grown women shouldn’t be seen without makeup or styled hair, you’ve taught her to place her self-worth in societal standards of “safe” beauty instead—and still not solely on the value of her character.
Again, I want to stress, I’m not accusing Partridge herself of holding that double-standard. I just want women who read her article to reflect on that in their own lives, and not miss the bigger point that this modesty post accidentally brings attention to.
And I’m not saying that attention to your appearance teaches your daughter bad things. Enslavement to your appearance, however–the palpable fear that you don’t look okay, the stressed-out prioritization of an expensive beauty routine that you actually hate doing, the refusal to be documented in photos without sufficient time to glam up–well, that might not be so good.
Now, if we can be done with kerfuffling yoga pants for awhile, I’d really like the internet to move on to something else.