Message #44370

[hannahj]

I know that this post is an old one, so I apologize for bringing it back up... but I really wanted to comment.

I'm a woman(obvious by the name, right?) and I think that women should only wear dresses and skirts. Now, I don't think that women are going to hell for not doing it(that's legalism, and unscriptural) but I do think that wearing skirts and dresses makes God happy.

I'm in the middle of drafting a book directed towards Christian women(which I don't think will be popular...) and in it I explain why I feel this way:

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I think that things that show cleavage, are too tight, or that draw attention to your private areas are not good to wear in public. I think we can all discern amongst ourselves what that means for us. Something that is modest on a thin woman might not be so modest on a curvy woman. When in doubt pray about it, and asking your husband might help too.

The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.  Deuteronomy 22:5

What does this verse mean? Can anyone tell me? I hear so many conflicting responses.

One that I hear often, is that men and women used to wear robes. The men's robes were very different than the women's robes. Therefore, in the past, they weren't allowed to wear the other gender's robes. That it was a cultural thing in the past that doesn't apply to now.

I find this explanation severely lacking... All other Old Testament rules were either done away with or solidified in the New Testament. For instance, the levitical dietary guidelines were revoked in Acts 10 and 11, the animal sacrifices were done away with when our Lord and Saviour Jesus was slain on the cross to forgive us our sins, the multiple wives that were permitted for a time were done away with when Jesus reiterates God's words in Mark 10:7-8... I could go on, but the point is that Deuteronomy 22:5 was not done away with. In fact, you could make the argument that it was reiterated in 1 Timothy 2:9 and 1 Peter 3:2.

So, I will ask again, what does God mean by this verse?

While it is true that in Biblical times women and men both wore robes, they were different. There was a difference between men's and women's robes, because men and women are different. So how can we dress different from men today?

The answer is one that you probably already knew... I think to apply Deuteronomy 22:5 to today, we can only assume that we shouldn't be wearing pants.

It's interesting to note that women didn't start wearing pants until the early 20th century. Before that only men wore pants. In fact, up until 1972 it was required of women to wear skirts at work and for girls to wear them at school. Dresses and skirts are distinctly feminine. If a man wore a skirt down the street most would gawk. I think this proves a valid point.

Also, have you ever noticed the signs for genders outside of the bathroom? The men's bathroom has a sign with a stick person wearing pants, and the woman's bathroom has a sign with a stick person in a dress. The only difference between these two stick people is what they are wearing, one wears pants and another dresses. They are distinctly different because of their clothing.

Another interesting note about pants on women is the modesty issue. Are pants even modest?

Pants are form fitting, thus tight. A good fitting pair of jeans is designed to draw attention to your rear, otherwise they don't fit "right." I think that this really says something about pants.

Cathy Corle,in her book What in the World should I Wear?, shows a group of women two pictures of the same lady. The first one has her in a nice dress. She asked a group of ladies what they noticed about this woman, and they answered her face. Then she showed them the picture of the same woman in a pair of jeans and asked what they noticed. They said their eyes were immediately drawn to the crotch area!

Something that has become popular now and days is to wear leggings for pants or skin tight yoga pants. These leggings and yoga pants are so skin tight, they are almost worse than jeans. They leave nothing to the imagination, and they don't help your brothers in Christ to look at you like sisters. Another new fad is short shorts in the summer, so short that they might as well be underwear. Shorts are just like pants, they are still tight no matter what, they are still immodest, but almost worse so. They show your thighs, and a lot of them draw even more attention to your rear. Overall, I think that these are totally wrong for modest women to wear; no one can say that yoga pants and shorts are modest.

Another thing on shorts(and shorter dresses and skirts), Isaiah 47:2-3 says this:

Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen...

God is talking about Babylon, in this verse, and their thighs being uncovered(also called their nakedness). Also, in Exodus 28:42, God instructs Moses on how to dress the priests:

And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach

God calls the Babylonians who have their thighs uncovered naked. He also says that the priest's thighs should be covered. These verses convict me not to wear anything that shows my thighs. In the Old Testament, showing your thigh was akin to being naked.

So then, what if it's summer? What am I supposed to do when it's hot outside? What did people in the past do? In the middle east people don't wear shorts in the summer. Most women wear flowing dresses made of a light fabric like linen. The light fabric helps their clothing to breath, and the fact that their clothing covers their body helps to protect them against the sun's harmful rays.

Ok, so we know that pants that fit correctly on women are form fitting and immodest, well then another argument that I hear is "what if I wear loose pants?"

I find this argument is grasping at straws. If your pants are loose are you dressing femininely? If your pants are loose, it will literally look like you are wearing your husband's pants. Wearing men's pants isn't feminine and goes against the teaching in Deuteronomy 22:5.

Other arguments that I hear are that women don't want to show their varicose veins, or that they don't like the way their legs look. I find that this is a lack of submission. These are excuses to go against what God is teaching in His Word. Should you lie because the truth might hurt someone's feelings? It's still a lie, you will still be punished. And besides, you could always wear tights underneath your skirt or wear longer skirts.

I think that modesty is a complex issue. I think that it's an issue that isn't spoken of enough in the church. What this topic really needs is balance. You can wear whatever you want to wear, but that doesn't mean that all things are good for you to wear.

I think something that everyone should keep in mind is this: If I were going out to lunch with God, would I want Him to see me in this? If the answer is no, then you probably shouldn't be wearing it.
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I hope I didn't miss anything. And if you, as mostly Christian men, have anything to add that I may have missed please tell me. I think that it is pleasing to the Lord for women to wear skirts/dresses only, similar to it pleasing the Lord for women to have long hair.

Thanks for your time and God bless.