America’s War on Leggings: Why Are They So Controversial?

During the most recent Republican presidential debate, Jeb Bush was asked whether he believed that Fantasy Football should be regulated by the government. Chris Christie jumped in and scolded the moderator for what he felt was an inane question.

“Wait a second, we have $19 trillion in debt, we have people out of work, we have ISIS and Al Qaeda attacking us and we’re talking about fantasy football?” asked Christie. “Can we stop? Can we stop? Seriously?”

Surprisingly, the New Jersey Governor failed to mention another plight that’s been affecting Americans on what now seems to be a twice weekly basis: The war on leggings.

Late last week, more than 30 young girls were sent home from their Tennessee high school—not for acting out, for defacing school property, or for bullying fellow students—but for wearing leggings. According to the school’s dress-code, leggings are too much of a distraction for male students.

This comes just a week after a woman named Jamie Randolph, also from Tennessee, recorded a now-viral rant about the growing leggings-as-pants ‘epidemic.’ Randolph, whose video now has over 1.2 million views, has now made guest appearances on both Today and Fox and Friends—the latter of which hosted a “panel of dads” recently, which discussed the appropriateness of leggings.

“Most of the time, it don’t matter how big you are—as long as you keep your tail end covered,” Randolph preaches.

Clearly, a lot of people—even those outside of The Volunteer State—are in agreement: Leggings should not be worn as pants. But why? What’s so terrible about a woman showing her shape in stretch fabric?

In the last century (because yep—they were even around long before that), leggings have been in and out of fashion for the last several decades. In the ‘60s, they were worn by Twiggy types trying to exaggerate their boyish figures. The ‘80s saw leggings reemerge as a workout staple. With the early 2000s came a new fad of leggings under skirts and tunics, and now, they’ve taken the place of pants. Yet, despite their clear resilience through various fashion trends, leggings as a style statement continue to be much maligned.

In an The Observer article titled, “Oh No, Leggings Are Back…,” it’s argued that the footless tights were “purpose-designed to draw attention to chunky ankles, oversized calves and plump thighs—and anyone who is shorter than your average supermodel will find that they cut off the ankle at a deeply unflattering point.” That piece was published 10 years ago—and leggings have only become more popular.

Here’s why: They’re comfortable, they’re easy, they’re generally affordable, and with the proper styling, they can actually look quite chic. The case against leggings is, yet again, an issue of body shaming—and on a greater scale, female shaming. No one’s ever complained about seeing Gigi Hadid walking around SoHo in black spandex, or posted a rant on YouTube about Gisele Bundchen strutting around Boston in her Lululemon. But when it comes to so-called “normal,” non-celebrity females? Our clothing choices are apparently ripe for ridicule from the rest of the population.

I don’t really care that Jamie Randolph is a woman: Her video is no less sexist than Fox’s “dad panel.” Telling a stranger how to act or dress in a public format is rude, patronizing, and uncalled for—and the fact that so many have gone on to share her sentiments is just plain unsettling. It’s not funny or clever, it’s just mean. Furthermore, leggings in school are no more distracting than the the kid in class who won’t stop rocking back and forth in his desk. And anyway, since when can you even see a girl’s tush during most of the school day? Are standing desks now the norm? Because last I knew, most students sit while they’re being taught.

As long as men are permitted to walk around in public with their shirts off, or with their pants slung below their boxers (a dying trend, as-is), leggings, worn as pants or layered, are a non-issue. It’s time to leave girls alone and let them wear what they want to wear, so we can focus on the more important issues.

Like, seriously: Should the government be regulating fantasy football?

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