By know we've all read (or read about) that New York Times opinion piece shaming women for wearing anything other than sweatpants to the gym. We're not going to link to it here because we don't want to send additional traffic to the website; however, THIS article from Jezebel sums the article up quite nicely (make sure to check out the comments, they're gold). In short, the author of the opinion piece wears sweatpants to the gym, doesn't see anyone else wearing them and then proceeds to shame women for (1) wanting to look nice in their workout clothing; and (2) wearing anything other than baggy sweats to the gym. The article also cultivates the very thing that the author claims the proliferation of the yoga pants culture seems to cultivate: it shames women for dressing how they want, when they want.
The overarching theme of women shaming aside (because we don't have the time to go into that), most of the points that the author makes in the article are just plain wrong. So let's talk about those shall we?
Before we begin, let's give credit to Jezebel commenter olivianewtonjohn for perfectly summing up our opinion on the article:
She’s got it all wrong: Sweatpants are awesome for regular life, but terrible for working out. There’s too much fabric, so increased friction. Plus, when you sweat, they take forever to dry. Sport tights/leggings are the far superior choice for working out, from a practical POV.
Side note: Women should bend fully over and see how opaque their tights remain over their rears in that position. I don’t mind bulges or whatever. But I don’t want to see your basically bare ass 2 feet in front of mine in class.
That perfect summary aside, here's our in depth take on the article. Note: we've pulled two of the more ridiculous portions and will discuss in an attempt to be at least some what organized in our rant.
The author notes:
The author notes:
We aren’t wearing these workout clothes because they’re cooler or more comfortable. (You think the selling point of Lululemon’s Reveal Tight Precision pants is really the way their moth-eaten design provides a “much-needed dose of airflow”?) We’re wearing them because they’re sexy.
This statement leads us to believe the author doesn't regularly partake in any of the following activities: (1) yoga; (2) literally any HIIT class; or (3) running for longer than 30 minutes (if we're being completely honest, we're not convinced that her exercise routine is anything more than 20 minutes on the elliptical, but we digress). Why? Because if she did, she would realize that the mesh vents in those pants combined with the sweat-wicking fabric makes for a much more comfortable workout experience for a variety of reasons. First, the pants stay in place so you aren't constantly imitating a French ice dancer on the brink of a wardrobe malfunction. Second, the fabric plus venting does keep you much cooler (trust us, those mesh vents are clutch after a sweaty treadmill class or long summer run). So yes, the mesh cutouts do provide a "much needed dose of airflow" thankyouverymuch. Third, have you ever tried to do any sort of workout in baggy sweatpants? Besides the aforementioned wardrobe malfunction and sweat issues, baggy pants get in the way and can make even the easiest of workouts dangerous. There's a reason bike messengers wear tight pants. Also chafing. Baggy pants that don't wick sweat cause major chafing. I guess the author's never had to deal with that. Good for her. We're jealous. Also, who cares if we want to look sexy at the gym? If you do, go for it. Good for you. Want to wear baggy sweatpants? That's cool too. Workout in what makes you feel good.
The author goes on to state:
Deep-sea divers need skintight polymer pants; so do Olympic speedskaters. The rest of us could use some breathing room. So step into some slouchy pants with me. We don’t have to look quite so good when we’re just trying to look a little better.
Again, has the author ever worked out? There's a reason sweatpants have fallen out of favor in the workout world and it has everything to do with advances in fabric technology and nothing to do with being "sexy." Hell, even men's workout clothing has taken a turn for the technical. As we stated above, the "breathing room" the author craves creates a breading ground for bacteria and exercise related injuries. Tighter fitting exercise clothing in technical fabrics go a long way in preventing those injuries, especially if we're discussing sweat-wicking compression fabric. Yes, the compression fabric might make your ass look good, but it also provides essential support for strenuous exercise. That's why we wear it on our long runs. That's why doctors give you compression socks after surgery. So while we may not all be deep-sea divers or Olympic speedskaters, we do all benefit from the technological advances in those fabrics that she bemoans in such a sweeping and grandiose way.
What's even more interesting is that the article is nothing more than well written verbal diarrhea. Sure, it's an opinion piece, but the author should have known it was going to be controversial. Keeping this in mind, we would have expected to see at least some lip service to the functionality of the gym attire that she hates so much. However, it appears that the author put zero effort into researching the article because the article is void of anything resembling fact, which is particularly sad given how readily available information regarding the functionality of the leggings she hates so much is. We suspect that even the most cursory research was probably just too much work for someone who has apparently never engaged in exercise strenuous enough to require actual workout clothing. Also, can we take a moment to talk about the fact that she calls all stretchy pants "yoga pants"? WTF. They're leggings. And depending on the cut, materials, etc, they could be for yoga, or running, or spinning. There are activity-specific pants, which we admit we used to scoff at until we started getting more intense and learned from experience that having sport-specific apparel does make a difference. #runningundies)
In short, the author of this article probably should have taken 2 steps back (or at lease refused that 3rd glass of wine) before publishing the article because we think she probably would have rethought it. Workout in what makes you feel good. We'll continue working out in our spandex compression leggings and she can keep working out in her baggy sweatpants. We won't chafe and she will. Everybody wins.
In short, the author of this article probably should have taken 2 steps back (or at lease refused that 3rd glass of wine) before publishing the article because we think she probably would have rethought it. Workout in what makes you feel good. We'll continue working out in our spandex compression leggings and she can keep working out in her baggy sweatpants. We won't chafe and she will. Everybody wins.
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