My brother and his wife have invited me to attend their Traditional Latin parish, and I am trying to decide what to wear to Mass. My sister-in-law and nieces have begun wearing skirts all the time since they started their involvement with this parish community a few years ago (they didn’t use to), and the few women friends from their parish that I have met also wear skirts or dresses as their normal everyday attire.
While I certainly believe that modesty is important for those who follow Christ, **why is there such a push to eschew pants for women among Traditional Catholics? **Personally, I dislike the look of full skirts in general and on me in particular (I feel frumpy in them); and while I think straight skirts look nicer, they are not very comfortable to wear. Pants are much easier to maneuver around in (especially if you have young children or need to bend over a lot or even climb up a ladder), and I never have to worry about a strong gust of wind blowing my skirt up. To make a long story short, I own only one skirt and have no dresses. And that is by my personal preference. Will people be giving me the evil eye if I wear a dressy pant suit to Mass?
I can understand how form-fitting clothing of any style (whether pants, dresses, skirts or tops) would be immodest. That’s not what I’m talking about here. ** What bothers me is the sense that as the quoted poster stated, Traditional Catholic women “are supposed to” normally wear skirts/dresses on a daily basis. **
I have heard my sister-in-law make comments (and pass on comments that other Traditional Catholics have made) that allude to the idea that pants incite men to stumble and are unfeminine. While SOME pants would certainly cause men to stumble (i.e., those that are tight), I don’t think that wearing pants makes a woman look like a man (unless she is a transvestite–and that is a whole different matter, with a woman who is trying to look like a man and wear men’s clothing). Women’s pants are made for women.
Wearing skirts/dresses wouldn’t bother me if the women did it out of personal preference (we all have them, and that is certainly okay); but it seems to me that there is some pressure to conform to (what appears IMHO to be) a legalistic moral standard within the “culture” of Traditional Catholicism.
I would like to hear (name removed by moderator)ut from Traditional Catholics on this issue. I don’t want to make any waves at my brother’s church, but I really do not care to wear a skirt.