Does the Bible say that women shouldn't wear pants?

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mercygate:
Please. Even Opus Dei has finally figured out that pants, as women wear them today, are no longer “men’s” clothing. Come to think of it, pants weren’t generally worn on the street by European men until the 16th Century. Barbarian Anglo-Saxons wore them earlier.

(My grandmother, at the end of the 19th and in the early 20th Century, had riding habits with skirts and always rode sidesaddle. FWIW.)
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The Scotsmen still wear skirts (er kilts)…

The Opus Dei women in my congregation have been wearing pants from the time I have been in the parish, and probably before that. It has not been an issue over here.

Maggie
 
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ahimsaman72:
Exactly. I take things like this as cultural expectations, not absolutes binding on Christians for all ages.

Peace…
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we do agree, especially about the legalism

Maggie
 
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Hermione:
Hello everyone,

A website I visited recently mentioned this passage:

It then argued that women should not wear pants, and those who do are disobeying God’s Will. Does the Church say anything about this?

They also referenced another Bible passage (forgot which 😦 ) and said that women serving in the armed forces are “abominations.” What does the Church say about women in the armed forces?
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As far as I know the Church takes no official position on the matter, but the whole gender and dress code thing has obviously been a concern of Jews and Christians for a looooong time, or it wouldn’t have shown up multiple times in scripture.

We obviously live in a unisex culture that’s trying hard to blur, or even eradicate, gender distinctions. You can look at this unisex thing in two ways. If you favor it, you can say the outside doesn’t matter, that you can’t judge a book by its cover and just shrug the whole thing off. I’m not one of those, and I say people aren’t books, and it tends strongly to be true that your body’s behavior influences your spirit. Why else would the Church say that we worship as we act? The position of being on our knees influences and supports a truly prayerful attitude. And so, I think it tends to be true that a woman who wears male clothing tends to act like a man, and vice versa. There is always the old saw, “Clothes make the man!”

I don’t run into many men who dress like women, so I can’t say much about that, but I sure do see a lot of what look to me like cross-dressing women. I have several children and a very large extended family, and we have a few young homosexuals of both genders. I simply do not believe that these kids were all born that way. I think at least some of them have been propagandised into a state of confusion about what’s appropriate. They’ve been TV-ed into feeling deep down that all this unisex stuff is cool and ‘in.’ I feel bad for them and bad for the rest of us, too.

Women have a right in our society to dress any way they want, but I think we need to set aside some of this “I have a right” talk and worry more about what’s wise.
 
Maybe I’m just being paranoid - but this is the the third or fourth forum in the past week where I’ve seen people suggest that it is “God’s will” that women cover their heads and only wear dresses.

I have always loved the catholic church for its sensible reasonable approach to issues like this - and it troubles me that there are some out there who would have catholic women treated the same as muslim women.
 
Does the bible say that men shouldn’t wear womens pants that look like mens but purchased in the womens department?

Help me split this hair_______________________________

😃
 
Does the bible say that men shouldn’t wear womens pants that look like mens but purchased in the womens department?
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😃

Am I violating God’s will when I wear my husband’s sweatpants to the grocery store?
 
Am I violating God’s will when I wear my husband’s sweatpants to the grocery store?
[/quote]

Now the truth is coming out 🙂 I would suggest that one is violating God’s will by wearing pants with the cheeks cut out ;).

Honestly I cannot conceive that God would be uspset if you wear a pair of unisex pants to the grocery store.

Maggie
 
Now the truth is coming out I would suggest that one is violating God’s will by wearing pants with the cheeks cut out .
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😃

Oh no!! They’re on to me. 😉
 
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Lorarose:
Maybe I’m just being paranoid - but this is the the third or fourth forum in the past week where I’ve seen people suggest that it is “God’s will” that women cover their heads and only wear dresses.

I have always loved the catholic church for its sensible reasonable approach to issues like this - and it troubles me that there are some out there who would have catholic women treated the same as muslim women.
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It is not your imagingation. This type of thought is creeping into the forum, but not the church, Thank God!
 
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ppcpilot:
All of this is in the Old Testament…what about St. Paul’s teachings about women not speaking in church, and covering their heads, etc…is this something that has been ‘loosed’ by the Church?
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The rules over women’s clothing is cultural. I think the basic message is against cross-dressing: because women and men are inherently different, even if equal.

Concerning women not speaking in Church, many scholars argue that these were not Paul’s words, but a later addition to the text. This is backed up by the fact that in the same letter (1 Corinthians) Paul writes about women who prophesy at liturgical assemblies and he has no problem with this.
 
It really bothers me when I find things like these:
Modesty is a separate issue. A woman wearing modest pants still offends God, not by lack of modesty, but by dressing like a man. A woman wearing an immodest skirt or dress offends God less than a woman wearing a modest pair of pants. The offense of a woman wearing pants is an offense against the very order which God built into Creation and humanity. The offense of a woman wearing men’s clothing is called an abomination by Sacred Scripture. When a woman dresses and acts like a man, it is an offense against the very order which God built into Creation and human nature. God is offended, even more so, when women dress and act like men in churches and during holy Mass. catholicplanet.com/women/dress.htm
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From a supposedly Catholic source!
 
AND…

  1. *]First, male and female clothing was distinct during biblical times. The passage from Deuteronomy saying that men should not dress like women and women should not dress like men must have made sense to the Israelites. They lived the Scriptures before they wrote them down.
    *]Second, though men wore robes, women’s dresses were distinctly different.
    *]Third, during New Testament times, Roman soldiers did wear trousers, so pants were known and were worn only by men.
    *]Fourth, for a very long time in the Church, men wore pants and women did not. This had become established within Christian culture as one of the main differences between men’s and women’s clothing. Only very recently has this difference been obscured.
    *]Fifth, Padre Pio would not even hear the confession of women who wore pants.
    *]Sixth, the passage from Deuteronomy specifically forbids unisex clothing. Even if some persons or many persons in ancient times dressed the same, Scripture is still true and must still be obeyed.
    *]Seventh, when the Virgin Mary appears in apparitions, she is always wearing a dress, never pants. All of the images and statues of her throughout the history of the Church present her wearing a dress, never pants.
    *]Eighth, when visiting the Pope or the Vatican, women are not permitted to wear pants. And they must wear a headcovering. When George Bush and his wife Laura visited the Pope recently, she wore a dress and a headcovering.
    *]Ninth, some Protestant groups still retain this insight, based on Scripture, that women should dress in a feminine manner, should not wear pants, and should wear a headcovering.
    *]Tenth, clothing is an expression of behavior and role. Even in our sinful society, clothing is still associated with roles, for example: police officers, judges, nurses, priests, nuns, and others wear particular clothing appropriate to and indicative of their roles. And one’s clothing is also an indicator of behavior and attitude. For example, nuns who are obedient to the Church like to wear the habit, but those who are disobedient hate to wear it.
    *]Eleventh, men and women are meant to have different roles in the Church, the family, and society. Men and women are meant to have different behaviors. Clothing is an indicator and expression of that important difference. So, the more important thing is the correct roles and behaviors for men and women. That is the main point of that passage from Scripture.
    *]Twelfth, when any woman who gives up wearing pants and who strives to dress in a manner pleasing to Christ and Mary, even though the culture around her tells her otherwise, she will be blessed by God and her prayers will be answered.
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  1. Same source as above!
 
Um, the ancient Hebrew people didn’t wear pants. Neither the men nor the women. Pants weren’t in general use until the end of the Middle Ages.

– Mark L. Chance.
 
Um, the ancient Hebrew people didn’t wear pants. Neither the men nor the women. Pants weren’t in general use until the end of the Middle Ages.
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I get the feeling your trying to bring COMMON SENSE to this topic!
Shame on you! 😃
 
When Saint Joan d’Arc donned men’s clothing for battle , including armour, she gave the detractors “ammunition” for burning her at the stake.

In fact one of the charges against her was the wearing of men’s clothes.
 
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Hermione:
AND…

Same source as above!
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The site you point out is strange. It says things like, “The offense of a woman wearing pants is an offense against the very order which God built into Creation and humanity.” at catholicplanet.com/women/dress.htm

This sounds like they intend to say that it is against the natural law for a woman to wear any sort of pants. Remember, this should then be clearish to men and women even of secular stamp throughout history. Somehow, I doubt this.

In another location, the site says, “Men are intended by God to be teachers and leaders in the Church, the family, and society. Women should not have any kind of teaching role over adult men. Women should not have any kind of leadership role over adult men.”

It clearly means (if you read the article) that women should not teach English at a coed college (unless only women go to the class) for example, nor serve as a judge in a court where any men might be on trial. Furthermore, they say a young woman should not teach substantially older ones, unless the older one is mentally disabled. ? I asssume it also covers teaching your mother how to cook salmon?

I think they are preaching to the choir. For the magnitude of the claims, there is not enough support offered.

Oh, here is a quote from the site:
Women should not be Lectors at holy Mass. Women should not read the Scriptures aloud to the faithful at Mass. Women should not distribute holy Communion at Mass.
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You almost get the feeling they wouldn’t have approved of Our Lady’s role in her Divine Son’s education.
 
Seeing clothing which is overly men’s on women somehow bothers me. I don’t really complain about trousers, although I’d rather the girl wore a dress on a date. 😉 Covering head? I know Saint Paul wrote that, but I have problems with treating it as a moral order for all Christians in all ages.

I won’t complain because of trousers alone, but a male suit with a tie on a woman does bother me and so does a male haircut, especially a grunt one. There are types of casual attire and work clothes which also make me react this way. It feels wrong in most cases. Grunt or near-bald haircuts probably in all cases.

And, of course, it feels wrong if guys walk in ladies trousers or wear anything that looks ladies’, especially when they actually cros-dress and wear a dress or a skirt and make-up.

But the rule itself might have been ceremonial.
 
what about priests and Bishops and popes wearing dresses. sorry i could not resist. this is my first post so please forgive my warped sence of humor. ruth
 
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