How pretty those pants!

There was a moment when women could not use pants. It could be because of the reputation of the family; because of the social oppression of attributing this piece of cloth only to men; or it could be because of religious cause. Because there are a lot of religions that do not permit women to use pants, the impact of this practice has arrive to us, I mean, in our contemporary society. Religions as the Oneness Pentecostals; Orthodox Jews; or traditionally Catholics, prohibits the use of trousers because of many reasons: Biblical commands; the sacrament of leaving the space between legs clear; etc. But trousers (or pants) are indeed a piece of cloth without sex or gender predetermined. They were accepted time later the 19^th century, and by the time, women keep using it without any concern. But, how does this practice begun to be accepted by the society?

When the husbands of this women were in armed forces or in war, trousers begun to be a common habit among women which, when working in the outside or in the professional ambit, understood they (pants) could be useful. Specifically, later in the 20^th century it were considered as a piece for both sexes and as a fashion piece too. But there were always the controversy of this practice, especially from the religious sector (the opposition that had been dragged since that time until now). Knowing that, we should also have to know that there were women that fight against that opposition. In our island there was a woman very known by all of us: Luisa Capetillo. Known also as an anarchist, Capetillo used pants in public in many times, and because of that, she was arrested and then liberated (she was arrested because it was considered a crime). But globaly, she wasn’t the unique. Senators as Rebecca Morgan (the first senator to use pants in the U.S.); Barbara Mikulski; and Carol Moseley, were women in favor to the cause.

Lastly, trousers are not intended to be used only by men, although this is not part of the reality in today’s society. I think that religion is a prejudicial influence that go against the liberation of women in many aspect of their life. Religion arrest them in order to continue to be the submissive, without vision, homely women that have been for centuries. Religion should not be mixed with these facts, but sadly it is. Pants do not define how a woman should act or perceive things, nor in men do. This is because pants are just a piece of cloth that should not be adjudicated to only one sex and gender!