Twitter Is Outraged After A New York Time’s Article Said Women Shouldn’t Wear Yoga Pants

If you were to ask me what are five items I cannot live without, without a doubt in my mind, yoga pants would be up there. Sometimes called yoga pants, sometimes called leggings, weirdly sometimes called “stretchies” by middle-aged women who are out of touch with society–they are the world’s most comfortable pants. And, the beauty of them is that it’s socially acceptable to wear them wherever we please. I’ve gotten away with wearing yoga pants to some pretty fancy places–as long as I throw on a nice top and shoes with them, I can eat as much as I want in style. So, you’d understand my shock and anger when I saw that a New York Time’s op-ed article decided to tell me that I shouldn’t wear my yoga pants. Please. Spare me. I own at least 25 pair of black leggings and you will not stop me from wearing them everywhere.

I decided–against my better judgment–to dive into this op-ed piece on one of my favorite news sites and was horribly disappointed. The author decides to tell her readers that it’s bad to tell other women what to wear, but, women wearing yoga pants and leggings are only doing them for one reason–to look hot.

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.

We felt we had to look hot on dates — a given. We felt we had to look hot at the office — problematic. But now we’ve internalized the idea that we have to look hot at the gym? Give me a break. The gym is one of the few places where we’re supposed to be able to focus on how our bodies feel, not just on how they look. We need to remember that. Sweatpants can help.

Excuse me–but–no. I don’t wear yoga pants and leggings because I need to feel sexy at the gym, I wear them because they are comfortable and I will trip over sweatpants if I’m running on the treadmill. I wear yoga pants because I don’t want to feel as though my jeans are indenting my stomach when I decide to go for dessert on the date and instead, opt for yoga pants with extra room. I wear yoga pants when I’m doing yoga because trying to do any of the poses in sweatpants will cause me to have a broken limb.

Whoever this woman is, wherever she is, please–sit down. I’m annoyed with your existence and the fact that you would spend your time writing an entire article about how angry you are that women shouldn’t wear yoga pants because they are too “sexy.” What happened to women supporting women?

Trust me, I’m not the only one who was angry at this article. After The New York Times posted the link on Twitter, women everywhere were lashing out at this sexist article (yes, even if it was written by a woman), and men, too.

Sit down, lady, while I continue to thrive and have a successful life/career/workout in my leggings. Good.Bye.