Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Skirts

Well, it finally happened. Someone asked why I was wearing skirts so much. I told them that it was because I had become used to them. That was a true statement. Even after wearing them for a week or so, it feels kind of weird to wear pants again, especially jeans. But as I thought about it later, I realized there were some more meaningful reasons that I started wearing skirts more in the first place.

First and foremost, they make me feel feminine. From about age 6 to age 16, I was a definite tomboy. Pink was not my favorite color. I was better friends with Chris and Michael than with Valerie. But there came a point that I realized that being a girl didn't mean I had to be a pink-ruffles-and-bows girly-girl, and I relaxed my guard. I started wearing first jumpers, then skirts to church, because I wanted to. Now, because I want to, I'm wearing skirts on other days.

Besides making me feel feminine, skirts also make me feel modest. I'm not saying that pants and jeans are in all cases, immodest. After all, I do still wear them now and then (actually I am right now as I type this). And not all skirts are modest, although I hope the ones I wear are! But there's something about skirts that, besides being modest in themselves, encourage me to act modestly, to act like a lady*. And that's what matters, really.

Most females I know do not regularly wear skirts. Wearing skirts makes me feel somewhat like a maverick. It's rather fun going against the norm. But skirts also make me feel connected to both women in history (before World War II women wore skirts/dresses as a rule) and real-life current-day Christian families that I admire, including but not limited to a certain group in Wisconsin. ;) It was that WI group more than anything that actually got me started. I'd never seriously considered it before. But if they could wear skirts every day, even living on a farm, milking cows and riding horses, then I could too (minus the farm part)! There was nothing stopping me.

I can't predict my skirt-wearing trends. Maybe someday I'll go 100% skirts. Maybe I won't. But I'm leaning toward the former. I'm ready to stop rationalizing away Deuteronomy 22:5:
A women shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, not shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God.

Therefore, whether you [wear skirts or pants], or whatever you [wear], do all to the glory of God. (paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 10:31) God bless!


*I'll be the first one to admit that I haven't lost all my tomboy ways. I still run, play Frisbee, sit Indian-style, and even climb trees. (Hurray for long flared skirts!) I do, however, still prefer pants for Awana games and dodgeball. Old habits die hard.

3 comments:

  1. Lol I doubt you will ever read my comment to this post since it is an older one but I wondered why you wear skirts so often as well. Your explanation was interesting and amusing (I don't mean that in a derogatory way). Like the connection to history as well. That is cool.

    I never have thought of you as a tomboy, though I of course realized you liked the various athletic games we played in Lost and Found millenia ago. I think you strike a good balance (is there a word yet for someone who is halfway between a tomboy and a girl who is more feminine? I will have to create one! Teminine and fomboy don't do it justice...;-)- You're not afraid to break a nail but you also wear skirts and are concerned with more feminine things. Have to come up with a word for that. Anyways, this was amusing and interesting at a time when I required something amusing and interesting, so thanks for posting this. Talk to you later.

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  2. Ah! The mystery is solved. I agree with Shane, while you never hit me as a tomboy, I admired that you weren't a high maintenance "I'll break a nail" girl. I think that skirts really fit you well. Not to mention, they are quite cool to twirl in during square dancing lol (I don't know this from personal experience wearing one, just watching ze smiles on the ladies faces. :) ) Anyway, that is my two cents. We guys do notice these things. We just don't always say anything.

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  3. Thanks for comments, guys. And the compliment about me not being afraid to break a nail. :) Fyi, by the time you both met me I was already getting past my peak tomboy years (ages 5-12, starting when I was in public school kindergarten, no coincidence). There are actually several issues that I think much differently about now than when I was younger, for instance before Laura was born I couldn't imagine why people would choose to have more than 5 kids. LOL Not so anymore! but that's another post.

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