<\/p>\n
I recall watching this same conversation in my own church: Should women wear pants to church. Only difference was, I watched that conversation back in the 1970s.<\/p>\n
A call for Mormon women to wear pants to church, begun this month by a small group of women, has stretched across the globe, but not before creating a backlash and even generating death threats.<\/p>\n
\u201cWear Pants to Church,\u201d an event on Sunday, was meant to draw attention to the role of women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>, using attire as a symbolic first salvo in a larger struggle over gender inequalities.<\/p>\n
Though the Mormon Church has no official policy against women wearing pants to church, many say they feel peer pressure to wear a dress, particularly in the Western United States, organizers said. So on Sunday, thousands of Mormon women arrived at church in pants in places like Cambridge, England; Heidelberg, Germany; Austin, Tex.; the Marshall Islands; and Kotzebue, Alaska. A number of the women posted their photos <\/a>on Facebook and other Web sites. Others said they could not participate because they were fearful of ridicule or reprimand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This can be an important issue for some women. I remember my grandmother struggling mightily, wondering what would happen if she wore pants. When she finally succumbed to the lure of the pantaloon, she generally picked wide bottomed pants with fabric that resembled that of a dress, never denim, khaki, and such.<\/p>\n
\u201cWear Pants to Church\u201d was the idea of Stephanie Lauritzen of Salt Lake City. She and some fellow Mormon women who belonged to a group called All Enlisted posted an events page on Facebook on Dec. 9. Within days, thousands had pledged their support, but one person threatened to shoot women who showed up in pants. Ms. Lauritzen, 26, also received threats on her own Facebook page that are being investigated by Facebook and the local authorities, she said.<\/p>\n
On Dec. 11, the Salt Lake City-based church leadership issued a statement: \u201cGenerally church members are encouraged to wear their best clothing as a sign of respect for the Savior, but we don\u2019t counsel people beyond that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The All Enlisted \u201cfriends\u201d page has drawn hundreds of posts, both for and against the idea. JoEllen Swarts of Las Vegas wrote: \u201cWhat is wrong with all you women??? If you\u2019re not happy with the LDS church, move on, find another place of worship. You will not change Mormon Doctrine.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
About the time I wondered how this event went, I read this:<\/p>\n
On Monday, a private All Enlisted Facebook page had collected about the same number of \u201cnegative experiences\u201d as \u201cpositive experiences\u201d from women across the country. Julie Tuovi Baker Hansen, a lawyer in Burbank, Calif., who participated while visiting a Salt Lake City suburb, said she was surprised to see a man raise his hand and say, \u201cWomen who want to wear pants, they just don\u2019t know how to follow the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms. Hansen, the only woman wearing pants in a room of about 50 people, said she felt \u201cpretty irritated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aimee Hickman, the editor of a Mormon feminist magazine called Exponent II<\/a>, said she originally had reservations about the event. But then she saw the negative reaction by church members online. \u201cThis made me rethink my original position,\u201d Ms. Hickman said. The attention drawn to the effort, she added, \u201chas people talking about Mormon gender roles more than anything I\u2019ve seen.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yup. That’s about what I expected.<\/p>\n