Why Women Go to the Gym in Their “Underwear”
Discretion in women’s dress has long been a point of contention, but the debate has heightened ever since women have started going to the gym in their underwear (sports bras and tight shorts). Many women have gone viral on TikTok for calling out staring men while doing so. This has puzzled many, while angering others. The common sentiment among conservatives is Put on clothes. What did you think was going to happen? You’re doing this on purpose for attention. To which I respond, “Sometimes.” Some women know what they are doing when they dress that way. They want to feel sexy and want male attention. Other women are very confused and don’t understand at all why men are staring at them.
In our modern society, women are put into revealing outfits from a very young age. Toddlers are put in bikinis at the beach, elementary-age gymnasts are put into tight leotards, middle school girls are put in tiny outfits for their dance competitions, high school girls are put in revealing cheerleading costumes. Girls are sexualized from a very young age by their mothers, their choreographers, and their coaches. The older women whom these young girls trust are putting them in indiscriminate clothing and excusing it by claiming that intention matters. I once saw a clip from Dance Moms, where one of the mothers said something to the effect of, they’re good girls, so we don’t mind if they wear something sexy. It is insinuated that dressing that way is okay, as long as you don’t do anything inappropriate. If the girls are not trying to impress the opposite sex, then it’s okay, because intention matters. These girls grow up thinking revealing clothing is normal and, therefore, don’t even recognize it as revealing. When they are older, they are genuinely shocked when men stare at them, because they are simply dressing as they always have. They keep up with the fashions and dress like their peers. Those forces dictate what is acceptable and normal. When men are hypnotized by something so supposedly normal, it shocks them, because they’ve been dressing this way since they were toddlers.
Now, when they are told to dress differently, they take offense. They think you are insulting their bodies. They don’t understand the conservative worldview, because they’ve never been taught it. They were taught that intention matters. You can go to the gym in your underwear and expect men not to notice, because you have no intentions of alluring them. When you put on lingerie you can expect men to be attracted to you, because now you are intending to attract them. This is an incoherent worldview. They are blind to the inherent contradictions, because the women they trusted lied to them over and over again from the time they were three years old and now current fashion trends merely reinforce the lie.
Men’s Responsibility
That being said, men should not be staring at them. Mathew 5:28 states, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (NIV). Men have a moral responsibility to look away from women who are revealing too much of their bodies. They have a responsibility to preserve their own hearts, respect their wives and girlfriends, and respect their sisters in Christ even when they make indiscrete fashion choices. Women have a responsibility to dress appropriately and men have a responsibility not to lust after them. The shirking of duty on the part of one party does not absolve the other party of their moral responsibility.
Photo by Elena Kloppenburg on Unsplash