Should women be forbidden to wear pants ?

By Assam on June 6, 2008

Coming from a fundamental Baptist Background we were always taught that women should not wear pants. According to our pastors the reason for such is that the Bible says in Deuteronomy 5: 22 that “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God”

I am not going to give an in-depth theological discussion here, but I plan to do so in the near future. However I was just wondering if this verse applies to women wearing pants that are made exclusively for women. Some dogmatic preachers would answer in the affirmative, but are what they are saying Biblically correct?

Culture and the traditions of a society and age dictates what pertains to man or woman. It is not proper that we establish a set of rules and judge which belongs to who. If we do that we become legalistic and violate what the essence of Christianity is.

Examples of what I am saying can be found in history and even in modern times. For instance, Scottish men wear “kilts” which look like women’s skirts during special occasions.

History tells us that men use to wear corsets for aesthetic purposes. Today only a handful of men do and usually it is for medical purposes.

Tunics were worn by the Greeks and Romans. This practice even went as far as the medieval ages. A tunic looks like a woman’s blouse.

Many men still wear the traditional “Sarong” in today’s modern day and age. This practice is found in some parts of Asia, parts of Africa, and on many Pacific islands. A “Sarong” is a large sheet of fabric, often wrapped around the waist. It definitely looks like a women’s skirt.

Up to now, people in Bible lands wear the same clothing that is the traditional robes and sash that people in history wore.

If we were to judge men wearing the kilt, sarong, tunic and robes with our own Western Culture and tradition, it could be said that these people are in violation of Deuteronomy 22:5 because according to our culture, these kinds of clothing are associated with what our women wear.

In our own culture we can see that there are pants that are made exclusively for women. So, before pass judgement on women who are wearing pants according to Deutornomy 22:5 we need to investigate the verse in it’s contextual and cultural background in order to grasp the deeper meaning of the text. This topic could be subject to a more intensive debate theologically and I plan to deal with this in future articles.

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