A few thoughts:
I have had the "why don't we wear pants to church?" conversation with a number of friends over the years. Imagine my delight when I found the discussion spreading over the internet over the past several weeks. This conversation is often filed in my mind under similar discussions over what is tradition, what is doctrine, what is Mormon culture and what is Mormon folklore, etc.
All good questions.
However, I think something that got lost in the dialog was that wearing pants on Sunday wasn't about dress codes. For me it was, as Joanna Brooks wrote, "an event conceived as an expression of Mormon feminist visibility and solidarity and a gentle challenge to traditional gender inequalities in Mormonism".
It wasn't a protest.
It wasn't disrespectful.
It wasn't really about the pants.
For me:
It was about asking, is there a place within the church to examine some long held ideas?
It was about saying there are active Mormon feminists who love the gospel.
It was about asking, we are here - is there room for us?
It was about saying there is gender-inequality within the church.
Is there space within the church to begin to look at some of those questions?
Is there room for honest and heart-felt conversations?
Is there a willingness to accept that everyone doesn't feel the same about every issue?
Can we find ways to be more Christ-like as we engage in this conversation?
The saddest thing for me has been the the vehemence with which people have responded. It was disheartening to hear/read statements like:
If that's what you think, you need to find another church.
If that's what you think you obviously no longer have a testimony.
So let's sit down together - in whatever we choose to wear - and have a real conversation!
