Why Yoga Pants Are Bad For Women Summary

According to the research firm NPD Group, activewear has an estimated market size of $44 billion in the US alone. In recent years, the popularity and sales of athleisure have skyrocketed and I for one, am not complaining. But Honor Jones, who penned the article, “Why Yoga Pants Are Bad for Women” most certainly is. The thing is, yoga pants definitely aren’t bad for women, but denouncing how other women choose to look and dress certainly is.

I’d like to start this off by agreeing with Honor Jones. It is true that “it’s not good manners for women to tell other women how to dress” and it is true that yoga pants can get are expensive. However, my agreement with Jones ends there.

Jones says that “we aren’t wearing” clothing like this because it

Along with that, it opens the gates of a completely different issue: slut-shaming.

And yes, Honor Jones is most definitely slut-shaming. First, Jones makes a point to state that women wear “Saran-wrap-thin yoga pants” in cold weather but she herself doesn’t. By dividing herself from other women, Jones is trying to make the not-so-subtle argument that she is somehow better than the rest of us. That just because some women feel confident wearing yoga pants out in public, they are doing something inherently wrong. Promoting this mindset is harmful to women everywhere.

In order to move forward as a society, we can’t berate people who don’t look the way we do and we can’t tell people off for dressing a little differently. Slacks are incredible. You can look professional and their comfortable. Khakis and a blue blazer? Stylish and beautiful. Sweatpants? You do you. Pantsuits? Conquer the world. All of the above were listed as alternatives to yoga pants, but why alternate at all? You can wear your pantsuit to work tomorrow and then spend the next day lounging in sweatpants and the next going to a SoulCycle class wearing yoga pants and a matching sports