Perspectives on Leggings

One Hamilton guy surveyed other Hamilton students on their feelings about wearing leggings. Both guys and girls weighed in on a controversial discussion about why they wear them and how they look. 

Leggings are a fashion trend which has been fully embraced by many women in America. These fashion-forward pants have been used to create many different styles, as women wear them for different uses. From a night out on campus/town to just relaxing in their dorms,  women wear or prefer leggings for many different reasons. 

I started to wonder why women actually wear these pants, so I asked a few women about why they wear leggings.

One woman said, “mostly because they’re comfortable and they go with a lot of stuff and aren’t sweatpants…”. Another said, “ I wear them ’cause they’re super comfy!”, while yet  another said, “I wear leggings because they are more comfortable than skinny jeans but have a similar silhouette”. However, one woman’s response took me surprise: “ I don’t wear leggings, but I have the urge to sometimes. Would you like to know why?” Naturally, I said yes. Her response was, “well, it’s the ultimate exposure of my legs and hips. I usually wear tight pants everyday cause they accentuate my figure and I find this attractive to myself and to others. On the weekends, I feel like I have to surpass my average perception of sexiness, and rather than being nude, which is not socially acceptable, leggings seem most toning . They feel sexiest, but I can’t help but feel like leggings are undergarments. Therefore,  I don’t always feel I can wear them in public”.

Her last statement was very interesting, so to finish my research I had to find out what guys think when they see women in leggings. The question I asked was pretty basic: “When you see a woman wearing leggings, what is the first thing that comes to mind?”

 One man said, “‘Awwww dang’ is what goes through my mind”. Another said, “ Gotta check her out.” Another said, “ Mhmm… let’s see what this girl is working with”. Another guy blatantly stated, “They better have an ass.” Last but not least, one guy said, “ I don’t know why, but when I see girls wearing them in Commons,  just based on how they’re standing, it looks like they are so uncomfortable and feel pressured to wear them.”

I couldn’t stop here. I had one more question for women. I asked them how they think guys view them when they are wearing leggings.

One woman said, “Ummm…. I think that leggings now are so popular that they probably don’t think anything about it. I’m not sure! I haven’t really thought about that before.” Another woman said, “ I’ve never really thought about that. I guess I’m on the more conservative side of the legging-wearers. I always wear a long shirt with them so my butt isn’t visible.” Yet another girl said, “I do know about the whole thing about guys loving them because they make our butts look good or whatever..but I pretty much just wear them because they’re more comfortable than jeans!” Anothersaid, “they show off your body, which some guys like.”

Based these responses, it seems that some guys use leggings in order to figure out a woman’s body.  This might be because a certain part of college culture is the hook-up culture. For some heterosexual men, leggings seem to be a good way to figure out which women they want to go after. Leggings outwardly show off a woman’s figure more so then jeans ever could. So, could leggings be the best way for a woman to get  a man’s attention? For me personally, the answer is yes.

Not only do leggings shape to the body, but the material of some is really thin. During a party, if a guy and a girl are dancing and she is wearing leggings, then the intimacy level increases, as touching feels more natural than if she were wearing jeans. We know how it works: touching leads to kissing, which leads to hooking-up. Even though women seem to wear leggings mostly for the comfort, we cannot overlook the effect that these pants may have on certain men. In addition, some men view a woman wearing leggings as a sign that the act of hooking-up is more possible because they are wearing leggings. Why you ask? I think that leggings naturally are more convenient for the present day hook-up culture in the sense of sexual acts. All you have to do is pull them down, do the deed, and then pull them back up. It is fast and easy and there is no struggle like you may find there is with tight jeans.