by Lacey Brinley.
Source
In the spring of 1852, Mrs. Elizabeth Smith Miller was at work in her garden. All her life, Mrs. Miller had been an advocate and financial supporter of the women's rights movement. For years she had been discontented with her long, feminine dress. It was heavy and always in the way. And it was also just one more symbol of the difference between mens' and women's roles—an impediment that kept ladies from doing everything the men did. Now, as she worked among her blossoming plants, Mrs. Miller's discontentment also blossomed into a sudden resolution: She would no longer put up with such exasperating apparel!
Mrs. Miller removed her long skirt and donned “Turkish trousers,” long pants that came to her ankles, with a short dress reaching only about four inches below her knees. Soon afterward, Mrs. Miller went to visit her cousin, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. When Mrs. Stanton and her friend Mrs. Amelia Bloomer saw Mrs. Miller's new outfit, they were delighted. Not only did they both begin wearing the trousers themselves, but Mrs. Bloomer even advertised the outfit in a paper which she published. Since Mrs. Bloomer was the first to advertise the women's trousers, they became known as “bloomers.” Soon, other women were also wearing bloomers.
But not everyone was happy with the new style. A contemporary of these women describes their outfit and its effects in these words:
They will imitate the opposite sex, as nearly as possible. They will wear the cap, pants, vest, coat, and boots, the last of which is the most sensible part of the costume. Those who adopt and advocate this style of dress are carrying the so-called dress reform to very objectionable lengths. Confusion will be the result....In this style of dress God's order has been reversed, and his special directions disregarded. Deuteronomy 22:5. “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.” This style of dress, God would not have his people adopt. It is not modest apparel, and is not at all fitting for modest, humble females who profess to be Christ's followers. God's prohibitions are lightly regarded by all who would advocate the doing away of the distinction of dress between males and females....God designed there should be a plain distinction between male and female dress, and has considered the matter of sufficient importance to give explicit directions in regard to it; for the same dress worn by both sexes would cause confusion and great increase of crime. St. Paul would utter a rebuke, were he alive, and should behold females professing Godliness with this style of dress. 1
With the so-called dress reform there goes a spirit of levity and boldness just in keeping with the dress. Modesty and reserve seem to depart from many as they adopt that style of dress....Let the sisters adopt the American costume [another name for bloomers] and they would destroy their own influence and that of their husbands. 2
Strong statements, aren't they? The interesting thing is that, even in their bloomers, many of these women were still actually dressing more femininely than most women today. So what was it about these outfits that called forth such a decided rejection?
Part of the answer may lie in the fact that those who started the trend—Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Stanton, and Mrs bloomer—as well as most of those who followed it, were feminists. Now let's pause for just a moment and ask the question, “what are feminists?”
A feminist is someone who believes that political, social, or economic differences between men and women are wrong. The feminist movement in the United States began with women like Mrs. Miller and her friends, who tried to do away with such differences. Feminists do not accept the fact that God created men and women differently in order to fulfill His purpose. They do not believe that men and women can have different roles and still be equal in value. Mrs. Stanton even led out in creating The Woman's Bible , a revision of the Bible in which the commentators tried to explain away the texts that make a difference between men and women. She wrote:
...I do not believe that any man ever saw or talked with God, I do not believe that God inspired the Mosaic code, or told the historians what they say He did about woman, for all the religions on the face of the earth degrade her, and so long as woman accepts the position that they assign her, her emancipation is impossible....The canon law, the Scriptures, the creeds and codes and church discipline of the leading religions bear the impress of fallible man... 3
Besides defying the order God set up in His Word, the feminist movement has close ties to spiritualism. Mrs. Stanton, along with other feminist leaders, had a strong interest in the spirit world. In fact, when she helped draft feminism's “Declaration of Rights and Sentiments,” spirits began to rap on the table. 4
Feminism has also been used to help establish Marxism 5 In a letter written in 1868, Karl Marx himself said, “Major social transformations are impossible without ferment among the women.” The feminist movement provided this ferment—a discontented agitation that would weaken the Christian structure of society. Followers of Marx have pointed out that the “woman question” has always played an important role in their revolutionary work. 6
This is feminism. These are the American women who first wore pants.
The style did not at first gain popularity among the general public. Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Stanton, and Mrs. Bloomer were often mocked for wearing such manly clothes. Even Mrs. Miller herself admitted, “The dress looked tolerably well in standing and walking, but in sitting, a more awkward, uncouth effect, could hardly be produced [or] imagined—it was a perpetual violation of my love of the beautiful.” 7 Eventually, both Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Bloomer gave up wearing bloomers, though they never gave up trying to do away with the distinctions between men and women.
But even though the creators of bloomers stopped wearing them, the idea of womens' pants was not to die. Soon, trendy sports such as bicycling and mixed swimming provided the excuse fashion designers needed to get women wearing pants. For the next hundred years, women usually only wore pants for specific activities. But in the 1960's, the second wave of feminism washed over the nation, unisex clothing was developed, and women's pants became an everyday staple, a symbol of woman's rebellion and her new role—no longer man's compliment and completer, but his competitor.
It's a sad history, and for the moment it may appear as though feminism has won the conflict in the world of fashion. But we know that God's design for Biblical femininity will triumph in the end. And that triumph is beginning in our individual lives. We don't have to follow fashion! As daughters striving to follow God's design, we have been blessed by the realization that young ladies need to reclaim the role God created us to fill. Now we have the opportunity to reclaim our distinctive attire. Our clothing can tell the world that we are Christian women ; that we are happy in the role that God designed us for; that we are content to submit to the authorities God has placed in our lives; that we love being feminine.
Of course, we wouldn't want to revive 1800's fashion. The early feminists did have one thing right when they pointed out that the fashionable apparel of their day was unhealthy and inconvenient. But it was not necessary to look so much like men in order to get rid of corsets, bustles, hoop skirts, and trailing trains. There were (and are) other options.
We also realize that there is more to dressing femininely than just putting on a skirt. Not all skirts are feminine. Look at the different styles next time you go shopping—some skirts really look like something a lady would wear, while others look like a pair of men's pants with the legs joined together. And even when we wear feminine skirts, we have to be careful not to spoil the effect with other items of clothing. Boyish sweatshirts and t-shirts, running shoes, and sweat pants hanging out from under the skirt—the result is frumpy, to say the least. As ladies, we like our clothing to be beautiful, and it should be!
And we all know that true femininity goes far beyond our clothing. But it is also true that our clothing affects our actions, our posture, even our thoughts and words. When we are wearing lovely skirts and dresses, we feel more like ladies. Choosing to wear feminine clothing can actually be the beginning of a character transformation.
When young ladies discuss this topic, we nearly always hear someone say, “We can't wear skirts all the time. It would be totally impractical to do such-and-such an activity in a skirt!” Maybe so. But as daughters of God, we are not bound by the feminist belief that we must be like men to be free. Here is a list of activities that can be done in a skirt. Some of them may be surprising.
Housework
Cleaning, cooking, you name it, we can do it in our skirts. My sisters and I not only do all of our own housework, but also regularly clean a 3-story, nine bedroom hunting lodge, all while wearing skirts.
Play on the floor with young children
Many of us have younger siblings or friends with young children. When these children are left in our care we want to enjoy them, not sit stiffly in a chair while they play. Does that mean we have to go put on some pants? No, we just join right in with our skirts on. And often, when the little girls see this, they get inspired and want to wear pretty skirts, too!
Walk through deep snow
I had fun with this one. This past winter was exceptionally cold and snowy here in Michigan. One afternoon, after being indoors for weeks, Dad and I decided to take a walk. I didn't have any snowpants and wasn't feeling inclined to resurrect my one pair of jeans from their long-term storage under my bed, so I donned a split skirt. Since I have a fairly adventurous father, we didn't stay on the plowed road, but went across the fields and through the woods. The snow in the fields was an average of three feet deep. We had a great time and I didn't find the skirt any more difficult to walk in than pants would have been.
Walk several miles through mud, snow, and slush
Of course, we don't want skirts so long that they are dragging in the mud!
Another Brinley family story: As the cold weather was drawing to an end and things began to melt, we became very anxious to get outside. So one day after church, we decided to walk to the Big Sable Point lighthouse (three miles round trip). Since we were going back to church in the evening and wouldn't have much time for changing clothes, all of us ladies were wearing nice skirts. We were actually surprised at how extremely slushy and muddy the trail was, but didn't have any difficulty traversing it in our skirts. We even managed to keep amazingly clean. (We just wished we'd worn rubber boots!)
Ride a bicycle
Of course, we must be careful that our skirts are not so long and full that they can get caught in the bicycle chain. Also, the skirts should be made of heavy enough material that they don't get whipped up by a breeze.
Ride a horse
For this activity we would choose split skirts or skirts that are long enough and full enough to keep our legs covered.
Climb a ladder
If your house is like ours, you may find yourself on a ladder often. All of our canning supplies, out-of-current-use clothing, suitcases, and other such items are stored in the attic above our garage. This attic can only be reached by climbing a ladder. It's amazing how often we need things from the attic, and I wouldn't want the bother of changing from a skirt to pants every time I have to climb that ladder. Of course, one has to be careful not to step on one's hem and get tripped up, but not once in my life have I fallen off a ladder.
And yes, we can still be perfectly modest while climbing ladders in skirts. I doubt that any of us would wear a miniskirt; our skirts should all be decently long. As long as this is the case, it is impossible for anyone to see anything improper unless they are standing directly beneath the ladder. With a step ladder, this would be quite difficult; with an extension ladder, it would be quite unwise.
Work in the garden
Depending on the kind of garden work that needs to be done, we may want to choose older skirts that we don't mind getting dirty. I especially like denim skirts for this, as they don't show the dirt so much. I like to at least look clean!
Run
Yes, run! Who wants to wear tight, restrictive skirts?
Cut firewood
We heat our house with wood, and since there are no boys in the family, guess who gets to help with the firewood? I'll have to admit I'm not much good at splitting wood, but I do like to run a chainsaw. (On a side note: helping our fathers, brothers, or husbands is one of the most feminine things we can do, even if the task at hand appears to be “men's work.” Women were created to be helpers!) When working with equipment like chainsaws, we will, of course, need to consider safety. Our skirts should be heavy and long enough to protect us from any flying particles, but short enough that we don't trip over them. They should also be loose enough that we can move freely and quickly, but not so full that they can easily get caught. Split skirts are often a good choice. But while we take safety into consideration, we don't need to get overly paranoid. Skirts are not dangerous! The only time I ever came even close to injury while running a chain saw, (if my memory serves me correctly) I was wearing pants.
So ladies, enjoy your skirts and dresses! Rejoice in your femininity. You are a light in the darkness and have chosen to be on the winning side of the conflict.
1. Ellen White, Selected Messages, Book 2 (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1986) 477-478.
2. Ellen White, Testimonies for the Church, Volume 1 (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1948) 422.
3. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, The Woman's Bible , Part 1 (New York: European Publishing Company,1898) 12-13.
4. The feminism/spiritualism connection has been demonstrated by several authors, including Laurel Damsteegt in chapter 15 of her book, Prove all Things: A Response to Women in Ministry .
5. Marxism consists of both economic Marxism and cultural Marxism. Economic Marxism is a revolutionary movement to do away with private ownership of property. Cultural Marxism is a non-violent effort to saturate minds and permeate culture with anti-Christian principles.
6. Examples of such statements can be found on www.marxist.com by Ana Muñoz and Alan Woods (“Marxism and the Emancipation of Women”). Please note: this is a Marxist website, therefore reader discretion is advised.
7. taken from the Elizabeth Smith Miller collection of the New York Public Library.
Lacey Brinley , age 25, enjoys studying God's plan for young ladies and sharing what she learns with others. She is currently living at home with her parents and three younger sisters, and is actively involved in home life and ministry with her family.
