slate | Leggings are practical. BuzzFeed would have you
believe that a legging should be hidden from public view. But the
greatest barriers to lower-body freedom are those we have erected in our
own minds. Once we accept that leggings are ideal for lounging at home
alone, it becomes more and more difficult to justify hiding this feeling
from the wider world. You can wear leggings on a train. On a plane. In a
house. With a mouse. At the gym, or in front of the 7-Eleven novelty
ice cream freezer. Wear them while pregnant with a human baby, or
stuffed with a food baby. Just wear them outdoors in the hope that one
day, our daughters, and our daughters’ daughters, will be free to live
in comfort without shame.
Leggings are not fashionable. In typical BuzzFeed
fashion, Odell has presented her argument in the form of a cursory
Google image search: Two dozen photos of people looking dumb in
leggings. (Did you really need to put pants on for that, Odell?) Point taken: Leggings are not fashionable. They’re like sweatpants for people who care even less. And you know who doesn’t care? Cool people. Do you think this lady wearing
a pair of “Bodies: The Exhibition” leggings while standing in line at
some soulless bureaucratic office cares that her butt doesn't look
"good"? Wake up, sheeple! Not giving a fuck is the point of leggings.
