Monday 3 June 2013

Yoga Pants and the Quest for Eternal Youth

This morning's Lou Lou Magazine e-blast was titled: "Style gangs! Street looks to lust after". Curious, I opened it up and decided to flip through the montage of photos and ideas related to the "street"; all the while forcing myself to remember that I am 41 and not the 22 year old that Taylor Swift has recently put on a pedastal. However, I did find a pic that made me laugh and think about my recent post on PhDs and the Collective Unconcious:
If you can't see her t-shirt clearly - it says "All blogs post the same stuff". So you may be thinking - is that it for Moon Worms? Still-No. I laughed, but I am going to keep going. The picture posted in Lou Lou is of Leandre Medine who is the founder of manrepeller.com. Now that really got my interest, even more than the Kate Spade popcorn bag purse.

Before I delve into what today's Moon Worms' blog is all about (which is not a new idea I assure you), I wanted to alert you to a post on manrepeller that I loved - a tribute to the Little Prince: http://www.manrepeller.com/2013/05/the-little-prince.html. It's a wonderful memory read.

Manrepeller is defined on the site as this:

man·re·pell·er1[mahn-ree-peller] –noun
outfitting oneself in a sartorially offensive mode that may result in repelling members of the opposite sex. Such garments include but are not limited to harem pants, boyfriend jeans, overalls (see: human repelling), shoulder pads, full length jumpsuits, jewelry that resembles violent weaponry and clogs.

Again - I laughed heartily. And it took me back to Grade 9.

I went to an all girls school where we wore uniforms. Bland white shirts under shapeless, ugly tunics - which definitely fall into the realm of manrepellancy - although we did not wear them by choice in this case, and I should rephrase that to boyrepellancy so it is not a gross thought for you. At that point in my life, I had that horrible combination of young arrogance and boy hunger going on. As a result, I eagerly signed up for the debate team so I could argue my little heart out and meet the boy of my dreams in a suit and tie, as we often were invited to practice with brother schools prior to any tournaments.

My first debate out, the resolution went something like this (being 41 my memory is not that good anymore): All woman wear clothes for the sole purpose of attracting the opposite sex. The teams were divided so boys and girls were represented on each side. And I was assigned to the "for" or affirmative side of the debate. For the first time in my short life I was speechless and scared. How was I going to argue this? I went to an all girls school where we lived feminist pedagogy and had to pull our socks up to our knees.

I had prided myself on being able to argue anything. I was wrong and I was humbled. And it was the worst debate of my life. Of course the part that tripped me up most was the "sole" purpose. Twenty six years later, and I still can't find a way to argue that resolution well, but I have been pondering the popularity of the yoga pant.

I like to jog. I often run through the park, and I am often wearing yoga pants, eventhough I am not doing yoga. As many of you, men and women, also wear your yoga pants to the gym, the grocery store, to a nephews birthday party if it's casual. I have however noticed a pattern of response when I  wear my yoga pants compared to when I do not. During my outings, I have received comments like "you go girl" and "nice waist" (weird?) and once I actually had someone pull over in traffic, run after me and try to convince to me to go out with them.

So what is it that is so attractive other than for the wearer that they are so damn comfortable? As my friend once said before a date came over for dinner - "I might wear my yoga pants tonight cause they make my ass look so good". And there you have it. Generally yoga pants are frowned upon in the fashion world - but they cannot count as a manrepeller. Evolutionary psychologists suggest "rounded buttocks may have evolved to be a desirable trait because they provide a visual indication of the woman's youth and fertility" - Wikepedia.

My mum wears yoga pants - a lot.  And although she is no longer fertile, she still seeks to look young. And I think from a biological perspective, having not done any research whatsoever, something my Mum and I talk about all the time, is that part of us, that 15 to 25 year old part of us is still there. We defined ourselves when we were young and even though we have lost and gained other parts over the years, this part remains a strong influence. Sometimes we just want to have it balance again. We want our physical outside to match our mental inside. So don't judge those who quest to look younger. I think its less motivated by vanity than it seems. And while I'm looking 41 - sometimes I just wanna be 22!

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