Men wearing tights - the objections - II
by GeradenThis is the second article in my series dealing with the objections to men wearing tights. In this instalment I summarise the responses that have been made so far to my original article, and I go on to speak personally about my early experiences.
I published the original article in September 2005, thinking it would generate some interest. At the time, interest was slow to take off. No comments were made until (in desperation) I myself made one in November, remarking upon the underwhelming response. However, since January there has been a steady stream of comments, making this article the now the most commented entry on the site. With over 2,300 hits to date, I predict that it will soon also become the most read article on the site.
It is uncommon for a man to be seen in tights / pantyhose, therefore such behaviour is considered odd. People do not approve. A lot of this disapproval is societal - people are uncomfortable with behaviour that deviates from what they consider to be normal. Added to this, are religious and moral objections, which we are trying to cover here. The two kinds of disapproval, moral and societal, are probably related to each other as cause and effect (though we could debate endlessly which is the cause and which the effect!)
One visitor, Steve, was left cold by all of this. He said, "Just wear, life's s**t as it is. Enjoy yourself have fun". I think he will speak for many, even those who do not follow his choice of words. On the other hand the popularity of this topic shows that there is a lot of interest in the moral and religious aspects of the subject. The big question is whether these objections can be answered on their own terms, rather than in the way Steve did!
To pick up from other comments left on this blog, Stuart/Sarah said, "I spent many years struggling with guilt about my love of wearing tights." Jim said, "As a Christian, I do have serious guilt issues, but not because of the Deuteronomy text. My feelings are derived from the fact that I do not wish to be shunned nor exiled from my church family which is important to my wife and me" (Though I would guess that the possibility of shunning has more than a little to do th the Deut. text.)
And what about Geraden, you ask? I had tremendous guilt feelings about wearing, right from the start. For me there were two factors: one was the fear about what people would think and say if they knew that I liked to wear tights. I am talking mainly about people whom I respected, my family, teachers, clergy, as well as my peers. In my own mind I was the only man in the world whose desires were so perverted that he would want to wear tights!
The other factor was guilt. I was an adolescent and like many adolescents I was unprepared for the physical changes that were taking place. The new hormones that were sloshing about in my body opened up unexpected possibilities for experimentation, pleasure and remorse alike.
Suddenly I thought I knew what girls were for! These lovely creatures, in whom I had shown no interest hitherto, were suddenly desirable and at the same time unavailable. Some were more attractive than others, but this was the 1960s: - one thing that they all had in common was tights!
All sorts of things happened. I fell hopelessly in love; I have always been an old romantic, however here I will say no more here about my romantic attachments! This is where I talk about tights, and tights were the wonderful garments that both concealed and revealed the delectable female form. The girl I was in love with had no interest in me, but tights became for me a symbol of unattainable femininity.
Just let us say that I started to wear tights myself, and that putting on a pair of tights was invariably accompanied by certain physical effects, unexpected at first, but leading to some very pleasant sensations. I knew that the desire for these sensations was wrong, but I was young and weak and my hormones were strong.
I did not really 'wear' tights in those days. I used to put them on; then what happened, happened, then I took them off. By that time I was feeling shame and revulsion, and making rash promises to myself never to put a pair of tights on ever again. Oh, I could resist temptation for a time, but sooner or later I used to succumb. And I knew that I would.
In my view tights were wonderful garments and I was thoroughly ashamed that I was using them for unworthy purposes.
If I had thought more deeply about it, I might have said something like: men do not wear tights (except in a few very restricted circumstances, for example in the arts and entertainment world). That does not necessarily make it wrong to do so, though it does no doubt create a stigma that one would naturally wish to avoid. I might have gone on to say that even if the wearing itself was morally neutral (as it probably was) the reasons I was wearing were unworthy (as in lustful, selfish) and that meant that the wearing itself was a thing to be avoided.
My own religious position at the time was on the high-church wing of the Church of England. I did not call my self an Anglo-Catholic, though I did believe that, as an Anglican, I was in fact a true heir to the catholic church. Certainly I was not an evangelical. Although I was aware of Deut 22:5 you may quite rightly assume that it did not figure highly in my reasoning.
Be that as it may, I must now turn to examine Deut 22:5; but for that you will have to wait.
Geraden, I feel just wear what makes you happy, and be happy. To heck what
others think.....
Wolford's
Hi Wolfords,
This, to me, is a very significant discussion. Your fellow churchgoers
would call me a Methodist heretic ;-), but we do take the Scripture
seriously. The most interesting insight I have on this came from a
"hard-shell" Baptist preacher who observed that if Deut. 22:5 is applicable
to our lives today, so must 22:11 ("Do not wear clothes of wool and linen
together."). He recalled a sermon he heard once about 22:5 where the
preacher was wearing a wool suit and a linen shirt.
Hi Granville
If you are a Christian it is because Jesus came to pay the penalty for our
sins. No one can follow the letter of the law as laid down in Deuteronomy.
This is why we need Christ. He paid the penalty, He is the Law.
My love for pantyhose for me and for woman is deep rooted. I love them.
So much like loving to sin. I say that because when I wear or put effort
toward pantyhose it causes me to have lustful thoughts (sinful) and spend
time doing things that I otherwise wouldn't take the time to do (sinful
things). I am coming to the conclusion that if these things cause me to
sin, I should "pluck" it out as if it were an eye.
At the same time I get so much from them and beautiful woman wearing them.
Basically I am not honoring God when I put time into them. It is so hard
to leave them behind since they are such a part of who I am. Some men can
wear without sinning. I can if I wear often enough. They become like sox.
But when I am denied wearing them they take on a more intense obsession.
Still working through this.
Det 22.5 speaks about crossdressing in order to fool another gender in
order to gain access to a place (in certain situations) that usually are
not allowed. You have to know what this scripture is referring to. If
wearing pantyhose is something that God is convicting you of, I would say
to pray about it and ask God if He wants you to stop. The Bible also says
not to do anything that causes confusion also. They are many ways to look
at this, but I believe the most important issue is salvation. The Bible
says, "It shall come to pass, that whosoever will call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved" . Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all His
righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you - Matthew 6,33
Personally I've never dealt with feelings of guilt on the religious matters
of men wearing pantyhose, but I do feel pitty for those who do.
I wear tights because of vericose veins, and therefore have a medical
reason that legitmises me wearing them. Because of this my wife was
totally cool about me wearing them. I have to say though even if I did not
have the medical problem, I fail to see what all the fuss is about. People
who object to men wearing tights or anything for that matter really should
get a life. I'm a practising Christian, but believe in a common sense
Christianity which doesn't get hung up on individual lines of scripture,
but rather tries to follow the spirit of what Jesus was saying. I find in
life generally that if you take this line, you have very few problems in
getting along with people. One of the things that I abhore the most is the
fundamentalist/ turn or burn brigade.
For me, tights/stockings are not a fetish, they're nothing to do with
cross-dressing. They are immensely practical legwear, and the sooner people
grow up and get a life the better frankly.
I'v worn tights for many years and I wouldn't go out without them. They are
so comfortable and feel great against your skin. I wear them all the time
whether it be under pants or worn with a pair of shorts. I know people have
seen them and apart from the occasional idiot remark, no one has ever
batted an eye-lid. It's me who gets the thrill from wearing them.
Avatars
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