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Rose asked this question in regards to my “You Don’t Wear Pants?” page:
I was just curious about something. In certain countries where men wear what looks like dresses (some African countries and other Muslim countries), is it wrong then for the Christian believer women there to wear dresses. So are they disobedient because they are dressing the exact same way as men. Is it cultural? Also, if a women dresses in a bright pink pant suit – is she dressing like a man?
First, welcome to my blog, Rose! :bye_tb:
I’ve been praying about how to answer this question, because there have been times that I have asked the same questions. I also had a long talk with Stephen about it.
First, about the men in other countries. In those cultures (African and Muslim), they still have gender-specific dress. Even in our culture, there are items of clothing that are specifically men’s, and specifically women’s. Skirts are women’s clothing – you don’t see men wearing skirts (I’m talking normal men, not those who cross-dress and situations like that). Even though other cultures’ men’s clothing to us may resemble robes or skirts, it is still considered men’s clothing. The women there still wear skirts and dresses. They do have differences between men’s and women’s clothing. So would it be wrong for a Christian woman to go in their cultures wearing skirts? No. But there is still a need for sensitivity as well – we wouldn’t want to offen
The Bible doesn’t come right out and state “Thou women shall only wear dresses” but it does tell us not to wear men’s clothing (Deuteronomy 22:5). The New Testament also says in 2 Corinthians 6:17 to
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord
The whole chapter talks about how Christians are supposed to live differently than the world, and how their lives need to reflect Christ. If I dress in the same manner as the rest of the world, how can they see the difference that Jesus Christ has made in my life? I we do not live a changed life, why should the world be convinced to accept Christ as Savior? To them, we are no different if our lives do not change after salvation.
I also found a really neat article at this site here. I don’t necessarily agree with everything on his website, but I think he does a great job of explaining the skirts vs. pants issue.