Mother sparks backlash after asking female students to ditch 'naked' leggings

A mother complained about the leggings trend among female university students. [Photo: Getty]
A mother complained about the leggings trend among female university students. [Photo: Getty]

A row has broken out over female students wearing leggings after a mother made a public complaint about the fashion choice.

Maryann White, who describes herself as a “Catholic mum”, targeted leggings-wearing female students in a letter written in the University of Notre Dame student newspaper, The Observer.

“I’m just a Catholic mother of four sons with a problem that only girls can solve: leggings,” she wrote.

While White insisted she is “not trying to insult anyone or infringe upon anyone’s rights,” she recalls an incident where she came across “a group of young women, all wearing very snug-fitting leggings and all wearing short-waisted tops” during a Mass service.

“Some of them truly looked as though the leggings had been painted on them … Leggings are so naked, so form fitting, so exposing,” she continued.

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“Could you think of the mothers of sons the next time you go shopping and consider choosing jeans instead?”

The letter has been heavily criticised by students at the University, with students and alumni taking to Twitter to assert their right “to wear whatever the heck they want”.

What’s more, a University of Notre Dame based student group, Irish 4 Reproductive Health, has launched “Leggings Pride Day” as a response to the letter – calling for students to don their leggings in protest.

They have even started the hashtag #LeggingsDayND.

Yahoo UK has contacted the University of Notre Dame for comment.

This isn’t the first time the practice of wearing leggings has caused controversy.

READ MORE: Female GP accuses Barclaycard form of sexism

Back in 2017, a secondary school headteacher allegedly told female students they should only wear leggings to school if they’re a size four or a six.

“Unless you’re a size zero or a two and you wear something like that, even though you’re not fat, you look fat,” you can hear in what parents say is a recording of Taylor speaking.

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