Assalamu Alaikum
format_quote Originally Posted by
Tyrion
What about when ideas of gender specific clothing begin to change? A lot of things that may have been exclusively female oriented are no longer that way, so you could make the argument that earrings are heading in that direction. Also, things like pants were once exclusively for men, but are now worn by both genders.
In the west, wearing pants actually began when women wanted to start working. They'd wear their husband's pants. There's nothing wrong with women wearing pants, however from an islamic perspective, wearing them in public it's not acceptable because it reveals their shape, and generally the women that do wear pants, wear the ones that are very tight fitting. Also if we're speaking within this same context, it's become socially acceptable for women to wear pants, and
tight pants are now attributed to women's fashion generally right? but as you can see, there are even guys who are wearing tight pants as well (and when this particular fashion started, many of them actually would buy women specified pants), which makes them look more feminine, ironically. It's kind of sickening really when I think about it now actually...cuz I can understand the reason for women starting to wear pants, maybe because it's easier to work in than wearing dresses and skirts, but after some time for both sides it's become more of an immodest fashion, and some guys may consider their actions as a rebellious statement towards "gender equality" or whatever.
Men and women both should dress modestly, that's something that we both can agree on. Despite whether the fashion changes, we both know that if we see a guy/girl dressed in a certain way, it's very obvious if they are trying to imitate the opposite sex, and this imitation is what's forbidden. Not to mention, this society is really trying to make it so that there is no difference between genders. The entire ideology began with nonMuslims and their obsession with fashion and accepting homosexuality, and everyone else is following it to look the same with the illusion that they look different from one another.
If I look at a Muslim, I should be able to tell that they are within the Islamic dress code. Their clothes should not imitate the clothes of the nonMuslims and when I say this, I mean you should not be able to be categorized in some kind of way. If I see a guy wearing baggy clothing, with his shorts sagging, and his brand new shoes, I could easily categorize him into a group, and same thing if I saw a guy wearing tight clothes with black hair and swept bangs. I mean these people actually put a lot of thought into their dress and appearance to make a statement whether it's "I'm wealthy" "I'm hood" "I'm gay" "I'm rebellious" etc. It steals away from a man's hijaab. What's wrong with wearing regular neutral clothes? lol You could argue what the definition of "regular clothes" truly is, but I don't think I should have to go into that argument.
I'm only applying my statements to the US and what I've personally witnessed. I can't speak for any other countries as I don't know their customs..
One more thing, history repeats itself. Just because these specific things are happening now doesn't excuse us from observing what we were taught to practice. So if clothes have "evolved" and the gender specification has changed, it doesn't deter from the reality and issue that the appearance of men and women must always be separated and easily distinguishable from one another.
fi aman Allah
w'salaam