Can we stop calling them meggings?

I have always felt the term was in poor taste. Now in full and public disclosure I have used the term on previous blog posts and I have added the hashtag to my Instagram posts from time to time, but I still don’t like the term.

It rings hollow in my ears, almost cringe-worthy. Like when you hear an older family member use vocabulary from the 1930s describing other humans (I’ll let you use your imagination for those words). I think we need to stop using the word.

In all fairness, I am sure the term has helped a lot of people become aware of the trend that men can wear leggings. In fact, there’s probably a bunch of men that may not have ever purchased leggings without the nod to their gender and the word meggings making it feel like somehow they are more manly than regular leggings. Ultimately tho I think the word “meggings” causes more harm than good.

Meggings doesn’t sound inclusive

This may be something I am more sensitive to than others as I learn and experience more about being gender fluid, androgynous, and nonbinary but I think the term “meggings” is overly selective in defining who can wear which leggings. I just don’t see it building a coalition. To me, it limits who you can talk to and invite to participate in this grand experiment.

In many of the comments and emails, I receive most of the men talk about the fear they had to overcome or the worry they faced when they started wearing leggings. Some even tell me they haven’t left the safety and comfort of their own homes because they are worried about the stigma they perceive the world will place on them by wearing leggings for fashion. We should be working to break that stigma down and building an inclusive perception of leggings.

The word meggings isn’t really doing us any favors.

By perpetuating that certain leggings are for women and certain leggings are for men we may be stuck. Instead, we should be about growing this segment of fashion not limiting it.

Your gender shouldn’t matter

Limiting who these leggings are for feels like an outdated approach to how we define clothing and what is correct and normal and what isn’t. It basically stipulates that men who wear other leggings or tights are wearing the wrong kind of leggings and it helps folks who are the antithesis to the very idea of men’s leggings in fashion build out their arguments as to why men shouldn’t wear leggings.

Instead of framing this around gender and getting stuck in an old worldview that is quickly feeling antiquated and in poor taste, we should just call them leggings. No need to even say men’s leggings. In the end, they become my leggings as soon as I buy them and wear them. Gender doesn’t actually matter.

Separating our clothing by gender and stigmatizing certain clothing items as male or female is what has caused leggings to be so hard for many men to wear comfortably as a habitual fashion choice in the first place. This kind of segmentation is also why most of the leggings marketed towards men are focused on fitness with wild colors and patterns, which of course further pigeon holes the movement because how do you wear leggings that have fish scale patterns to the office or out on a date??

There is no right or wrong way to wear leggings

Ultimately leggings are for everyone. There are plenty of fellas out there who will never wear them outside of the gym or during sport and that is okay. But if we continually label leggings worn by men as meggings we claim a label that doesn’t add value to the situation.

I think the reason this happened was our own worry over the stigma. In a certain way, the term “meggings” was used to acknowledge that leggings are exclusively for women and that it is wrong for men to wear leggings.

But here look at this thing. It is identical to those leggings over there but we changed their name and we call them meggings and now it is okay. That seems weird to me. Does it seem weird to you?

Using the word “meggings”, at least in my opinion, is allowing the stigma to live on. The stigma that there are right ways and wrong ways to dress if you are a man. The stigma that masculinity is narrowly defined. The stigma that if you don’t conform to societal rules there are consequences.

Let’s work to put that stigma to rest.

I wear leggings.

Simple and direct.

No need to use clever language are try and redefine what I am doing. Own it. Leggings are for men too, we don’t need any more stigma and we don’t need to use the word - meggings.