As fundamental Baptist Background we were raised to think that women should not wear pants. Our church elders justifies this position by saying that Scriptures says in Deuteronomy 5: 22 that "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God"

I have not intention of turning this into a theological debate, but I might very well do so sometime. This position taken by our church leaders just makes me wonder if Deutoronomy 22:5 applies for pants exclusively for women. Dogmatic preachers would say yes, but is this position Biblically correct ?

What pertains to man or woman is confined to the culture and traditions of a certain society and age. We cannot establish a set of rules and judge which belongs to who. Doing so would be dabbling would legalism which is contrary to what the essence of Christianity really is.

For example, Scottish men wear "kilts" during special occasions. The Scottish kilts looks like a woman's skirt.

There was a time in our history when men wear corsets for aesthetic purposes. In modern times some men do wear corsets for medical purposes.

Tunics were worn by the Greeks and Romans. This practice even went as far as the medieval ages. A tunic looks like a woman's blouse.

Many men still wear the traditional "Sarong" in today's modern day and age. This practice is found in some parts of Asia, parts of Africa, and on many Pacific islands. A "Sarong" is a large sheet of fabric, often wrapped around the waist. It definitely looks like a women's skirt.

Even people in Bible lands until today wear the same old robes and sash that people in ancient times wore.

If we pass judgement upon men wearing the kilt, sarong, tunic and robes with our own Western Culture and tradition, we can certainly say that they have violated Deuteronomy 22:5 because our values, culture and tradition dictates that these kinds of clothing are associated with what our women wear.

In our own culture we can see that there are pants that are made exclusively for women. So, before pass judgement on women who are wearing pants according to Deutornomy 22:5 we need to investigate the verse in it's contextual and cultural background in order to grasp the deeper meaning of the text. This topic could be subject to a more intensive debate theologically and I plan to deal with this in future articles.