# Women skirts/Men Trousers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 15, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448 "2008-05-15T16:03:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/21 "2008-05-16T00:08:58Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] The current range of mens’ underwear, and I’m speaking in wild generalities here, fails to do justice to the skirt. Especially a short skirt. Boxer shorts, for example, are not especially pleasing to the eye should the gentle force of a capricious breeze suddenly expose them to passers-by who are innocently going about their daily routine. Furthermore, if a skirt-clad male should perch suggestively on the edge of my desk at work, I personally would not be aroused by a glimpse of Adidas above the visitor’s thighs. It is therefore clear that a more alluring style of underwear must be adopted by the aspiring male before the wearing of a skirt can even be considered. Now we begin to descend inexorably down the slippery slope, because I foresee more exotic panties, worn to match one’s nose or not as the case may be, followed by the employment of the depilatory techniques much favoured by porn stars and some Conservative MPs. After all, nobody wants to see a literal forest of pubic hair peeping unpleasantly out of the finest pair of knickers currently available from Victoria’s Secret. The next male ‘must have’ will doubtless be botoxed thighs, so it’s pretty easy to see where all this is going to end up. [/QUOTE] Not so fast my friend. I know of just the [thing](http://www.manties.net/) for the well dressed man. If I was so inclined to wear a skirt, which I seriously doubt, I would go for the fancy hi-cut style. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/22 "2008-05-16T00:48:36Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Why don’t men wear skirts? If it’s OK for a woman to wear trousers then surely men should be free to wear skirts, equality and all that [/QUOTE] Maybe we’re still waiting for our Joan of Arc to be burned at the stake. I guess that would be John of Ark(ansas) or something. “The condemned wore a sleeveless blouse with a simple cotton print skirt. Onlookers were horrified to see he had eschewed a slip but noted that the pearls and heels were very becoming.” But seriously, I stumbled across something while surfing that said we can credit Joan of Arc for women getting short haircuts circa 1910. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/23 "2008-05-16T01:06:37Z")
To the best of my knowledge bobbed hair for women didn’t become fashionable until the Twenties. Definitely Edwardian female fashion doesn’t even remotely suit short hair. [More men in dresses.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1300-1400_in_fashion) There isn’t some universal law that makes trousers more masculine than a cote-hardie (fitted flaring medieval dress/robe for both men and women). ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/24 "2008-05-16T01:35:49Z")
[QUOTE=Lissla Lissar] To the best of my knowledge bobbed hair for women didn’t become fashionable until the Twenties. Definitely Edwardian female fashion doesn’t even remotely suit short hair. [More men in dresses.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1300-1400_in_fashion) There isn’t some universal law that makes trousers more masculine than a cote-hardie (fitted flaring medieval dress/robe for both men and women). [/QUOTE] Thanks for sparking my memory…the bob cut. > **[Bob cut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_cut)** > > A bob cut, also known as a bob, is a short to medium length haircut, in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at approximately jaw level, and no longer than shoulder-length, often with a fringe at the front. The standard bob cut exposes the back of the neck and keeps all of the hair well above the shoulders. > Historically, women in the West have usually worn their hair long. Some young girls, actresses and a few "advanced" or fashionable women had worn short hair even before W... _It was created in 1909 in Paris by the hairdresser Antoine, who was inspired by “Joan of Arc”. In Britain it became popular in “Bloomsbury” circles before the end of the First World War, but was made widely popular in the 1920s by flappers. At the time it was considered a sign of a liberated woman. In 1924 the razor cut shingle bob was introduced._ It would figure France/Paris would start the trend and it would catch on elsewhere later… ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/25 "2008-05-16T05:57:03Z")
You ask a quite simple question and whaddya get? For starters you don’t get a proper answer. Honestly, you men…::sniffs:: ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/26 "2008-05-16T06:24:03Z")
I’m more curious as to why women wear skirts. They seem awfully… exposed. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/27 "2008-05-16T07:48:55Z")
[QUOTE=Peak Banana] Ancient Roman men all wore skirts ([tunics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunic)), of course. As an odd twist, when the Romans first encountered northeners wearing pants (braccae), they thought them to be effeminate (according to [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braccae)). [/QUOTE] Differentiation of attire between the genders is common in nearly all non-primitive cultures. Skirt vs. trousers is one of the most common differences, but which one goes with which gender varies by culture. As you pointed out, in Greek & Roman culture men wore the skirts. And current mid-eastern arab cultures, that’s still true: men wear skirts and women wear trousers. Western culture is largely the opposite. It doesn’t seem to matter which gender wears the pants, as long as the other gender wears mainly skirts. Except, of course, to people within that culture, it’s horribly _degenerate_ and _unnatural_ to wear the clothes assigned to the other gender. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/28 "2008-05-16T08:00:39Z")
There are quite a few guys over here wearing skirts. Newbies are often in danger of picking them up by mistake. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/29 "2008-05-16T08:02:00Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] I’m more curious as to why women wear skirts. They seem awfully… exposed. [/QUOTE] Yes, they should take those off. Right away. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/30 "2008-05-16T08:43:09Z")
I can understand why skirts would be a handy garment for women back in the days before indoor plumbing and underpants being commonly worn. Having used the great outdoors as a restroom, I know that not having to watch to make sure that my pants or drawers got wet would make things a lot easier ( still gotta watch the shoes though 🙂 ). That said, I see no reason that skirts for men wouldn’t serve most purposes as well as a pair of trousers. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/31 "2008-05-16T11:42:11Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] There are quite a few guys over here wearing skirts. Newbies are often in danger of picking them up by mistake. 😃 [/QUOTE] Aren’t they called Sarongs? Beckham wore one, then agian he wore his wifes panties (or so sourpuss said) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/32 "2008-05-16T12:22:35Z")
There is no law banning a man from wearing a skirt. It’s more tradition than anything else. Pants on women didn’t become really everyday until the 1970’s. And some religious groups still forbid women from wearing them. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/33 "2008-05-16T15:36:39Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] You ask a quite simple question and whaddya get? [/QUOTE] Another day older and deeper in debt Uncle Cecil don’t you call me ‘cause I can’t go I’m shoppin’ for a skirt at the company store ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/34 "2008-05-16T16:58:00Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Aren’t they called Sarongs? Beckham wore one, then agian he wore his wifes panties (or so sourpuss said) [/QUOTE] There are sarongs, but that’s mainly Muslim wear and so worn mainly in southern Thailand. You see them in Burma, too. But no, I was talking about actual skirts, ladies’ skirts, and if you’re real smart, you’ll check your newfound lady friend for an Adam’s apple or other potentially undesirable extra body parts. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448/35 "2008-05-16T18:03:02Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Why don’t men wear skirts? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=tanstaafl] They do. They’re called kilts. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=chowder] A kilt is not a skirt. [/QUOTE] An example of the “No True Scotsman” fallacy. How appropriate that it should be about kilts! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-skirts-men-trousers/449448.md?page=1)