How many times have you heard a religious woman being asked if she wears pants? What exactly is meant by that question? Are pants men’s suit pants? Are they ski pants? Are they baggy sweatpants? Are they pink pants with sunflowers on them? Are they jeggings (jeans + leggings combined= very tight pants)?
Depending how you define pants, you may find that some styles are halachically acceptable while others can be problematic.
In Parshat Ki Tetze, Devarim 22:5 we read the words: “No male article shall be on a woman, and a man shall not wear a woman’s garment.”
The main prohibition here is trying to resemble the opposite sex.
Tur, Yoreh Deah 182 explains that “A woman should not wear clothing that by local custom is deemed to be exclusively male”.
After reading the Tur it is clear that men’s suit pants would be forbidden.
In the Gemara in Nedarim 49b we read that Rabbi Yehuda’s wife purchased wool and made a coat. When she went to the market she would wear it and when Rabbi Yehuda went to pray, he would wear it to pray.
We see from here that a woman can wear a unisex garment.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in his responsa, Yabia Omer explains that women who wear pants as protection from heat or cold surely have a source upon which to rely since many great rabbis have concurred with Bach, Taz and Shach who allow it.
From here we can learn that Ski pants (even if they are unisex) would be allowed as they protect us from the snow.
However, the Minchat Yitzchak brings a stricter opinion and says that the woman should not be skiing in the first place. If she stays at home then she won’t have to worry about protection from the elements.
Baggy sweatpants seem to be OK as well as they are unisex and are used for the purpose of exercising and mountain climbing.
There are women who are stricter and wear skirts on top of their sweatpants, a safeguard attributed to the Chazon Ish.
Yabia Omer, based on Rashba points out that Kli Gever (the prohibition against wearing men’s clothing) does not apply if the pants are cut differently than men’s and are of colors that men do not normally wear.
Based on this opinion, the pink pants with sunflowers may be OK.
So why does Yabia Omer still think that women should not wear pants on a regular basis if they are not Kli Gever?
His answer is that “Fine Jewish girls should not wear them at all, especially those that cling to the body, for they cause men to stare and to entertain especially sinful thoughts”.
From here it is clear- Rav Ovadia does not want the religious girls wearing jeggings as they are not modest attire- but by wearing them they are still not transgressing the Biblical prohibition of Kli Gever rather they are dressing immodestly.
We see from here that asking a religious woman if she wears pants is a very loaded question- the answer is not black and white as there are a lot of gray areas.
