Mormon Women Want Softer Better Fitting Sacred Undergarments
Mormon Sasha Piton, 33, has decided to ask the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to make more breathable and comfortable temple garments for its members.
After a rash quickly developed along the crease above her thigh, a few miles into a hike, Ms. Piton realized the source of the discomfort was in the itchy, constrictive white two-piece set of sacred church-designed garments.
Ms. Piton posted several direct pleas to the church’s 96-year-old president, Russell M. Nelson, via Instagram. “We really want buttery soft fabric,” she said. “My vagina has to breathe.”
Church members have traditionally been encouraged to wear the synthetic fabric sacred garments around the clock, which date back to the church’s origins in the nineteenth century and symbolize the wearer’s commitment to the faith, similar to the religious attire of many other faith traditions.
The New York Times reported that Ms. Piton touched on a well-known dilemma that most women in the church felt uneasy discussing publicly. “Her posts drew thousands of comments and private messages, in which women vented their frustrations with the holy apparel: itchy hems, bunchy seams, pinching waistbands and even chronic yeast infections caused by fabric that does not breathe.”
In a 2016 poll of 1,100 Latter-day Saints, only 14 percent of millennial church members said they considered it acceptable to remove the garments if they became uncomfortable.
A spokesman for the church declined an N.Y. Times interview request and refused to answer a list of detailed questions, instead sending a link to the video below produced by the church.
