Why Pants?
Greatest pants ever, Karnataka, India.
Why does western civilization wear pants? Why not kilts, sarongs or robes? Why not togas? Two insightful pieces (part one, two) say that it was horses. Not that horses wore pants, but that men riding horses did.
In modern times you may encounter this if you try to ride a motorbike in a sarong. It’s not easy, or especially attractive, unless you loop the back-bottom of the sarong up, making something akin to pants. Or diapers.
The argument, then, is that the switch from the tunic to trousers in the civilized Europe followed the replacement of the hoplite by the knight. Historically there is a very strong correlation between horse-riding and pants. In Japan, for example, the traditional dress is kimono, but the warrior class (samurai) wore baggy pants (sometimes characterized as a divided skirt), hakama. Before the introduction of horses by Europeans (actually, re-introduction – horses were native to North America, but were hunted to extinction when humans first arrived there), civilized Amerindians wore kilts: But when the Plains Indians started riding horses they also adopted pants. (Social Evolution Forum, Part 2)
Seriously, read part two at least of these posts by Peter Turchin. Fascinating stuff. Part one covers why sarongs and kilts and tunics are better (for warm climates at least):
Male’s testes hang outside the body for a reason: the optimum temperature for spermatogenesis is a couple of degrees less than the body temperature. So wearing tight pants kinda defeats that purpose.(Social Evolution Forum, Part 1)
Yet pants took over, because men in pants (atop horses) were much better at killing men in comfortable robes. I guess the ability to throw a spear down has a higher evolutionary advantage than producing a bit more sperm. So social convention followed.
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Jodhpurs from Jodhpur, India
Pants are much better looking on males than the stupid sarong. I hate sarongs. I never wear them. They are a very primitive and gode form of dress. Maybe they are ok to wear @ home but NEVER outside. Also when men wear sarong and women wear the redde/hatte, there is no difference between the men and women. they look the same from waist down, which is pretty bad in my book.
” They are a very primitive and gode form of dress”- tell me how many fucks I should give about your personal opinion?
I’m not a sarong wearer myself but your attitude towards a more practical choice of clothing in this country is appalling. Me, I’m a shorts kinda guy myself and if you can’t tell the difference between men and women from the waist down when they wear sarongs you need to get your eyes checked.
lol.
bahahaha xD
What I mean is, sarong is just a cloth draped below your waist. Redde is the same thing no. Just a piece of cloth draped around the waist. Both look the same. I am not saying you cannot identify them as men and women, but it is the same type of dress. I stand in my view that the “sarong” is a very primitive form of dress. That is why we wear western attire to office. That is why we have adopted it from the Europeans, since it is BETTER than the sarong. Otherwise why would be adopt it??? They never forced it on us. Robert Knox clear states in his book that the up country people ON THEIR OWN had started to adopt the Portuguese and Dutch clothes and slippers etc. There were no Portuguese or Dutch in the Kandian kingdom at the time. It was an independent kingdom, BUT still Sinhalese started imitating and adopting western dress, which clearly show that they are superior to ours.
My father tells me there was no way he could attend a high society event during colonial rule without wearing a trouser and shoes. While not mandated I assume it became the defacto standard if you needed to further your self through society.
Forget colonial times almost all the club houses in colombo will kick you out if you don’t wear trousers.
In cold climates trousers are also warmer.
Having a loose tunic with an icy wind billowing through would not be very pleasant.
Why not pants?