In February 2010, a website called UIUC No Pants was launched. It includes pictures of students on campus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign wearing leggings or tights as pants, a trend that began making its way around college campuses about two years ago.
The pictures are accompanied by “funny” and sometimes very cruel captions poking fun at these ladies. The website popped up capturing Virginia Tech students wearing these comfortable clothing articles around campus. The site recently went offline.
VT No Pants began documenting girls on our campus in their leggings in early October. A good number of you may be laughing at this, as I did the first time I came across the site. However, the more and more I think about it, the idea of a website created anonymously to try to publicly humiliate people is disgusting.
Juicy Campus and College ACB were bad enough, but anonymous gossip and rumor sites dedicated to making sure college students are “in” on all the latest talk is different than taking pictures of girls’ behinds and posting them on the Internet. There is no excuse for websites like Juicy Campus but, in my opinion, it is downright wrong to photograph women walking to class and post those photos on the Internet for a good chuckle.
It’s no secret that the overwhelming majority of college-aged women are insecure about their bodies. I know if I saw a picture of my butt plastered all over the Internet I could find at least five things I hated about it.
What makes these girls any different? Websites like VT No Pants contribute to the overwhelming and unrealistic standards women are held to. I can’t believe anyone, especially a Hokie, would do this to his peers.
Welcome back to high school, my friends. I thought college was supposed to be a new era in our lives that slowly matured us and took us away from the time in our lives when we didn’t sit next to the computer geeks at lunch. Is this not the same kind of bullying resulting in high school suicides and mass acts of violence? Is our campus not familiar with the hate that can be created in an individual who is bullied?
Where did Hokies Respect go, or the American value of freedom for that matter? Who is this anonymous person to tell the thousands of girls who wear leggings almost daily they are wrong. It hit even closer to home for the weeks the site chose Tech as its prey. We are a campus prized for our humility.
We teach all incoming students Tech is a place where you can be who you want to be, say what you want to say and wear what you want to wear. The person who posted the website is obviously insecure and stuck in high school.
Sorry you can’t go back and beat kids up for their lunch money, but keep your cruelty off of our campus.
A version of this article appeared in the Oct 26 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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You should check out these sites for more info
tightsarenotpants.com/
facebook.com/pages/Leggings-are-NOT-pants/81416466763
twitter.com/NotPants
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What a better way to bring even more attention to the site!
Would be willing to bet that 80% of guys did not read past "VT No Pants" before hitting the search engines.
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It has been taken off of the internet.
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It's still in the Google cache ;)
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Yup, I just looked it up lol
Thank you, Stevie, for this information!
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If these women are so self conscious about their bodies, then why would they be wearing these tights or leggings? So if women were out downtown wearing these leggings and pictures were taken it would be different? People need to realize that once they are in public anyone can take pictures of them and post anything on the web about them.
This is no different then women were clothes that reveal skin. if you don't want people to look, then don't show it off
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"Is this not the same kind of bullying resulting in high school suicides and mass acts of violence?":
Words do not cause suicide.
"say what you want to say and wear what you want to wear":
The author of VTNoPants.com was saying what he/she wanted to say.
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If you don't want negative attention brought to yourself, don't do things that bring attention to yourself.
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"I could find at least five things I hated about it."
Visit the gym. 20 years of bad decisions is hard to overcome
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"Is our campus not familiar with the hate that can be created in an individual who is bullied?"
Right, because these girls who don't wear pants and are ridiculed for it are going to be the next Cho. Watch out!
"Where did Hokies Respect go, or the American value of freedom for that matter?"
You mean like our freedoms of speech and the press? They're still there, although it sounds like you're trying to remove them.
"Who is this anonymous person to tell the thousands of girls who wear leggings almost daily they are wrong."
An American citizen, most likely, 100% protected by his/her freedoms of speech and the press.
"It hit even closer to home for the weeks the site chose Tech as its prey."
Three weeks in October? Did I miss something about those being relevant to anything? I've been here for awhile.
"We teach all incoming students Tech is a place where you can be who you want to be, say what you want to say and wear what you want to wear."
Unless you don't like girls who wear Uggs, leggings as pants, and North Face, apparently.
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All I have to say is if a guy has to take pictures of girls butts just to try and be cool or make jokes... well jokes on him. What a loser and especially all of you that left comments thanking Stevie for telling you what to look for. A pathetic, immature loser is all I can say about any man that sees a women as an object or something to poke fun at, grow up. She is right VT has an image to up hold and students like that certainly do not help it. Great column Stevie
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Then stop wearing clothes that expose body parts. its extremely hard to uphold a certain image when you are wearing clothes that expose your tail, cleavage, legs or other parts.
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The biggest problem is that the author did a disservice to the issue by using completely illogical arguments about freedom to make his point. It seems the point is not so much about taking pictures of women's butts as it is to point out that leggings are not pants and to wonder why in the world anyone would wear them in public. It also makes me wonder: are you appalled only because it's middle-class young women? How many people who think this is outrageous would laugh at similar sites devoted to mullets, Wal-Mart shoppers, etc.?
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VT has an image to hold up, sure, but the image you girls are projecting is that we're the university to go to pick up easy girls.
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By the way, if VT has an "image" to uphold, perhaps we can start by not having girls that walk around looking like they're going to a Richard Simmons exercise class. Trashy.
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By the way, if VT has an "image" to uphold, perhaps we can start by not having girls that walk around looking like they're going to a Richard Simmons exercise class. Trashy.
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By the way, if VT has an "image" to uphold, perhaps we can start by not having girls that walk around looking like they're going to a Richard Simmons exercise class. Trashy.
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The Collegiate Times editorials are atrocious.
THEY ARE LEGGINGS. Not pants. Even American Apparel which half this Srat girls are obsessed with states on their leggings listing, 'A great layer piece.' Leave something to the male and female imagination. Why don't you be a decent women of 'Virginia Tech Image' and not be seen as an object by covering up. American freedom? How about freedom of speech? It bother you, then don't read it. Lets not make gross generalizations about severe and impactful events that have nothing to do with a leggings blog or fashion (Side note: You're to young to understand).
Have some confidence and stop following the blind.Half the slumps at tech shouldn't even be caught in skin tight clothes given the copious amount of drinking and the lack of exercise past belting out drunken Journey at TOTS on a Tuesday. Try rocking Yoga pants and going to a class for once.
Tired of the Collegiate Times not representing you?Submit a story to a open campus voice. No national news that a college student shouldn't be commenting on. Just intelligent banter, sarcasm, and satire about the so called community of Hokies.
-Mowgli
vtvoice (at) wordpress
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This article is hilarious. If you saw a photo of your butt on the internet and could "find at least five things to hate about it", then how are you comfortable in the first place parading down the streets with no pants on? Anyone who has the confidence to wear a piece of spandex that points out every single lump and bump should not be bothered of a photograph when obviously it doesn't bother them to show the entire campus live and up close. If girls would dress more respectfully we wouldn't have this issue. And also, these web sites do nothing but point out the fact that they have no pants on, never on the entire site does it mention that someone is ugly or fat. These sites are all in fun and never on the entire site did I see anything that could be considered hateful or serious bullying. People need to stop being so sensitive!
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Hundreds of Virginia Tech students are walking around in what is basically a much more revealing version of long underwear. This isn't a hate website, and the administrator didn't post comments about their physical appearance.
The website existed to poke fun at a horrible fashion trend. If I say "haha, look at those stupid girls wearing miniskirts/bootyshorts and ugg boots," I'm not talking about their physical appearance so much as their bad fashion decision.
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those girls do look stupid in their mini skirts and booty shorts with boots on... with the horrible excuse of... the boots keep me warm
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Dear Stevie,
Thank you so much for not only being aware that the VT No Pants conundrum was an issue that merits close inspection, but for also writing such an eloquent article that serves to denounce the behavior of the site's creator. Though the site is gone, the psychology and culture behind it remain (as also evidenced by some of the previous comments). Sadly, people who are so arrogant and misguided as to believe that the site was not malicious or could harm someone's body image are incredibly wrong.
A woman's (as does a man's) comes from more than their body and their wardrobe. I appreciate your thoughtful consideration on this matter.
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I wish you could like comments. This guy speaks truth.
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Man, the guy who wrote the column ripping on girls who wear The North Face jackets and Uggs had better watch out; Stevie's gonna get his article pulled from the archives for being insensitive.
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My how the times have not changed. When I was at Tech we called it the "Communist Times" for a reason. VT no pants is hilarious! And I'm a girl! If you're not comfortable with your ass posted on the internet then why were you not wearing any pants in the first place? I can't stand girls who wear leggings and nothing else its atrocious! Coming from someone who grew up in the 80's, that is not a style we need to bring back!
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Girls who wear tight pants are whores. Whores don't have the same rights as normal Americans. It's in the Constitution.
Does anyone at Virginia Tech study anymore?
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The title says it all - someone ELSE telling me what is and is not appropriate for me. I think everyone at VT is old enough to make that decision on their own.
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If you don't want people looking at your butt, stop dressing like you do.
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to the author - you are out of control haha
"Is this not the same kind of bullying resulting in high school suicides and mass acts of violence? Is our campus not familiar with the hate that can be created in an individual who is bullied?"
are you for real? going to that extreme is almost making acts of violence such as those you described seem meaningless. you're creating the perception and developing the connection between something that people, even you, laugh at to real life tragedy.
though you may consider something like this humiliating and "disgusting" it's even more humiliating to women for you to make a public announcement that most men believe "it’s no secret that the overwhelming majority of college-aged women are insecure about their bodies." think of the expectation you're creating for women... that women should be insecure about their bodies, men expect them to be. what kind of respect is that?
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