Man writes letter to editor about yoga
pants; women take to the streets
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[October 25, 2016]
By Elly Park
BARRINGTON, R.I. (Reuters) - A male reader
who sent a letter to a small Rhode Island newspaper criticizing women
who wear yoga pants in public found that snug-fitting pants were the
least of his problems as hundreds of people picketed his home and
thousands rebuked him on social media.
Alan Sorrentino, 63, in a letter to the Barrington Times - a newspaper
which says it has a print circulation of 5,000 - described yoga pants as
"stinky, tacky, ridiculous looking."
"They do nothing to compliment a woman over 20 years old,” he wrote in
the letter, which was published on Wednesday. “In fact, the look is bad.
Do yourself a favor, grow up and stop wearing them in public."
On Monday, the letter was posted on news sites around the world and
thousands of commenters made their feelings clear on Facebook and
Twitter.
Sorrentino told a Providence radio station, WPRO, that he had received
death threats, and he compared the threats to those he had received in
the past as an openly gay man.
In the radio interview, he urged protesters to "calm down."
Sorrentino did not respond to requests by Reuters for comment.
At Sunday's "Yoga Pants Parade," hundreds of people marched past
Sorrentino's house holding up signs reading, "we wear what we want" and
"love yourself."
Jamie Burke, 40, who organized the protest, said it had a larger meaning
than yoga pants.
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"This was not about a bunch of ladies parading around for their
right to wear yoga pants," Burke told Reuters. "It was men and women
standing up against casual sexism and the policing of women's
bodies."
Sorrentino had a different view of the protesters.
"They should really take a good look at themselves, and do a little
introspection and just calm down and leave people alone. If you have
got something to say write it down, and you don't go terrorize
people in their home," he told the radio station.
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He said the letter was a satire, but Burke, who said she had invited
Sorrentino come along to the parade, said she was not amused.
"The tone of the letter was just not funny," said Burke, whose
husband, children, mother and father accompanied her at the parade.
"I don't believe it - if he was really kidding, he would have joined
us."
(Additional repoting and writing by Melissa Fares; Editing by Leslie
Adler)
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