Mormon women discuss discomfort with their sacred underwear

Sasha Piton, 33, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, has called on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to manufacture more breathable and comfortable temple garments for its members.
(The New York Times/Kim Raff)
Sasha Piton, 33, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, has called on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to manufacture more breathable and comfortable temple garments for its members. (The New York Times/Kim Raff)

Sasha Piton was on a hike near her home in Idaho Falls, Idaho, when she realized something was wrong. The trek was just a few miles, and not strenuous, but a rash was spreading along the crease above her thigh.

Piton quickly identified the cause. Like many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she wears a white two-piece set of sacred temple garments, which are functionally underwear, almost all of the time.

After another painful hike, Piton reluctantly stopped wearing the garments when exercising and occasionally removed them overnight. Both changes felt significant, since church members have historically been encouraged to wear the garments "night and day." But they were simply too uncomfortable.

And she did not stop there. Last month, Piton posted several cheerfully direct pleas to Instagram, where she discusses church culture as @themormonhippie. "We really want buttery soft fabric," she said, addressing her comments to the church's 96-year-old president, Russell Nelson. "My vagina has to breathe."

And Piton encouraged her 17,100 followers to email the church about their own experiences.

Piton, 33, had tapped into a familiar problem that few women in the church felt bold enough to discuss 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.

"It's sacred," one commenter wrote. "But it's still actual underwear."

UNCOMFORTABLE UNDERGARMENTS

Temple garments date back to the church's origins in the 19th century and symbolize the wearer's commitment to the faith, akin to the religious garments of many other faith traditions. Adult Latter-day Saints wear them after their "temple endowment," a private membership ritual that typically takes place before missionary service or marriage. The church controls the design and manufacturing process of the garments and sells them globally at low prices.

A spokesperson for the church declined an interview request and declined to answer a list of detailed questions, instead sending a link to a brief video about the garments produced by the church.

Most of the available temple garment fabrics are synthetic. "If you're trying to optimize someone's gynecologic health, it's not recommended," said Dr. Kellie Woodfield, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Utah who is a member of the church. The cotton option is more breathable, she said, but tight and significantly thicker.

Woodfield, who wore the garments for most of her adult life, said the conversation around garments was indicative of larger struggles over women's concerns in the male-led tradition. While women feel increasingly emboldened to speak up on social media, they often feel stymied by what they describe as a lack of transparency and empathy. "How the church responds to this movement is a really interesting litmus test for how much the church is starting to trust women," Woodfield said.

UNDERWEAR WISH LIST

In Idaho, Piton ticked off the items on her wish list in the recent Instagram video: "buttery soft, seamless, thick waistband that's not cutting into my spleen, breathable fabric."

Although she is having fun with her campaign, Piton is serious about why it matters to her. She converted to the faith a decade ago and was profoundly moved by the temple endowment ritual, which includes putting on the garments for the first time and receiving a blessing specifically for the body.

In that moment, "I just felt this divine connection to my body," she said. "In a world where my entire life being a bigger woman, I've been told my body should look different," receiving a blessing focused on her body's strength and holiness was a moving experience.

Not everyone is attached to the idea of preserving the garments. Lindsay Perez, 24, who lives in Salt Lake City, used to experience persistent urinary tract infections that she believes were made worse by her garments. She now leaves them off at night and after she showers.

If she had her choice, she said, she would prefer to wear a cross necklace, or a ring -- popular among young church members -- with the letters CTR, a reference to the motto "Choose the Right," a reminder to make ethical choices. "There are so many different ways to remind myself of what I've promised," Perez said. "I don't need that to be through my underwear."

SUFFOCATION IN HEAT

Afton Southam Parker, a mother of five who was raised in the church, has lived in Uganda and Thailand, where the garments felt especially stifling in the heat. In furtive conversations with other women, she realized she was not alone. "Everybody I talked to was getting some kind of rash or infection," she said.

The word she heard over and over from women was "suffocation."

Parker made it her mission to get church leaders to produce garments that fit and felt better. She approached one church leader after a talk, and wrote to anyone she thought could help. When a church designer finally agreed to meet with her last year, she showed him 34 PowerPoint slides that explained the garments' many problems for women.

The initial result was disheartening, although she was encouraged recently when the church's design team asked her for more feedback. "You're talking about pads and gore," she recalled the man responding at first. The implication was that such earthy topics were inappropriate for discussions of sacred matters.

"It's of a greater magnitude than the church has any idea about," Parker said. "Either get into the underwear business or get out."

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