Mormon Underwear

As a cultural anthropologist, I have come to know a lot of people from many different cultural groups and I have NEVER had someone willingly come up and show me their underwear.  I have never asked anyone to, but I cannot imagine that I would be happily invited into their bedroom and shown everything from their comfy, down-days underwear to their lingerie. “Why are they so secretive about their underwear?” you may ask. Well, it is for much of the same reason that Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) are so secretive about their underwear.  It’s underwear!  Underwear by nature, regardless of external appearance, is private.

Besides that, our temple garments are very symbolic and sacred to us as Latter-day Saints.  When we go to the temple we make covenants/ promises to God and these items of clothing are constant reminders of our commitment to our promises.  Because these promises we make to God involve sexual purity, our garments cover the private parts of our bodies.  We wear them every day under everything we wear (except swim suits because that would be bizarre!) as a constant reminder of the promises we have made to God.  This is similar to how married couples wear wedding bands to remind themselves of the promises that they have made to each other regarding fidelity and lasting love.  (Most women do not wear their diamond rings when scrubbing the toilet because the cleaners can damage their ring.  Mormons do not wear their garments to the pool because it would a) look ridiculous and b) put unnecessary wear on our garments.) 

 Since our promises are made to God, we do not need the world to be able to tell by looking at us, that we are wearing garments. God knows when we are wearing them and keeping our promises. With covenants, they are two sided. When we promise to keep our promises to God, he promises to protect us. When we wear our garments, we are protected.  They are not ‘magic Mormon underwear’. They are symbols of our commitments to God and His promise to protect us.  They are made of various materials from cotton to silk just like any other clothing.

An example to illustrate this came to mind. A crucifix necklace, whether gold, silver or nickel, is a metal pendant. Some people wear crosses to remind them of Jesus Christ and help them to live righteously. If someone promises God that they will always wear the cross to think of Christ and in return ask God for protection, I believe that God will honor that. Say someone tries to shoot them and miraculously the bullet hits this necklace instead and their life is spared. It is not because the necklace is magic- it’s because God keeps His promises.

As a final thought on this, no one makes anyone wear garments. If they decide they do not want to keep the promises they made to God, they do not have to wear them and they can pursue whatever lifestyle they want to.  That means that God does not need to hold up His end of the bargain. While a couple is married they wear wedding rings but if things go wrong, they break marital promises or decide they do not want to be married anymore, they take off their ring. 

In summary- personal underwear by nature is private and not publically displayed; this is not unique to the Mormon culture.  Garments are not ‘magic Mormon underwear’; they symbolize promises and when promises to God are kept, He can do miraculous things. Finally, no one forces anyone else to wear garments. It is between the individual and God.

Here are some more comments based on some questions I received concerning my previous post.  Garments are usually two piece. Everyone I know wears two piece. It is possible to get one piece but those would be very uncomfortable and hot and inconvenient.  They are basically all shaped the same way regardless of age. They do make maternity ones for the pregnant shape. :) They are short sleeved (the women’s are very short sleeved as you can see by my pictures that they are not visible under my t shirts. )  Men’s are also short sleeved like a standard men’s t-shirt.  They are very sheer so that they are breathable and not too hot. The variance in styles is  in the necklace such as V neck or scoop neck. Plunging neckline is not an option because modesty is important.  Undergarment bottoms vary slightly in length but generally they are Bermuda short length; about to the knee. ie- Bermuda shorts are great, capris are great, long pants are great, daisy dukes/ short shorts are not as great. :) 

My friend Jessica Constantine wanted me to share this thought that she had concerning the style of garments. 

" Although this isn't the express purpose of garments, I feel like the unchanging length of the garment acts as a template and standard for modest dress. We are counseled a lot as youth to dress modestly because of the incredible protection it is to our physical bodies as well as our spirits. The temple garment helps us to keep our hemlines in check, and as one of many personal benefits temple garments offer the wearer, they also keep us focused on our deep beauty not just skin beauty. (Although men don't seem to have as much of an issue with modesty in dress or self worth issues that come with dress, it equally applies to them as well). "

 I do not know how many Mormons wear garments statistically but I know it is a lot.  If they were married in the temple or served a mission or they are devout Mormons and they go to the temple, you can bet they wear them.  I would guess that most Mormons over the age of 20  wear them.  You might not guess that because they are not noticeable and we don’t talk about them.  With regards to the word of wisdom; Certainly there are in any religion those who pick and choose things they want to believe and things they do not want to believe and adhere to.

Here are some pictures of Mormons wearing garments. 

 

*The little Buzz and the young Soldier are not wearing garments because they are children and have not been to the temple.  You begin wearing garments when you go through the temple formally as you make additional promises to God.  This happens before you serve a mission, before you get married in the temple, or when you have passed age 19 or so and you would like to go to the temple. 

"But these are normal people wearing normal clothes!" you might say. Yes, that's because the garments are underclothing and as such they are underneath their clothing.  As you see, you can wear most anything you want over your garments. I do not feel like my wardrobe is limited. It helps encourage me to dress modestly. 

Regarding the history of the garment, we believe that garments were used in the church when Abraham was a prophet and when Adam was on the earth. Certainly the styles of garments have changed as cultures and dress have changed but the concept God instituted for his church has remained the same.  When Joseph Smith restored the church of Jesus Christ, the garment was re-instituted as a symbol of temple covenants. 

I do not think that they are blessed. In our church we do not so much bless things. We bless people and we believe that we are blessed as we keep our covenants with God.

My dad also has some comments that he wanted me to add in here. :) 

 I enjoyed reading your thoughts. I would want to emphasize that the protection would be viewed primarily as a spiritual protection. Ephesians 6:11-18 would be a good example of this. The garments help us to spiritually put on the whole amour of god by helping us remember who we are and our relationship with him and the specific covenants we have made with him.  For me the symbolism of the garment is in almost every way I can imagine symbolic of the atonement.

As we repent we are then “covered” by and through the atonement. Even the word “atonement” in Hebrew is “kafar” which means “to cover”, which in our case is literal. So when I think of the garment, I think “Atonement” and what the Savior has done for me.