BARRINGTON, R.I. — Hundreds of women, girls and other supporters proudly donned their yoga pants Sunday as they peacefully paraded around the Rhode Island neighborhood of a man who derided the attire as tacky and ridiculous.

Alan Sorrentino said the response to his letter to the editor, printed in The Barrington Times on Wednesday, has been “vicious” and that he’s received death threats. He maintained the letter was meant to be humorous.

But organizers said even if Sorrentino’s letter was meant to be a joke, the message is clear.

“Women are fed up with the notion that we have to dress for people’s visual pleasure,” said Jamie Burke, parade organizer.

The so-called yoga pants parade wasn’t a protest against Sorrentino specifically but part of a bigger movement against misogyny and men dictating how women should dress, organizers said.

More than 300 people – many of them women and young girls – came out for the social media-driven event in the affluent, coastal town of Barrington, wearing yoga pants of different styles and colors.

Participants also collected personal hygiene items for the Sojourner House, a local domestic violence organization. Marchers ended with a group yoga session.

Sorrentino, in his letter, described yoga pants as the worst thing in women’s fashion since the miniskirt. He argued that they belong in the yoga studio and that women over age 20 shouldn’t wear them in public.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.