They have been around since 1957, when Audrey Hepburn made them famous in the musical film “Funny Face,” according to InStyle, and for years they have been stirring up controversial conversations.

Leggings. They come in all colors, patterns and materials. From purple spandex to striped polyester to black cotton. These simple, yet comfortable, pieces of material have brought about the question: Do they count as pants?

YouTuber Jamie Higdon Randolph created a video called “Leggings Ain’t Pants,” which seemed to become a viral sensation overnight.

In the video, Randolph argued how leggings should not be worn as pants.

“That ain’t how they are supposed to be worn,” Randolph said, “If you can’t wear a shirt that covers your tail so I can’t tell that you have some Aztec print thongs on, you don’t need to be wearing them.”

This viral video then kick-started the conversation and the debate about leggings being worn as pants — a debate that has been going on for years. One conversation that stood out to me was an all-male panel on “Fox and Friends” consisting of Andrew Sansone, Arthur Aidala and Willie Robertson.

During the show, the panel judged three different women in three different outfits containing leggings.

When the final woman came out, Aidala made a comment that they had “all taken our nitroglycerin pills before we came to the set,” and “obviously her physique — and God bless, you’ve earned that,” according to Vanity Fair.

My question for this panel of men is: Why must something as simple as leggings have to be considered revealing and become sexualized? And for Randolph, I ask: Why judge a fashion piece on someone who appears to have picked an inappropriate size if you can see through it?

Leggings are one of the most comfortable articles of clothing I own. They are stretchy, so they move with as you move and they fit to you so you do not have to worry about things such as belts or not finding your specific numbered size. Leggings are the one part of clothing that fit to the person (and when worn appropriately, are not see-through). They are versatile and can be worn with almost anything.

One argument for whether leggings should be considered pants seems to be because many sexualize the idea of women in leggings, such as Aidala did in the panel, because of the form-fitting material. However, when someone does something like this and tells women to cover up, it body shames them.

Women who are comfortable enough to wear leggings as pants should be able to wear leggings as pants. There should be no ifs, ands or buts about it. Leggings are something that covers everything, even if they are a form-fitting material. Some women work hard for the bodies they have or are already comfortable in their own skin. If they want to show it, let them.

To say that someone should not wear something because they do not have the right body type or because it does not look flattering or even because it accentuates certain parts of their body is wrong. Who are you to say what the “right” body type is for any article of clothing? No one should be judged based on this instance.

I can recall a time in high school when I had been judged based on an article most people put in the same group as leggings — yoga pants.

I had walked into class wearing a baggy T-shirt and black yoga pants because I had a sleepless night and wanted to be in something comfortable. Suddenly, the conversation in class had turned to the topic of yoga pants and leggings.

Looking around the room self-consciously, I realized I was the only student in the room wearing yoga pants. So when the teacher proceeded to say I believe yoga pants are something that should be worn when doing yoga, hence the name, because they are form-fitting, especially to certain body types, I knew she was talking about me.

I stand at 5 foot 2 inches. I have somewhat larger quad and buttocks muscles for someone my size because of my genes and my time in sports. I had been self-conscious for a good amount of my high school years, so for someone to basically speak about me in front of the class made me even more self-conscious.

It was inappropriate and a judgment that should not have even happened, yet judgments on what people wear occur every single day.

Everyone has the right to wear what they want, when they want. Leggings are a simple article of clothing, by definition, a pair of pants. They have two places to put legs and cover each leg completely. They come in knitted, solid or even sweater style. In my honest opinion, leggings are pants.

I don’t believe the debate is whether leggings are pants. I think the real debate is why does what I wear matter to you?

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