No longer a question specifically for Jock

[Nathan]

<snip>Some however still have a hard time making this separation. To many in the world today there are only four reasons to wear a kilt.
1 – You are in a Pipe Band,
2 – You are in the military uniform of a kilted regiment,
3 – You are attending a Highland Games, or are representing the country of Scotland,
4 - You are Gay.

I submit that quite a few of those who join this forum are looking for acceptance for wearing a kilt outside of one of these four traditional and accepted reasons.
<snip> I simply do not care what color a members’ skin is. I don’t care what your religion, political beliefs or sexual preference is. And frankly I don’t want to know. I will not judge another member on any of these things as long as you unite with me in this one single passion about wearing a kilt.

Nathan, it all comes back to the original concept of our founder. A place on the web where the kilt is the only thing that matters. A haven if you will from all the why's. The one place on the web where we are united and not wedged apart because of why we chose a particular garment in the morning.<snip>


<snip>

We are not, and were never intended to be, the “be-all-and-end-all” of internet communities.

Nathan, X Marks is, and will always remain, about the kilt. In whatever way and for whatever reason you choose to wear it.

I don't have a problem with most of what you said, but I will say that while it might benefit you as a kilt maker if the whole world started wearing kilts, I think it's important to remember that the kilt is a cultural garment. While I have no problems whatsoever with people of any background finding the cultural dress of my people nice enough to wear and emulate, attempts to appropriate this symbol and to divorce it entirely from it's Highland origins are greatly offensive.

I come here because there are people here who have studied the history of tartan and Highland attire like Matt Newsome and Peter MacDonald. I come here because OCRichard has a great collection of vintage photographs to help put things into context. I am also here because gentlemen like Jock Scot, Phil, Neloon and Kyle can comment on how the kilt is worn in it's natural habitat. I come here to learn about Scottish heraldry from folks like Harold Cannon and MacMillan of Rathdown.

I don't come here because nobody ever gets upset, I come here because of the members and I don't think I'm alone. They know things that I don't and have made me more knowledgable about my cultural dress. I think this is why xmarks has been so successful. It is because these experts choose to give their time freely and have posted so many excellent and informative threads that any time you Google for information about these topics, you end up here.

I don't wear the kilt traditionally to avoid being mistaken for gay, I wear the kilt traditionally because our cultural traditions deserve to be respected. It's the same reason I play traditional Scottish music and struggle through my traditional language. Does every generation of tradition bearers have the right to adapt the tradition to their time? Certainly, but this should be done with care and respect to continuity.

I know tradition bearers that are gay who wear the kilt as a symbol of their Highland heritage, not as a statement of their sexual orientation.

If dandies or goths or punks or homosexuals or Irish Americans or New Age druids or any other subculture wants to adopt the kilt, they are welcome to do so but it's not just clothing for everyone. To some of us, it's a link to the past and a statement of identity. It's the hand of our fathers passing down a symbol of a way of life that's been all but crushed under the boot of empire. This is not meant to exclude anyone at all, but simply to affirm and take ownership of our cultural inheritance. Long after these fads pass and the mainstream moves on, Scots (around the world), pipers and members of Scottish military regiments will still be kilted.

This forum should be open to all voices and of course it should be about the kilt. I just hope there will still be room for the voice of the tradition bearers because if they leave, this place will be a shadow of its former glory.

If long time contributors feel alienated, you should ask yourself why this is. Has mass paranoia set in or do they have a point in there somewhere?