To kilt in modern north american society

[DrakeC]

It's just another kilt. Another damn kilt. And you're a black man and black men don't wear kilts , and it's just plain wierd, and you're just trying to draw attention to yourself, and you make her look bad yadda, yadda, yadda.

I’m a standard Alabama white guy, so my life remains generally easy in spite of my quirks, but I can possibly understand where thecompaqguy's wife could be coming from. I work with a young black lady who "bucks the trend" with her fashion and musical choices (cowboy boot-shoes, yodeling, and opera). In discussions with her on the topic, she admits that she catches grief from people in her own family/community for "stepping out of line". According to her, southern black women experience considerable peer pressure to conform to the expectations of the community. I can’t pretend to know that I would have the confidence to “go my own way” if the pressure to conform were too high, but I hope that I would always have the strength to own and live my own choices. I truly believe that in order to be a person of good character, one must have the confidence to be who they are and allow others to do likewise.

If it’s peer pressure that is making thecompaqguy's wife so uncomfortable, then I can still empathize with her feelings of negativity toward the kilt. We are social animals, and most of us seek the approval of our tribes, likely out of survival instinct. I won’t say that her discomfort isn’t real or even “unjustified”. Even if she doesn’t enjoy the look, I hope she can see the strength of his confidence as a virtue… because it is, and that level of character should be respected.