"Ritualistic circumstances"?

[CMcG]

Yea. I oopsed.

I wore a kilt to class last week, my blue 'shadow tartan' so there was no specific affiliation. The prof said "Are you Scottish?" with a very bright look in his eyes. When I did not respond with a resounding "Aye, laddie!!" but with a lack-lustre "I'm a bit of all of it" his face dropped. You could have heard it bouncing off the desk and I thought "Why are you so invested?" And then I remembered: his name is McIntire. I felt like such an idiot.

I've learned that there is correct answer to that question and it is simply "yes," as opposed to any sort of explanation of my multifarious bloodline. With the right people one can get into a deeper explanation afterwards, while others will be most satisfied with an Occam's Razor response...

[Chirs]

I've learned that there is correct answer to that question and it is simply "yes," as opposed to any sort of explanation of my multifarious bloodline. With the right people one can get into a deeper explanation afterwards, while others will be most satisfied with an Occam's Razor response...

Very good advice. Lesson learned.

[Bugbear]

Exactly, Chirs. I do know of sound research that shows there is a level of innate communication, probably inherited from our simian ancestors and before, that is both universal and outside of direct conscious control and awareness. I suspect there is also learned communication, symbols and such, that come from cultures or groups, but remains somewhat outside of conscious awareness; both symbols and signs like archetypes that evoke reactions rather than have meanings, but also something like the poker twitching. An unspoken and unconscious language of bodies in a group that is implicitly learned or developed over time.

I don't know enough about it, to know.

[CopperNGold]

I think we're getting into the nature versus nurture question.

We've all heard the expression, "I wouldn't want ot meet him in a dark alley." Why? Is your reaction because of what you've been taught by your parents,friends, elders? That's the nature aspect.

Or is is because over the history of humnakind, in order to survive, we've developed the instinct that if the man in the alley is bigger, stronger and meaner than your are, it's best to run? That's the nature aspect.

It's a question that can be applied to almost everything you do, and even psychiatrists and psychologists cannot agree on this.

Can this be applied to kilts? Yes. When a kilt wearer sees another kilt-wearer, his reaction is one of comeraderie. When a non-kiltie, with no experience around kilties, sees a kiltie, his reaction will be different. Why?

[CopperNGold]

*parents, friends, elders= NURTURE! Sorry.

[Bugbear]

* All right, CMcG, that makes a lot of sense. Thank you for responding to my post.

Reminds me, there were several times in grade school and later that I was beaten up for wearing the wrong shoes or what have you, even having my shoes taken away and thrown on top of the school building a couple of times.

Unfortunately, one of the most common things that is unintentionally communicated by kilt wearing outside of traditional ritual circumstances is gender ambiguity or transvestism. This last point is the one made by the author quoted in the OP.

*
Perhaps much more so in a subculture that has developed a sense of hypermasculinity. On the other hand, one might be trying to express hypermasculinity by wearing a kilt in those situations. That could get complicating to try to understand the full dynamic.

I'm all for people dressing how they like but I don't think that offending others is a good practice. Freedom of attire is like freedom of speech; my freedom ends where the next person's begins.

* I'm going to have to ponder the freedom part of your statement. I can think of some situations where freedoms are co-contingent or entangled in a group or culture. I apologize for not knowing the proper vocabulary to express that.

However, it does remind me a bit of peripersonal space; for example, if I step into what you are culturally used to feeling is your personal space around you, it might start making you uncomfortable. This could just as easily apply to two people using robot arms, if the arms smack each other, because their brains are creating the map of this space. Extend that to the cultural clothing someone might be wearing that, to you, feels like you have cultural ownership over, but the outsider is wearing.

[James Hood]

CMcG, thank you for the thoughtful mini-essay. Certainly well constructed and illuminating.

To wit; about a hundred and fifty years ago, a form of blue denim cotton trousers became the "workman's uniform" of cattlemen, sheepherders, ranchers and farmers, even to "blue denim bib overalls" being one word.

After WW II, some American youth began wearing blue denim trousers in urban settings, where they became a statement for "hip," "punk," "rebel"...and then when the bottoms were belled, the "official uniform" of hippies.

As hippies and bells became passe' in the very early 70s, blue denim trousers morphed all but instantly into the "official uniform and fashion statement" of mom in the minivan, dad at the sports bar, the landscaper, tween, teen, grandma, construction worker, schoolchild, ubiquitous ad nauseum.

Was it a "travesty" of sorts, American farmers and ranchers did not voiciferously protest their "traditional" garb being taken over by the (entire freaking) world?

Considering there are likely more American farmers / ranchers / non-urban who did not so lament their traditional garb being adopted by urbanites, than Scottish...

...is it possible, "control has been lost" of the kilt and tough as it may seem, the kilt is becoming, albeit slowly, a worldwide piece of clothing?

Those who horror at its mis-wearing and mis-accessorizing, may just have to snort like the farmer in his bib overalls, seeing 30s-something Mom in her skinny jeans, stilettos and trendy sequined top, talking on her smart phone and balancing a Starbuck's while pushing a doublewide stroller...

...and live with it.

Fewer (or maybe even,more, truly "ritualistic circumstances" for the kilt as time passes?

(BTW, 'do not, will not own or wear blue jeans. The auld hippie still dislikes "official hip social group uniform.")

[CMcG]

<snip>
Was it a "travesty" of sorts, American farmers and ranchers did not voiciferously protest their "traditional" garb being taken over by the (entire freaking) world?

Considering there are likely more American farmers / ranchers / non-urban who did not so lament their traditional garb being adopted by urbanites, than Scottish...

...is it possible, "control has been lost" of the kilt and tough as it may seem, the kilt is becoming, albeit slowly, a worldwide piece of clothing?

James, thanks for your reply.

I don't recall hearing anything about American farmers and ranchers protesting the spread of blue jeans. If anything, it seems Americans in general have revelled in their sartorial hegemony as jeans have spread around the world. Besides, there is a significant difference in symbolic value between denim work pants and the kilt...

My point about the kilt being misunderstood outside of ritual circumstances extends far beyond ownership claims by Scots. Wearing a kilt in ritual circumstances, the meaning of the clothing is fairly clear. Wearing a kilt in non-ritual circumstances (especially outside Scotland) requires more sensitivity because it can unconsciously communicate a host of undesired meanings. Of course some people have an aberrant disregard for what others think, which is another story.

And no, unfortunately, the kilt is not becoming a worldwide phenomenon. We are very much in the minority!

[Bugbear]

... My point about the kilt being misunderstood outside of ritual circumstances extends far beyond ownership claims by Scots. Wearing a kilt in ritual circumstances, the meaning of the clothing is fairly clear. Wearing a kilt in non-ritual circumstances (especially outside Scotland) requires more sensitivity because it can unconsciously communicate a host of undesired meanings. Of course some people have an aberrant disregard for what others think, which is another story.

And no, unfortunately, the kilt is not becoming a worldwide phenomenon. We are very much in the minority!

"Of course some people have an aberrant disregard for what others think, which is another story."
CMcG, I understand and have often experienced that easily cutting both ways, but it popped a question into my mind.

Do you find yourself, knowing that you may be being perceived incorrectly by outsiders of sorts, reconsidering or analyzing your own impressions and reactions to people or groups, or even their signs and symbols?

[CMcG]

A copy of "American Gothic," and my picture standing by the Indian Fig cacti with a pitchfork while wearing a canvas kilt are both still in my profile album. That's all I have to say.

I love that picture!

"Of course some people have an aberrant disregard for what others think, which is another story."
CMcG, I understand and have often experienced that easily cutting both ways, but it popped a question into my mind.

Do you find yourself, knowing that you may be being perceived incorrectly by outsiders of sorts, reconsidering or analyzing your own impressions and reactions to people or groups, or even their signs and symbols?

Knowing that my kilt-wearing may be perceived incorrectly by outsiders makes me reserve it for more or less ritualistic circumstances; I'm only a daily kilt-wearer in the privacy of my own home.

In terms of my own impression of other people, I try to keep an open mind. When I read clothing semiotically, I will usually hold the symbolically available meanings balanced against the contextual information, and then try to make the most charitable interpretation. If there is someone that I am interacting with (as opposed to just observing) and I am perplexed by their clothing, I would try to politely ask them for clarification of their intended meaning. And I'm quite difficult to offend...

The flip side of freedom of dress should be tolerance of difference. I am all too aware, however, that inclusiveness and permissiveness are lofty ideals, so I try to dress according to the circumstances.