Kenley's Blog

Understanding the Words We Wear

“You can’t always get what you want,” someone I had never spoken to before said to me during the Welcome Days at Case Western. I was slightly bewildered, because I had no idea who this person was or why he was saying this to me. “That’s what it says on your shirt,” he continued. “But you know it would be better if you had that written on your underwear.” Annoyed with this complete stranger’s audacity and slightly insulted, I brushed his comment off and walked away; however, it suddenly occurred to me that I had never even taken the time to discern the messages that appear on our clothing. While I certainly would not term the writing on my t-shirt as inappropriate, I do think it is important to be aware of the messages that the writing on our clothing conveys.

While the majority of students at Case Western own several articles of clothing with writing on them, few students spend a great deal of time thinking about the message behind the words on their clothing. Sometimes writing that appears on clothing has a blatantly obvious message, but this is not always the case. According to Leah, a freshman at Case, a great deal of the writing on clothing can be misinterpreted. When Leah went to a gym wearing a t-shirt from a stable where she took riding lessons that said “Just horsin’ around,” an old man came up to her and asked if she wanted to “horse around” with him. Obviously there was nothing wrong with her t-shirt, but it still managed to give off a message she did not want to convey. While we cannot stop inappropriate people from misinterpreting our clothing, we should do our best to understand what something we choose to wear means.

Although the majority of Case students I spoke with said they did not pay very much attention to the writing on their clothing, a few students said they wear clothing with writing to purposefully convey a message. For example, Avneet, a pre-med student at Case, said she tends to wear clothes with writing on them to support specific things such as her school or the clubs she is involved in. Other students wear wristbands to demonstrate their support for specific issues. Ed, a first year at Case, said he wears a “Save Darfur” wristband because he supports trying to end genocide in the Darfur region of the Sudan. By wearing the wristband, he makes a public statement about an issue he believes is important. If anyone asks about the meaning of the wristband, he will have the opportunity to tell them about the crisis in Darfur. I believe this raises a crucial point about understanding the meaning of the writing we wear. We should understand the purpose of writing on our clothing, especially if we want that writing to make a statement about ourselves and the things we care about. Regardless of our intentions, writing on our clothing broadcasts a message to the people around us, and we should know what that message is.

Acknowledgements:
Thank you to everyone who offered insight to this entry! Your input was greatly appreciated.