Writing Encricles Us
“You have the right to remain silent…”
Whether people want to admit it or not clothing is a form of self expression and billions of dollars are spent every year on giving people the opportunity to use this self expression.
Writing is all around us, it surrounds us. There is no way to get away from writing and even reading what you see written. Walking to and from class I find writing everywhere. There are announcements written on the sidewalks, writing on buildings telling you which one is which, writing on people and their clothing, it is everywhere. Does any of this writing have a purpose or meaning or does it just act as a filler, a place holder? Does the writing on people’s clothes tell you anything about them?
As I walk to class there are many words displayed on people’s clothing. There are shirts with sports teams either college or professional, an old high school, and Case athletic wear. There are many names brands across people’s clothing, reading Adidas, Abercrombie, American Eagle, and Hollister just to name a few. These brands are written noticeably on people’s clothing. There are many musical bands worn by students. There are even a great number of shirts that have no relation to sports team or brands. These shirts are meant to be funny or supportive to different groups. These are shirts that say things like “gay? Fine by me,” “Eat, sleep, video games,” “Welcome to America, now speak English,” “you have the right to remain silent; anything you say will be misquoted and used against you,” “I’m with stupid,” “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere,” “booty hunter,” and “Mistletoe residential college.” What do these all mean?
As I ask my fellow students why they wear these shirts you get a variety of different answers. You get your typical well I wear my Ohio State Buckeyes shirt because I am the best fan ever, or I wear my high school soccer shirt because I played in high school, or I wear my “mistletoe” college shirt because it was free. When asked why students wear clothes with certain print many interesting answers were found. When I asked one guy why he had an American Eagle shirt on he said well my mom and my girlfriend buy my clothes, I just wear them. Other people had different answers from wearing your typical brand names like, I shop there because their clothes fit me, I like their clothes, or I shop there because that’s where all my friends shop. Then you ask people why they wear the shirts with slogans and they’ll tell you I just thought it was funny. But is there more that the clothes you pick out each day say about you as a person?
The clothes people wear are all worn for a reason. Everyone makes assumptions about people based on a number of things when first meeting them, clothing is one of those things. Are these assumptions safe or fair to make? It all depends, someone wearing a shirt with an athletic team across it; it is probably safe to assume that they are a fan. Someone wearing a shirt that says “gay? Fine by me” it is not safe to assume they themselves are gay, but it is probably safe to assume that they support homosexuality. Then as you get into the shirts that people say they wear because they are “funny” what do you think of these people? The “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere” do we assume that this person is a party animal or is it just a “funny shirt”?
No matter what the clothing you are wearing, people will be making assumptions about you. I believe people are making statements about themselves, I know some are just trying to grab our attention and make us think. Whether people want to admit it or not clothing is a form of self expression and billions of dollars are spent every year on giving people the opportunity to use this self expression. It starts when your five years old fighting with your mom to wear the same dress everyday and carries on through middle school when you have to have that pair of design jeans to be “cool” like everyone else. I know as people get older clothing becomes more personalized to their taste but there are still the pressures of society that one must meet, no one walks into court without a suit. Clothing makes a statement about who you are.
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