Way back in the late 80's early 90's I took a cultural anthropology class. The Professor was slightly crazy, and like a few Rollins professors a trust fund baby, who never had to earn a living, and taught classes to have something to do besides shop and drink. She split her year between a condo just off Park Avenue in Winter Park, Florida, and a flat overlooking Central Park in New York. If a student needed to take a make-up exam at the end of the semester, she would provide a prepaid Fedex mailer - she left for New York the last day of exams.
We read about social norms, and social class. It was really a fascinating class - and I continue to read on the topics. The sign of an effective education is starting a lifelong quest to know more about what we have studied.
Men having pierced ears had emerged in the 70's as the non-conformists behaviour. Even then there was the code of conformity for non-conformists. One ear was pierced on straight men, the other ear on gay men, both ears was considered weird. I don't remember which ear was for which group.
In the 1970s mens underwear in the United States introduced new styles and colors. White "Jockey" shorts were deemed old fashioned, and the non-conformists wore colors and even bikini cuts. A non-conformist would not wear white. Moving into the mid-90's it was the boxer rebellion. Lose baggy boxer shorts had been the domain of stodgy old men and Ivy League Frat Boys. Suddenly non-conformists were dropping anything tight, and wearing bright colorful and baggy boxers. Only a conformist would wear navy blue briefs. All of the cool guys were wearing boxers. Again the code of conformity for non-conformists. Then along came the boxer brief, tight fitting with a longer leg. The new non-conformists style, that is currently the conformists style, most often in black. I wonder what the non-conformists are wearing these days?
Styles change, what is non-conformist, becomes mainstream and conformist, then a new non-conformist style emerges.
When I was tattooed, tattoos were small and not that common. Can't say that now. It was the same with body piercing. I'm afraid I am stuck in bikini brief era and I hate the look of boxers although I don't mind the look of boxer brief. In fact I think I might switch over.
ReplyDeleteI remember the crowds when tattoo studios first opened in Orlando, and became the in place for conforming non-conformists.
DeleteAnd some people are slow to catch on to the coolest non-conformist trends until they’re seen as conformist. Apparently the right ear was originally the gay ear for piercings. I was told I screwed up when I first had my left ear pierced. But by that time (early 90s) it was more of a free-for-all anyway.
ReplyDeleteThere will always be someone convinced that we did conform.
DeleteNow if Anne Marie was here, she'd say she was the biggest non-conformist and just go commando!!!! Why waste money she told me. I myself have always been a square cut- briefs style guy. And yes, some days commando damn it!
ReplyDeleteSomething for you to slip off at just the right moment.
Delete"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." ~ Henry David Thoreau
ReplyDeleteI've always liked this quote and it inspires me to "listen to my own music."
Reading Thoreau in high school, had a huge impact on my view of the world.
DeleteI love that guy's t-shirt, LOL!
ReplyDeleteYes, good one.
DeleteI am averse to following norms. When someone tells me I need to go somewhere or see something or wear this or that because "everyone's doing it," I do the exact opposite.
ReplyDeleteThough I have never worn baggy boxers; like Anne Marie, I went commando!
Hang Loose as they say.
DeleteIt's the cycle that keeps the clothing manufacturers in business.
ReplyDeleteThe older I get, the less I follow fashion.
DeleteNow it's conformist to be a non-conformist. Tattoos, hair died pink or blue or any color, piercings everywhere. It doesn't matter to me. Enjoy life and be yourself.
ReplyDeleteThe person next to me at the salon when I had my haircut the other day was having the most wonderful shade of purple hair dye, if I had the hair for it.
DeleteWhen I was a teenager, my father complained about how long my hair was. My grandmother told me about my father and haircuts when he was young. She wanted him to have a proper gentleman's cut, she gave him a quarter and sent him to the barber. He opted for the nickel buzz cut, and took the other 20 cents to go to the movies.
ReplyDelete