Before I had an iPhone, I felt like I was the only one in a sea of 3,000 kids that didn't have an iPhone (no joke). I had a flip phone which didn't have all the bling and the blang of an iPhone, but I could still use it to call or text. Living in a generally well-off area, I have been exposed to an extremely spoiled bunch of kids (including me). To be honest, I was very reluctant and excited at the same time to follow the bandwagon of the iPhone users. I knew having an iPhone would make communicating through text and social media substantially easier, but I did not want to fall into the "New Trier uniform."
My friends and I joke now that I am a "real" New Trier student now. Another pretty iconic example of the "New Trier uniform" is a North Face fleece. I will admit that I have been a proud owner of several black North Face fleeces over the past 8 years or so. Growing up and living almost all my life in the New Trier district, I remember from when I was quite little that I always wanted a North Face fleece like my friends. In very much the same way an iPhone attracts customers, North Face makes their brand seem highly prized because it is more expensive, however, it is no better than the Target brand fleece or one that you could get at an outlet store. There's no doubt that I enjoy the warmth and comfort of my North Face and my iPhone when I want to check Facebook or a text message. But, in the end I always feel that in some way I lost the battle. I am fitting into my mold, slowly forming like a mound of clay. The outcome is inevitable.
Do you feel that you wear a "uniform" of some form?
I do feel like I have to wear a uniform to school! Even though we don't have a written dress code, if I were to wear a sweatshirt and sweatpants to school I would feel as if I was committing an offense. An offense to my peers, who when looking at me in such an outfit would give me a look of shame and comment, "well you look...comfy." I feel like anywhere we go, regardless of the wealth of the community, there is an unwritten uniform. I feel that there is always going to be socially acceptable and socially unacceptable things to wear. However in our community, as Josh mentioned, the uniform consists of an outfit consisting of expensive clothing.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn, thank you for the comment. I agree with you that many societies pressure people to conform to a certain uniform. But, according to your example of wearing sweatpants to school, do you feel that in other communities it would be ok for someone to wear them because there is a higher standard in a well-off community? Why might it be some sort of "shame" to wear something so harmless as a sweatshirt and sweatpants?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Carolyn in that there is an unwritten uniform in just about everywhere in life. I thought it was interesting Josh, when you commented on conforming to a certain mold. I definitely think the way uniforms come to be is by the desire for individuals to want to be molded - even though sometimes we do not realize it.
ReplyDeleteI feel like every society has a uniform. Each uniform is dictated by a number of factors be they race, religion, income, or something else.
ReplyDeleteShannon, I agree with you, I think that every society does have a uniform. I was wondering though, how far can that uniform spread? For example, pretty much every person I've ever met has owned a pair of jeans, no matter where they live (the U.S.,Germany, Italy...). I mean, of course there are going to be people who don't conform to the uniform, but there are exceptions to the uniform of having an iPhone at NT too. Are jeans the uniform for the human race? Or is that too broad? Because if that is true, than the jeans uniform couldn't be affected by all the factors that you listed Shannon.
ReplyDeleteI agree that everyone has a uniform, but I don't think it just applies to clothes and other material things. I feel like the way that we present ourselves to different people is also a uniform. Who doesn't act differently with their parents than they would act with their friends? Just like we're fitting the North Shore mold with our iPhones and North Face jackets, we change our own personalities, intentionally or not, to fit the mold of the people around us.
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