While sitting in the lobby of a dentist office today, I was intrigued by the appearance and conversation of two hygienists standing behind the front desk. The two girls obviously lived in a completely different world than I did - I could tell just by looking at them. Something about the way they carried themselves said that they were perpetually cognizant of their clothing, makeup, hair, and general appearance. They tried hard enough that it was painfully obvious; they had a little too much makeup, fake tans, and carefully crafted hair.
I found their appearance a little distasteful (just a personal preference, I guess). But if I didn't care for their looks, their conversation was even more repelling. One of them held an issue of US Weekly magazine and, referencing a picture of a woman on the cover, said "what does that shirt look like to you?"
The girl glanced at the cover and said, "oh wow, that's, like, a Wal-Mart shirt!" The other laughed. "Yeah, can you believe it?! How could she wear a WAL-MART shirt on the cover of US Weekly!"
Hearing the exchange, I thought to myself, "I can't believe you even care enough to know that it is a Wal-Mart shirt..." I found myself feeling a little annoyed at them for caring so deeply about something that seems, to me, so absolutely frivolous. Thinking more carefully, though, I realized that there isn't anything inherently wrong with caring about fashion. I imagine there is a kind of art to it. Keeping astride with the world of fashion is probably tricky and, for some, exciting.
I thought their fashion interests were frivolous mainly because fashion is irrelevant. Fashions come and go, irrespective of the real issues that plague the world. But it suddenly occurred to me that, while I am not interested in fashion, I am interested in a lot of things that are equally irrelevant. My sitting down to play the piano isn't going to change the world. Sure, I develop a talent, but deep down I don't think there is anything that makes a talent for music any more valuable than a talent for recognizing and even setting social trends. The only difference lies in how those talents are perceived by the world.
I guess my point is that my gut reaction was to see those two hygienists as shallow and irrelevant. But in this case, my gut reaction was based less on reason and more on my own social expectations. Their interests were so far removed from my own that I made a knee-jerk judgment without really understanding them. I wonder how often I do that.
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I daresay you do that fairly often. :) However, in this case I'm going to argue that your knee-jerk reaction was still fairly justified. As you said, there is nothing inherently wrong with an interest in fashion. However, these girls you are describing were not simply interested in fashion, they are interested in not just defining themselves completely by their own arbitrary concept of fashion, but also in judging others. That is where the problem lays, I think. At least, I'm telling myself that that is why I'm having the same reaction as you--but not the charitable change of heart :)
ReplyDeleteSo they don't wear Walmart shirts, but they aren't on the cover of newsweek, either. Ditto to what Klementina Sladkaya said. (:
ReplyDeleteI agree, I guess, that their quick judgment of others was problematic. However, I think it is so obvious to us because we don't understand fashion in the same way they do. In other matters, we might be equally liable to make poor judgments of people, and feel completely justified in doing so.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. Living in Santa Fe was good for me. It's a "Live and Let Live" culture, and I've never met so many unique kinds of people in my life. People that would have been spurned around here--by the "knee-jerk reactions" of others. I feel like I've somehow been let out of some kind of box. Actually, I'm sure I'm still in it, but not like I was before. I guess I realize that the judgement of others isn't as necessary as I thought. And it really is okay to be different, to have a different point of view, a different way to live truth. Social pressure is still present, but I can choose not to feel it, or contribute to it, as before.
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