04.16.09
The impact of a fabric on our cultural fabric
I will confess that for me to ponder Will’s position on jeans is to enter an area that has the faint whiff of hypocrisy. I am given to casual dress in most circumstances in which I can remotely get away with it. I like to think it’s because if I’m physically comfortable, I can focus on the endless stream of obligations, opportunities and great issues of the day with which my mind needs to be dealing. The truth, though, probably also includes a touch or so of residual bohemianism from my formative years.
Still, Will’s unequivocal stance is bracing and, in a world that didn’t elect the likes of TCM and FHer Congressional majorities, would get a vigorous airing.
You folks know me. Absolutism always gives me a thrill.
Mr. Dings said,
April 16, 2009 at 3:50 pm
That’s a stretch. But if you must wear jeans, do it with your boots on.
Mr. Dings said,
April 16, 2009 at 3:53 pm
http://redondowriter.typepad.com/sacredordinary/2005/09/dying_with_your.html
Mr. Dings said,
April 16, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Though I know she’s a leftist wench, certainly stating your point, exactly:
“I was wise enough to never grow up while fooling most people into believing I had.”
–Margaret Mead
http://www.nevergrowup.com/
Mr. Dings said,
April 16, 2009 at 4:18 pm
I can write a piece pondering how the suits (and even the ties) came to be such a small segment of our society over the past 4 decades. I used to look and feel so professional in them, even in my lowly diurnal quasi-professional positions, except for librarianship. A fellow roving professional asked me once why I didn’t wear a tie presiding over the Edinburgh PL once, and I replied that I didn’t want to separate myself from the masses. I ain’t no guardian of the book! Just a purveyor. When I the liberal arts major who wanted a coat and tie job first started out in the insurance claims business, coats, ties and degrees were de rigeur for my employer. We even wore them selling home electronics and appliances for Sears. Some chicks still dig ties. But in Rome, well, now we all just wear security badges. Clothes still make the man. Good God, I shudder to think what badge my manhood might portray me to be….
Mr. Dings said,
April 17, 2009 at 3:27 am
For lack of anything better to do while doing other things but being mindful, I have been pondering this idea about being a grown-up. My question is, do you, der bloggie, and your sources, think that one should change who one is to conform to your ideas of what a grown-up is? Do you think this is a mass cultural phenomonan and that there is absolutely nothing individualist about it? We do all not fit into your neat holes you know. Can one appreciate great art,literature and music while still digging pop culture and relating more to their children than their parents did to them? And clothing. Is your daddy’s dress the mark of a grown up? You know, the man in the grey flannel suit thing? Do adults do facebook? Or do they sequester themselves in academia or their own blogspheres? Can your level of intelligence and discretion be placed on a mere social network for all to see? You know you might get more commentary there, and you can do a lot more things with it there. Are your eyes wide open for the next mind blowing thing? If you are merely referring to military and supposed spiritual readiness to tackle radical Islam, like I understand your Diana West is, well, I think it is, if not a lot of bunkum, certainly misguided and even chauvinistic. Just some random thoughts, some rapidly typed, if not written questions for ya to tackle, if ya will….
Posted but not proofread by
Mr. Dings
Mr. Dings said,
April 17, 2009 at 11:29 am
Growth and change, yep, that’s the mission of youth. As for grown-ups, well, they’re all grown up, large and in charge. So they think.
Mr. Dings said,
April 17, 2009 at 11:33 am
What about the ex-Beatle’s headiest music in years? An electric argument. Oh, I think I know, puhlease, the book was written on him and his years ago, and, though many ears that can still hear still know, the Emperor wears fine fabric.
Bentnotesmanhisself said,
April 17, 2009 at 5:34 pm
1.) Yes, I think people should change to what my idea of what a grownup is. Starting with me.
2.) I don’t think there’s much “individualist” about it. If I understand you correctly, you’re asking if this perpetual adolescence is a “mass cultural phenomenon,” to which I’d say, “of course.” Go back and read Will’s column. His main complaint is the deadening sameness that the ascendancy of casualness has imposed on society.
3.) Can one appreciate great art and still dig pop culture? If one can find any pop culture to dig. Good luck. I’m still looking.
4.) Do adults Facebook? Well, sure. It can be useful for certain kinds of networking and connecting.
5.) Are my eyes wide open for the next mind-blowing thing? Yes, and my mind is blown pretty close to hourly now. I think you mean a cultural event, though, and maybe a scientific breakthough or paradigm shift. I guess, although nothing that initially looks like one will pan out to be so in the long run if it does not take its place on the huan stage in accordance with the eternal verities.
6.) Paul McCartney ceased being relevant in 1968.
Mr. Dings said,
April 17, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Guess we will be seeing the bloggie strutting around in the 21st Century American equivalent of the grey flannel suit then, LOL (insert rollicking emoticon here, how juvenile, but, you know, communicating this way lacks a few of the signals inherent in face to face or even telephone communication). I dunno, jeans as a symbol of the adolescent reversion of American society? They have been with us all my life, how ’bout yours? I can only speak for myself personally. There has indeed been a general degression of dress in our society. It is certainly striking to see gentlemen in suits and hats in the crowd in films of baseball games into the 50s. Oh well, blah blah blah, the rest is about me personally, trying to defend my own perceived maturity and correctness, just more ego, hey where did we go? Wrong? As for McCartney, some critics seem amazed that he can continue to go in different musical directions at his advanced age of 66. He certainly does not need the money. Our generation is redefining middle age. Stay tuned. It does have its pukey aspects. Some futurists think today’s toddler, given the pace of continuing medical advancement, can look forward to a lifespan of 120 years and beyond. Our gen may have missed that boat, making it even more important that we try to teach our grandchildren well. We know what doesn’t work, don’t we? Buddha’s suggestion that we not take his word for anything, but to test all he said in view of our own reality seems to me to be the right tack to take with this up and coming generation. They are watching. Truth, as we see it, individually, in all humiltiy, is the only thing to tell them, isn’t it? I know that sounds relativist, but, given a loving personal God who entrusts them to our care, and a saviour who said he left his spirit amongst us, well, we can prayerfully proceed to try to have fun while and after the work gets done. Jeans or no jeans. What goes around always comes around, has been my observation of history. Nothing new under the sun, as the preacher in Ecclessiastes proclaimed, and, while science might be disproving that daily, as far as dress, that is indeed probably true. Fashions come and go. Doubtful that jeans are here to stay. But, oh, man, can’t speak for the ladies’ view of them on men, but on the right lady, yeayah! Still, I prefer to see them in a short dress or less.
Bentnotesmanhisself said,
April 18, 2009 at 3:26 am
Sure, man.