| urgeok |
12-18-2004 03:45 PM |
Quote:
Originally posted by knife_fight
urgeok:
I'll agree with you on several points (the most of anyone so far). I agree that people dress a certain way to portray a certain image. But it doesn't stop there. Since we're talking about music, I will be the first to admit that at one time I listened to music that I honestly didn't like too much, just because it was the cool thing to be listening to. So yes, I think people do pigeonhole themselves and project themselves onto stereotypes. Life imitates art (I think).
What I don't agree with is that you seem to be saying that this makes it ok for us to categorize people. That, since they want to be thought of in a certain way, it's ok to do it. I think a good example of this would be a conversation a friend of mine and I had. He's the manager of a record store in a semi-ghetto area of Dallas. He was talking about how much he hates it that, when he sees a young black dude come in with baggy clothes and some sort of headband, that he thinks they are a drug dealer/"gangsta" and are going to steal something... so he watches them. Now, this young person might be trying to portray that EXACT image, one of a lawless drug dealer/gangster, but it's just morally not right to assume that about him.
Everyone judges everyone else, and if you say you don't, you're lying. Most people I know judge people based on their taste, or lack thereof, in the arts (music especially, but books and film and other stuff too). And since we have established that music often has a heavy influence on fashion, we can assume that most people I know judge others based merely on what they are wearing... and what that says about what they are into.
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hey there ....
i was really keeping my views on the fashion = music level ..
There is an established 'hip-hop' look that has changed and evolved as much as the lingo.
The gangsta thing in your example is more of a racial stereotype.
I dont think its cool to catagorize people in a way that is demeaning but it is a pretty clear indication of what that persons influences are ..musically.
I certainly wasnt equating my views with that of some old fart that sees someone dressed 'punk' and figures them for some squeegie kid..who'd b & e their house at the 1st chance.
I usually assume they are in bands .. to take that much trouble with the obviously premeditated fashion statement.
(the more outrageous looks pretty much guarantee that the person isnt into a mainstream line of business.).
I was once myself called a yuppie by my dads old girlfriend ...
(because i had more than one VCR !!!) I just laughed :)
I work in IT .. i'm not a nerd but people used to use that label for the field before everyone and their brother owned a computer.
Again .. i think my initial post was pretty clear that i view the 'pigeonholing' as nothing more than a recognition of the attempt to identify on a musical basis.
I cant honestly think of any identifiable youth fashion that isnt directly inspired from music ...
there may well be, i just dont know them..... |
