Image

There are times when I think a bit about my appearance and whether there are ways that I can improve on it (without too much inconvenience) but I must admit that I don't think that I have ever thought seriously about creating my image. The fact that I am not speaking from experience relegates my comments on the subject to the realm of speculation (tinged a bit with general observations I have made over time). That being said I will now continue with my discussion as though I were the most prominent researcher on the subject.

On reflection I think that there are several factors behind why I have never thought seriously about taking on a specific image: most of the more desperate and rapid changes of image often occur while the subject is high school age. I didn't go to highs cool, had no groups to associate with or join, was too busy working to worry about what I looked like. My friends also worked when not doing school or having sleepovers and were similarly unambitious in the style arena. Not to say that we did not display a generally uniform style but it came more from utility than a conscious choice. Much as a painter wears white because it's part of the job, we wore jeans, old t-shirts and hoodies because they're most practical for jobs in barns. When we did 'dress up' to go to town or the like, we definitely wore clothes with a country flair but it was not overly studied. My co-workers were over twice my age and not concerned with high school interests. Also I think that a part of my comfort in who I was was helped along by the fact that I had a very stable and static home and circles of relatives and friends. I knew who I was and where I stood. Perhaps one shouldn't define one's self with one's relationships but it's a good start and, for me at least, took away the necessity of breaking out on my own until I was a bit more mature.

I perhaps sound smug from all that. I will say that I was blessed much more than I was aware of at that time (more than I am aware of even now, I'm sure) and by telling more of my story I wished rather to negate any claim to merit on my part, chalking it up instead to unmerited blessing.

My purpose for setting this up is to contrast it with the information I saw on a link my brother sent me as a joke yesterday (but I began to wonder if it is serious). I wonder if people really are as desperate to fit in as not to understand what they are doing and how they are living a contradiction. The link was to wikihow . At this page there is a list of different 'images' that one might wish to take on with hand tips on each particular page about the best/easiest ways to take on this identity. It almost reads as what I would imagine an amateur-disguise-for-budding-detectives book would. I believe it is a branch of Wikipedia and has been edited by various readers.

Some of the more memorable quotes from the few passages I have read are as follows:

The Emos
just be sure to dress like all the other emos, so everyone can see that you too are non conformist.
be careful because too many pins can look poserish so arrange your pins in a random fashion.
Try hard enough to look emo, but not too hard or you might look like a poser.
A lot of times, Emo is associated with being bitter, depressed, insecure and resentful. But at its core, you can be Emo because you're sensitive, introspective, thoughtful, and quiet.
If someone calls you Emo, don't cry about it - tell them something mean to get back at them and walk away. It shows them that you have a backbone and they have no impact on you.

It is hard not to laugh at the poor emos. This next category, however, is close to how I dress on occasion so I was interested in hearing the pearls of wisdom in this post.

The Smart Girl
If you try to use big words - make sure you actually understand what you are saying. Otherwise you'll seem like a fake and everyone will laugh at you.
Dress in an intelligent looking way. T-shirts with the names of museums on them, shirts with stuff like "Use Your Brain" on them...
Whatever you do, be yourself. There is nothing smart about pretending to be someone you're just not. Stick with your look - it's just sad seeing someone try to be smart and the next day completely going back to being "one of the pretty girls". You will totally lose respect.

I just don't get it.