The Deal with Do Rags

[PhrozenGod01]

Originally Posted by AKA2D '91

Since you said a PWI, I can believe it, but why? (rhetorical)
And... aw nevermind! (sigh)

ETA: The above is not limited to PWIs. Over the years, I've seen the way folks walk over to the cafe in their headscarves, pajamas, and slippers. (sigh)

At home I tend to eat in my pajamas, so if I'm at school hundreds of miles away, I wouldn't want to feel homesick. I am old enough to know that it wouldn't be appropriate to wear pajamas on a date or to a job interview. I just don't see the need for someone's subjective view to be forced down my throat. If I have an intramural football game after class, I should be able to come to class in sweats if I want. I'd make sure they didn't stink or anything like that. If people don't like the way I look, they don't have to look at me.

In the corporate world, some companies have stricter dress policies than others. What is considered business formal at one company, might not even qualify as casual at another. In a university setting, students should be free to find themselves. It seems rather scary to have administration telling students how to look. What's to stop faculty and staff, then, from dictating how students think and feel? Most college students are adults and should be accountable for their own actions. They should learn, themselves, that dressing a certain way yields a certain type of treatment. It should not be up to the top brass of the university to "teach" that.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by PhrozenGod01

If I have an intramural football game after class, I should be able to come to class in sweats if I want.

Not the same thing as walking around campus in pajamas.

Originally Posted by PhrozenGod01

What's to stop faculty and staff, then, from dictating how students think and feel?

They do, to an extent. There is no such thing as complete free will and free thought. In many regards, academia is anti-creativity and many people who were once open-minded and artsy become drab and concrete when they are in school. Education is one of the premier methods of controlling a group of people through discipline and rule-establishment.

[PhrozenGod01]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Not the same thing as walking around campus in pajamas.



They do, to an extent. There is no such thing as complete free will and free thought. In many regards, academia is anti-creativity and many people who were once open-minded and artsy become drab and concrete when they are in school. Education is one of the premier methods of controlling a group of people through discipline and rule-establishment.

Now I can't get Pink Floyd's The Wall out of my head.

We don't need no education,
We don't need no thought control...

Seriously, that made me think.

[BlueReign]

If you are in college then you are in the business of getting an education. Therefore, you should LOOK like you are about the business of getting an education. I can remember myself in the mid-80's with the big hair standing straight up on my head that changed colors every other week (blue, purple, etc.). I used to dress in the classic "Flash Dance/I've been raped" look with the torn up shirts and all. BUT you never know who is visiting campus and who you might run into. You only have once to make a first impression.

I used to think that the students who dressed up were trying to separate themselves (haves from the have nots). I used to hate on this girl who wore suits and carried a Coach briefcase to class. Dam, who was she trying to be? I didn't realize that even though I thought it was my right to walk around looking anyway I wanted it really didn't make a whole lot of sense. I wish that we did have strict dress code back then and that someone actually had told me to look better.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by PhrozenGod01

Now I can't get Pink Floyd's The Wall out of my head.

We don't need no education,
We don't need no thought control...

Seriously, that made me think.

Yep.

So people need to stop pretending that how we look doesn't matter. We are essentially told how we should look all of our lives. This doesn't mean that grown adults can't still do their own thing if there aren't rules against wearing doorags on campus, but people are still free to judge you and treat you based on your choices. The fact of the matter is that white people can get away with being carefree with their appearance in more settings than black people can.

[PhrozenGod01]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Yep.

So people need to stop pretending that how we look doesn't matter. We are essentially told how we should look all of our lives. This doesn't mean that grown adults can't still do their own thing if there aren't rules against wearing doorags on campus, but people are still free to judge you and treat you based on your choices. The fact of the matter is that white people can get away with being carefree with their appearance in more settings than black people can.

Okay, I thought about it some more. Dress codes in colleges (with the exception of military institutions) are just plain silly. I was beginning to agree with some of the posters who advocated strict standards of dress, but to me, it seems rather elitist. Not everyone can afford a nice haircut every two weeks or have the resources to dry clean business attire when there is no interview that day. If I see someone with a wrinkled shirt, frayed cargo shorts, and sandals, that's his or her choice. As long as the person has a good personality and isn't a distraction, I let them be.

If I'm not comfortable wearing something, my performance will probably decline. If I have to worry about ironing a shirt before class, my head obviously isn't focused on the actual class. It's focused on ironing. If I pay to take classes, I can come dressed in a hoodie and pajama pants if I want. Unless someone is paying me or furnishing my wardrobe, I'll wear whatever I choose. The people I respect aren't superficial. And to be honest, my education actually liberated me more than it did control me. I grew up going to schools with dress codes and thought that everyone should do that to be great college bound students and all that jazz, but once I got to college, I realized that appearance isn't everything. People who judge others based on appearance are usually insecure themselves.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by PhrozenGod01

it seems rather elitist.

That's one of the purposes. If you don't like eliteism, apply elsewhere.

Originally Posted by PhrozenGod01

If I'm not comfortable wearing something, my performance will probably decline. If I have to worry about ironing a shirt before class, my head obviously isn't focused on the actual class. It's focused on ironing. If I pay to take classes, I can come dressed in a hoodie and pajama pants if I want. Unless someone is paying me or furnishing my wardrobe, I'll wear whatever I choose. The people I respect aren't superficial. And to be honest, my education actually liberated me more than it did control me. I grew up going to schools with dress codes and thought that everyone should do that to be great college bound students and all that jazz, but once I got to college, I realized that appearance isn't everything. People who judge others based on appearance are usually insecure themselves.

Many of the people you respect also care about outside appearance to an extent. That doesn't have to make them superficial. I'm sure you've seen someone dressed less than what you DEEM to be appropriate, in a certain context, and made assumptions of that person. Hell, I've even come across students who don't wash their asses or brush their teeth all day. That's offensive and distracting but based on your logic it's cool as long as it floats their boat and THEY can focus.

Point being, many campuses wish to create certain atmospheres as I previously stated. A school where students walk around barefoot have created a certain type of environment. A school where almost every male student is rocking a doorag and his boxers are showing all the way to his knees, has created a certain type of environment. One student doing it...okay...but 300 students doing it and you've shaped the landscape. So schools are making changes while the "issue" is still a small one so they can socialize students into a campus culture. Then they don't have to do a formal dress code or run around like "doorag nazis."

[PhrozenGod01]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

That's one of the purposes. If you don't like eliteism, apply elsewhere.



Many of the people you respect also care about outside appearance to an extent. That doesn't have to make them superficial. I'm sure you've seen someone dressed less than what you DEEM to be appropriate, in a certain context, and made assumptions of that person. Hell, I've even come across students who don't wash their asses or brush their teeth all day. That's offensive and distracting but based on your logic it's cool as long as it floats their boat and THEY can focus.

Point being, many campuses wish to create certain atmospheres as I previously stated. A school where students walk around barefoot have created a certain type of environment. A school where almost every male student is rocking a doorag and his boxers are showing all the way to his knees, has created a certain type of environment. One student doing it...okay...but 300 students doing it and you've shaped the landscape. So schools are making changes while the "issue" is still a small one so they can socialize students into a campus culture. Then they don't have to do a formal dress code or run around like "doorag nazis."

Whoa now... I never said bad hygeine was okay with me. That is very distracting and can become a health problem for other students. I'd move to another seat in the lecture hall if I encountered bad hygeine. I'm tolerant but I do have limits.

I recently talked with some friends of mine who went to BYU. There, beards are not allowed in addition to a laundry list of other items and activities. To agree with you on something, I can safely say that I would never have applied there, knowing that school's policy.

I'm not saying that all people who care about outside appearance are superficial. But people should mind their own business when it comes to what someone else chooses to wear. If one person can wear a do-rag, head scarve, rain bonnet, hat, turban, etc. then every person should be allowed to do the same. If the university is public, then there should be consistency. A no do-rag rule should apply to both men and women, and be clearly stated in the admissions brochure. It shouldn't be a university's role to socialize students into a campus culture. The students themselves have proven academically and socially that they can function at the school or else they would not have gotten in. The president of a university should be a president; not a parent.

[Marie]

I'm going to have to go with Phrozen on this one. Having gone to a big, liberal PWI I LOVED that college was a place to 'bum around' and engross myself in studies and a care-free life. Not everyone is looking for that expereince, though, so when selecting a college it is probably best to select one that works best for you. I have definitely rocked yoga pants and a 'high school graduation class' t-shirt to the library for an all nighter. Personally, I feel rollers and head scarves in public are atrocious, but I doubt that the girl next to me is learning any less than I am because of them.

To say that you won't know how to dress in the professional world if you don't dress up for class is like saying that students who attend HBCUs won't know how to interact with people of other races in the professional world. The logic is weak. I find it hard to believe that anyone in college is really that slow, and even if they are...this is why we dress nicely for presentations, interviews, meetings, etc.

[AKA2D '91]

Originally Posted by Marie

...this is why we dress nicely for presentations, interviews, meetings, etc.

Not necessarily the case. As I have attended our UGs rush activity at a private PWI, where it is known that the attire for such activity is business. Of the interests that come with their "credentials" more than half did not dress in the appropriate business attire. I can remember where one young lady literally looked like she got out of bed from her evening nap to attend. The graduate sorors, graduates of HBCUS AND PWIs were , to say the least. So, not everyone dresses for the occassion. If one doesn't care about appropriate dress on a regular/daily basis, will they care under "special circumstances"? Is this because they do not know? they do not care? what? I believe it's the former.

Recently, I had a conversation about how some tend to dress for funerals. Since when are we wearing jeans and t-shirts to funerals? An after-5 affair in jeans. Just because your jeans, shirt and purse are outlined in gold and it's Roca Wear or Phat Pharm does that mean it's appropriate?


As undergraduates, did any of you attend required activities that "taught" you how to dress for certain occassions? cultural activities? Ours were called lyceums, which consisted of 2 courses and throughout the class, we had to attend events. One I really enjoyed was the Dance Theater of Harlem.

[PhrozenGod01]

Originally Posted by AKA2D '91

Recently, I had a conversation about how some tend to dress for funerals. Since when are we wearing jeans and t-shirts to funerals? An after-5 affair in jeans. Just because your jeans, shirt and purse are outlined in gold and it's Roca Wear or Phat Pharm does that mean it's appropriate?


As undergraduates, did any of you attend required activities that "taught" you how to dress for certain occassions? cultural activities? Ours were called lyceums, which consisted of 2 courses and throughout the class, we had to attend events. One I really enjoyed was the Dance Theater of Harlem.

Okay, here is where I was about to agree with guidelines for dressing appropriately. I recently went to several weddings of some friends, and was shocked that people would come in jean shorts, t-shirts, etc. The first wedding that I went to, that wasn't family, I was way overdressed in a collared shirt, tie, and khakis. I didn't think that there was anything wrong with the people that didn't dress up, but if I had known that the average person was going to dress that casual, I would have worn some nice jeans and a polo. I looked like I was a really close family friend who knew everybody or something.

As an undergrad mangement student, I took a required course called Career Skills, where the instructor would go over how to interview, build a resume, and function in the coporate world. We were taught the differences between business formal, business casual, and just plain casual. Although most of it seemed obvious, I learned that brown dress shoes are more casual and sporty than black dress shoes. Also, trendy fashions that might be seen as conservative for women, such as gauchos, shrugs and capris, are not appropriate attire at most companies. I was also taught that an expensive Italian suit seen in GQ or Esquire would be considered tacky in a lot of white collar corporations. We watched some pretty funny informative videos as well.

God, I miss college.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Marie

To say that you won't know how to dress in the professional world if you don't dress up for class is like saying that students who attend HBCUs won't know how to interact with people of other races in the professional world.

Many don't and that was a concern a few years ago.

[Marie]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Many don't and that was a concern a few years ago.

That's too bad.