You become what you wear
Carlin, Kathleen
THE LAST WORD YOU BECOME WHAT YOU WEAR Kathleen Carlin A standard criticism of sociological research projects is that they go to great lengths to prove what most people with common sense already...
...adults gave us long, incredulous looks...
...We had money to cover small purchases, and, apart from wearing down-scale clothing, we did nothing in any of these settings to draw attention to ourselves...
...it seemed worth that price to have us out the door...
...that may have been too far out of character for "bag ladies...
...Lacking the culturally acceptable symbols of belonging in this milieu, we became, to a degree, "objects," with less inherent dignity as persons...
...First, however, we made ourselves virtually unrecognizable to our friends and even to our families...
...My friend wore a faded flannel shirt and T-shirt, a wrinkled skirt over sweat pants...
...Kathleen Carlin is a "nontraditional" graduate student with a special interest in social issues...
...we merely shopped quietly in our accustomed manner...
...I wore a wool hat that concealed my hair, an unfashionable coat and scarf, and glasses with clip-on sun shades...
...We were also prepared to act out some mildly unusual behaviors that might speak of some emotional disabilities, without appearing seriously disturbed or dangerous...
...There was, however, one surprise...
...The place felt out of bounds for us...
...The aim was to look like street people, and to observe what difference that made in the way other people responded to us...
...Some of the children we encountered stared, pointed, and laughed...
...Just looking poor brings with it a stigma, accompanied by the withdrawal of much of the social civility most of us take for granted...
...Mostly what we expected, what everybody knows: People judge by appearances...
...we stigmatized ourselves...
...We wore clothing slightly inappropriate for the weather, clean but wrinkled, clearly out of sync with the styles worn by most visitors to the area...
...Without exactly taking sides for or against that criticism, I want to describe a sociological exercise that might seem to validate it-except that, for me and a classmate (and maybe for some who read this account), the experience made a truism come alive...
...It came clear most strongly at the shop I mentioned earlier, the one where a clerk conspicuously positioned herself in the entryway on seeing us...
...more accurately, a shock...
...Let's go in...
...In a very few hours, we found ourselves accepting and internalizing the superficial and biased judgments of ourselves that prevailed among the people we met...
...people turned us off or tuned us out on the basis of appearance alone...
...I had just noticed the place and had turned to my companion, saying, "I've never seen this store...
...Our first stop (after parking our cars near the railroad tracks) was in the bargain store of a local charity, where we politely asked access to a bathroom, and were refused...
...She lives in Billings, Montana...
...It was stigma time...
...What we did: During spring break from a local college, my friend and I went downtown to shop...
...THE LAST WORD YOU BECOME WHAT YOU WEAR Kathleen Carlin A standard criticism of sociological research projects is that they go to great lengths to prove what most people with common sense already know...
...At one establishment we did blow our cover when we ordered croissants with a latte and an espresso...
...In a lunchroom a second assistant hurried to the side of the cashier, where they took my $2 check without asking for an ID...
...Clerks in stores followed us around to watch our every move...
...From there we went to a pawnshop, where we more or less blended with the patrons, and then on to the upperscale stores and coffee shops during the lunch hour...
...It's a good lesson to learn, maybe especially for sociologists...
...She looked at me with dismay: "You're not really going in there, are you...
...So what did we learn...
...We weren't up to trying our gig at an exclusive restaurant, so we wandered around the first floor and left...
...Next we entered the lobby of a large hotel, where we asked for a coffee shop and a bathroom...
...As it turned out, there was no need for histrionics...
...whether the appearance of poverty would place stigma on us...
...Elsewhere we encountered derision, mockery, distrust, and rude stares...
...I knew what she meant and shared her feeling...
...The bellhop said, "You must go to the twentieth floor...
...At one doorway a clerk physically blocked the entrance, apparently to discourage our entry...
...Both of us were slightly unkempt...
...We carried plastic bags of nameless possessions...
Vol. 123 • June 1996 • No. 11
