Rebels and uniforms

"That uniform is gonna make us all look like fat geeks," she said.

She was one of a group of students at my son's school who had signed a petition declaring their disagreement with the school's proposal to introduce uniforms.  Their most vehement point (fat and geeky aside) was that uniforms take away individuality and help to kill free expression--their greatest right as American citizens.

Poor babies.  I saw the uniform proposed and I imagine they'd find it hard to be rogues in burgundy, emblem-ed, polo shirts, loose-fitting khaki pants, and black shoes.  How on earth would it look hanging out and trying to cause trouble in such garb!?  And imagine the difficulty of having to blend a school-shirking friend from another school (or from wherever) into the crowd!  Of course, those (I imagine) are the unspoken secret concerns of some of the students.  Outwardly, the main protest was based on the ever precious right of the individual to free expression.

American pop culture has its fair share of the rogue idol.  He is often known by his first name only--Jimmy, Fonzie, Kanye.  He is given clever barbs and amazing come-backs.  He has been deemed the picture envisioned by the founding fathers in their description of the individual deserving of all those inalienable rights.  And I'm sure the students outraged at the uniform proposal could easily cite many examples of individuals they admire in the fare they are offered on TV, in books, and on the silver screen, who have successfully defied some attempt to make them act or appear like sheep.

But I could have told them about some of the esteemed trouble makers I knew who wore full school uniform--hat, tie, skirt below-the-knees, stiff white shirt, seamed pant...

One was Patrick.

He strode up to the podium, tall, dark, confident, neat in his sixth form uniform, fresh from leading his debate team to victory in an interschool competition.  Many of us who were younger were unable to fully grasp the analogy he made in describing a Machiavellian Prince in the Caribbean, but from the rapt nervous attention he was being given by the teachers seated behind us, we knew the speech wasn't only good, but dangerously defiant.

I could also have told those young anti-uniform-ites that sometimes uniforms are disguised as freely chosen clothing, and sometimes uniformity takes other forms than clothing, but they serve the same purpose--they label, they suggest conformity, they confirm identity--and that one's "uniforms" are even likely to change as one ages.

A character in Pauline Melville's Eating Air notes the uniforms of the young capitalists around him: "...the pony-tailed hedge-fund managers and punk investment bankers who were hang-gliding to work; the global head-hunters with aviator dark glasses and red braces who sang gangsta-rap lyrics in their lunch breaks and exchanged high-fives with street gangs as they roller-bladed into the City..." and he is saddened that capitalism (in his view) has been mistaken for freedom.

But isn't he really just witnessing a younger generation's take on what it means to be free and revolutionary?

I wish I could have explained all of that to the young revolutionaries at my son's school who think trading their disguised uniformed jeans and hoodies for a more recognizable polo and khaki look would completely ruin their lives.  But instead I checked the yes boxes and in doing so joined the chorus of parents and teachers who for the moment can dictate exactly what those young revolutionaries will be wearing to school for the next few years of their lives.

I saw Patrick recently...late forties, married, two children, shiny SUV, great city job, comfy suburban home, regular family vacations, fat with too much good food and drink and little or no exercise.  I reminded him of that speech he gave, and he laughed and said now he only talks like that at reunion gatherings when he's full of piss and liquor.  I laughed too, but I hope he felt as sad as I did about that.  I felt like stamping a sign on his fat belly that said: "I was once a brilliant rogue in a high school uniform." 

Comments

[Peter Sam]

Don't we all know one Charmaine? Then we grow up and we do not want our kids to be like that, maturity makes us scared and we do what our parents did, we behave the same. It seems that there is truth in the saying "what goes around comes around".

[c.d. valere]

Yes, I know quite a few rebels (or once-upon-a-time rebels) and I do want my children to be "rebels" who never just accept what they're told and simply follow the crowd silently. I was fortunate to have parents and a grandparent and teachers who encouraged me to always question things. And if that's what comes back around to me, then I'll welcome it.

(Hey, how's the writing coming?)

[Peter Sam]

I would not want my son to be a rebel for nothing or just rebelious just for the sake of it. I dont want him to be a pacoo either. I am currently writing to finish Meanderings, the one you saw but never said anything about...lol and I have currently one that I hve started but am afraid of what it may do to me, and this is for real Charmaine, I would want to be in the USA when I release it.