Last Thursday I had a swim meet and my parents ate early so I had to get my own dinner. I decided to pick something up at Aj’s. I parked, checked that my hair wasn’t all over the place [I had the windows down], grabbed my purse, and locked my car. I walk in to the store and begin to peruse, however, I could sense some interesting stares directed my way. Hmm that’s odd, it can’t be my hair, I checked that. I look down, yes, I have shoes on. A little further up … Ah, that is why. I’m still wearing my towel and my one piece swim suit and that’s about it.
A week or so earlier, it was a Friday and there was a soccer game going on. I decided to meet Jess down there after swim practice. I wasn’t planning on staying too long so I didn’t bother changing out of my practice suit [I wear a two piece just so I don’t get a ridiculous tan]. I just slipped on a pair of shorts and threw my hair up in a ponytail and headed down to the game. Hmm, Jess is sitting on the third set of bleachers. That means I have to walk past the first set, the set packed with parents, and the second set, the set teachers are crammed onto. Feeling extremely awkward, I attempted to strategically position my arms to cover my stop and avoided making eye contact as I walked towards the third bleacher.
It’s interesting how a swim suit is a perfectly acceptable, and that actually any other attire would really be unacceptable, at the beach or at the swimming pool but taken out of context, a swim suit can be considered scandalous, inappropriate apparel. The three girls in A & P, clearly were just running an errand for their mother [what teenage really just buys “fancy herring snacks”?] and had probably been at the beach or on their way to the beach when the mother asked them to run to the store. Just like me, they didn’t even consider that their clothing would be inappropriate because where they had been it was what they should have been wearing. I think that it was not the girls intension to wear swim suits to get attention or impress anyone, instead they forgot what they were wearing until it was rather brutally called to their attention by Lengel, the manager, when he scolded them. The girls blushed and tried to explain that they were just running a quick errand, implying swim suits and bare feet were not what they would normally wear for a trip to the A & P. Although no one said anything to me directly, I did experience some interesting looks and feel more than slightly awkward. Except why is it that a swim suit is completely fine to wear in the pool, even when adults or teachers are around, but about 300 yards away on the soccer field, it is inappropriate? Although I would not regularly walk around with my entire midriff exposed, it is just my standard uniform for swim practice and when it is obvious that I’m coming from something where it is totally normal, just like the girls in A & P who were coming from the beach, why should anyone judge or feel awkward? If the judgers had been at the beach, the meet, or swim practice they would not even bat an eye at someone in a swim suit. It is just interesting how standards are different for everything from clothing and places, to culture and even standards for girls and boys are sometimes different. (614)
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1 comment:
Anne--what an interesting and thoughtful post. I don't have any obvious answers to your excellent questions, but I think you're right that it's largely context (things that feel completely natural one place can make one feel awkward in another setting) and perhaps partly gender as well (girls being more likely to draw stares than boys.)
At any rate, it's a fascinating and personal reaction to an issue that came up in a story. Also, I think you're a natural storyteller, so I enjoyed reading your post. Thanks.
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