Wear a shirt for a Meme you don't understand...

[FPLOON]

Well... I, at least, know what every single one of my MLP crossover shirts are referencing... That doesn't mean I would call myself a fan of The Hunger Games or ACDC, if I was asked about the shirt in question though, for example...

So far, no one has called me out on wearing something I may not fully support all the way... However, just knowing some of the context of the shirt your wearing (if it is referencing something) is enough for someone to not fully "call you out" on your choice of shirt-wearing that day...

 

[YuberNeclord]

Its not really bad? unless they mistakenly wear something strongly associated with a political view without realising it which is why I'm a little cautious of random things I don't know the reference for on a T-shirt, especially if it's of a person.

Same here. I never wear anything that I don't know the meaning of, including t-shirts with non english words on them. Because you never know what kind of statement you might inadvertently be making.

For example here's a funny story my mum told me. When she was a teenager she saw a necklace she liked the design of and ended up buying. She wore it everywhere for a few weeks until one day she was walking down the street and she was stopped by a stranger.

The woman who stopped her wanted to know what the hell my mum thought she was doing walking around wearing a swastika. And just to add an extra bit of awkwardness to the whole story, the woman that stopped my mother happened to be jewish.

As I said my mum was a teenager at the time, she was also from a catholic school so she led a bit of a sheltered life, and she had no idea about swastikas or nazi's or any of that stuff. Needless to say after the woman explained to my mum the meaning behind that particular symbol[1], she never wore that necklace again.


So I personally only wear stuff that I'm in to, like band shirts. I don't particularly care if someone wears a shirt or whatever that they aren't 'in' to. If you want to wear something because you think it looks cool then go nuts. But you should be careful with what you choose to wear, you never know what messages you might be putting across.


[1] I'm aware that the symbol originally had a completely different meaning but you try explaining that to a pissed off jewish woman.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

To be fair, Pusheen is kind of adorable, can't blame her for buying it because she liked the design. I mean, Hello Kitty used to be a fashion icon of sorts when half the people wearing stuff with that cat thing on it didn't know what it was.

Or that one t-shirt that had Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes peeing. It looks horrible and it is a terrible misrepresentation of the character but it was inexplicably popular back in the day. And of course, no one knew who the character was.

 

[wulf3n]

Same here. I never wear anything that I don't know the meaning of, including t-shirts with non english words on them. Because you never know what kind of statement you might inadvertently be making.

For example here's a funny story my mum told me. When she was a teenager she saw a necklace she liked the design of and ended up buying. She wore it everywhere for a few weeks until one day she was walking down the street and she was stopped by a stranger.

The woman who stopped her wanted to know what the hell my mum thought she was doing walking around wearing a swastika. And just to add an extra bit of awkwardness to the whole story, the woman that stopped my mother happened to be jewish.

As I said my mum was a teenager at the time, she was also from a catholic school so she led a bit of a sheltered life, and she had no idea about swastikas or nazi's or any of that stuff. Needless to say after the woman explained to my mum the meaning behind that particular symbol[1], she never wore that necklace again.


So I personally only wear stuff that I'm in to, like band shirts. I don't particularly care if someone wears a shirt or whatever that they aren't 'in' to. If you want to wear something because you think it looks cool then go nuts. But you should be careful with what you choose to wear, you never know what messages you might be putting across.


[1] I'm aware that the symbol originally had a completely different meaning but you try explaining that to a pissed off jewish woman.

The problem with this notion is "where does it end?"

You mention you only wear clothes from bands/things you're into, and I don't doubt you're well-versed in those things, but can you say the same about all the visual references/phrases that make up these logos?

How far down the rabbit hole must you go to ensure you "know" the meaning of the imagery you wear?

 

[Uratoh]

http://bigheadbob.info/ebay/breaking-bad-heisenberg_gold-close-up_bigheadbob.jpg

I wear a version of that shirt. I know it's Breaking Bad based to some degree, but I like the heinsenberg uncertainty principle, so that's why I got it. Never seen the show.

 

[YuberNeclord]

The problem with this notion is "where does it end?"

You mention you only wear clothes from bands/things you're into, and I don't doubt you're well-versed in those things, but can you say the same about all the visual references/phrases that make up these logos?

How far down the rabbit hole must you go to ensure you "know" the meaning of the imagery you wear?

I hear what you are saying, but honestly I think you are over thinking the problem. I don't think we need to go down any rabbit holes.

Take a Slayer T-shirt for instance, lets say one for the "South of Heaven" cover. That's got a particularly intricate design, with a lot of small details. You seem to think that what I'm saying is that in order to wear that T-shirt I should know who each figure in the design is, what all the symbols represent and so on. Because maybe within that design there is a image of, let's say Pol Pot, and because I'm wearing that shirt I'm giving off the impression that I'm a fan of Cambodian dictators.

I'm sorry but to me that sounds insane. I'm not saying that you need to know everything about any design that's going to be on an article of clothing that you wear.

All I'm saying is that you should have at least a basic knowledge of stuff you wear. I like to wear stuff that has a personal meaning to me and I would never purchase something that I either wasn't a fan of or didn't know the meaning behind. And of course because I'm a fan of the things that I wear, I naturally have a working knowledge of them because they are things that interest me so I usually spend some time reading up about them.

Now of course if you want to wear whatever you want because you like the look of it, I'll say what I said before, go nuts. But all I'm saying is that in order to try and avoid those kinds of situations where you end up wearing something that may be offensive to others or even offensive to yourself, you might want to think about not wearing things that you have never seen before or know nothing about.

 

[wulf3n]

Take a Slayer T-shirt for instance, lets say one for the "South of Heaven" cover. That's got a particularly intricate design, with a lot of small details. You seem to think that what I'm saying is that in order to wear that T-shirt I should know who each figure in the design is, what all the symbols represent and so on. Because maybe within that design there is a image of, let's say Pol Pot, and because I'm wearing that shirt I'm giving off the impression that I'm a fan of Cambodian dictators.

I'm sorry but to me that sounds insane.

It does, but to me it sounds just as insane as expecting people to "know" that what they're wearing is actually a symbol, as opposed to just a design.

 

[geK0]

Ive gotten a few band shirts simply because I liked the designs, although i usually give them a youtube search at some point afterward. If somebody were to chat me up because I'm wearing a shirt of a band they like and I have no idea what I'm talking about then it's a little embarrassing, but that really doesn't happen very often.

 

[YuberNeclord]

Take a Slayer T-shirt for instance, lets say one for the "South of Heaven" cover. That's got a particularly intricate design, with a lot of small details. You seem to think that what I'm saying is that in order to wear that T-shirt I should know who each figure in the design is, what all the symbols represent and so on. Because maybe within that design there is a image of, let's say Pol Pot, and because I'm wearing that shirt I'm giving off the impression that I'm a fan of Cambodian dictators.

I'm sorry but to me that sounds insane.

It does, but to me it sounds just as insane as expecting people to "know" that what they're wearing is actually a symbol, as opposed to just a design.

And I'm not asking people to "know" anything. What I'm saying is that if you see something you like, but don't know what it means, then maybe you should spend five minutes looking it up instead of just blindly purchasing it.

Or, once again, don't. Buy whatever takes your fancy. All I did was tell a story about how if you do that, things may go horribly horribly wrong. If you're willing to take the risk then have at it.

 

[wulf3n]

And I'm not asking people to "know" anything. What I'm saying is that if you see something you like, but don't know what it means, then maybe you should spend five minutes looking it up instead of just blindly purchasing it.

Look up what though? Does what you're looking at even have a meaning?

That's why I don't see much difference between liking something because it's a cute picture of a cat, not realizing it's a meme, and not knowing what symbolic references are littered throughout an album cover.

 

[Olas]

The problem with wearing a shirt that references something you don't understand is that it's possible someone will comment on it leading to a very awkward conversation. I've been there. My dad used to travel a lot for work and he would always bring me back shirts from different places I'd never been to.

That being said, there's a difference between wearing a shirt with a blues concert from New Orleans on it and wearing a picture of a cute generic looking cartoon cat.

 

[YuberNeclord]

And I'm not asking people to "know" anything. What I'm saying is that if you see something you like, but don't know what it means, then maybe you should spend five minutes looking it up instead of just blindly purchasing it.

Look up what though? Does what you're looking at even have a meaning?

Well you won't know until you look it up will you? If it is something that you are unable to describe into a search engine, then why don't you try asking someone in the shop if they know about it, or if they can get information for you.

Or, once again, you could just ignore what I'm suggesting and purchase the item anyway.

 

[lacktheknack]

Because it was 3 bucks at goodwill and it fit. And no it's not bad it's just a shirt. I mean unless you're weathering blue in bloods territory who cares?

No no, purchased brand new.

I don't know I just feel if you're going to identify with something at least have a passing interest in it, the thing on your shirt is going to be one of only a few ways someone you've never met has a method to gauge your interests and strike up a conversation, even if you're wearing one of those ubiquitous Ramones shirts but only know Blitzkrieg Bop at least it's something.

Maybe it's just me.

The only reason that people are interested in the Pusheen webcomic is because it's adorable.

Your Mom bought the shirt probably because she thought it was adorable.

What more do you want? Passing knowledge that Pusheen cat... existed before being put on a shirt? Five bucks says that she already guessed that.

One doesn't have to read xkcd to think that this shirt:

<img width=200>http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/3544/products/shark_shirt_1_1024x1024.jpg?v=1385979004

...is worth wearing.

 

[wulf3n]

Well you won't know until you look it up will you? If it is something that you are unable to describe into a search engine, then why don't you try asking someone in the shop if they know about it, or if they can get information for you.

Would you do the same for a Band T-Shirt? do you ask the person at the booth what all visual references mean? I'm assuming no. You like the band, you like the shirt, what meaning it may or may not have is ultimately irrelevant.

Or, once again, you could just ignore what I'm suggesting and purchase the item anyway.

I think you might be under the wrong impression of what I'm saying. I'm not implying that you're telling people they shouldn't buy things with images they don't understand.

 

[YuberNeclord]

Well you won't know until you look it up will you? If it is something that you are unable to describe into a search engine, then why don't you try asking someone in the shop if they know about it, or if they can get information for you.

Would you do the same for a Band T-Shirt? do you ask the person at the booth what all visual references mean? I'm assuming no. You like the band, you like the shirt, what meaning it may or may not have is ultimately irrelevant.

All I'm saying is that you should have at least a basic knowledge of stuff you wear. I like to wear stuff that has a personal meaning to me and I would never purchase something that I either wasn't a fan of or didn't know the meaning behind. And of course because I'm a fan of the things that I wear, I naturally have a working knowledge of them because they are things that interest me so I usually spend some time reading up about them.

Now of course if you want to wear whatever you want because you like the look of it, I'll say what I said before, go nuts. But all I'm saying is that in order to try and avoid those kinds of situations where you end up wearing something that may be offensive to others or even offensive to yourself, you might want to think about not wearing things that you have never seen before or know nothing about.

 

[zehydra]

I think people should care MUCH MUCH less about what other people are wearing.

 

[Savryc]

It's a shirt, get over it.

I've got far more respect for the "I bought it because I like the look of it" line of thinking. That's perfectly understandable. Sure, you CAN buy something because the design is oh so deep and you know the in depth back story behind it, but it's a pretentious tosser that expects and/or demands it of other people.

Besides, memes are essentially worthless, you can do whatever the hell you like with them.

 

[Rellik San]

It's a shirt, get over it.

I've got far more respect for the "I bought it because I like the look of it" line of thinking. That's perfectly understandable. Sure, you CAN buy something because the design is oh so deep and you know the in depth back story behind it, but it's a pretentious tosser that expects and/or demands it of other people.

Besides, memes are essentially worthless, you can do whatever the hell you like with them.

Whilst you're entitled to your opinion: Do you not think it's poor form to wear something without some passing knowledge of it.

I mean looking at your avatar, obviously you're a Kill La Kill fan, I'm not saying you have know the creators of the show at Trigger are former Gainax employees, just that you've probably seen a couple of episodes or like that particular character.

As for memes being worthless, no culture, even throw away pop culture is worthless, everything has merit even as simply as being a sign of the attitudes of the time.

 

[Bestival]

This is pretty topical.

Yeah I never wear shirts that I don't know the meaning of. Like just random words n shit, horrible.
But if it's just a picture of something cute, you don't have to know it is a meme or something to like it.

 

[Savryc]

It's a shirt, get over it.

I've got far more respect for the "I bought it because I like the look of it" line of thinking. That's perfectly understandable. Sure, you CAN buy something because the design is oh so deep and you know the in depth back story behind it, but it's a pretentious tosser that expects and/or demands it of other people.

Besides, memes are essentially worthless, you can do whatever the hell you like with them.

Whilst you're entitled to your opinion: Do you not think it's poor form to wear something without some passing knowledge of it.

I mean looking at your avatar, obviously you're a Kill La Kill fan, I'm not saying you have know the creators of the show at Trigger are former Gainax employees, just that you've probably seen a couple of episodes or like that particular character.

As for memes being worthless, no culture, even throw away pop culture is worthless, everything has merit even as simply as being a sign of the attitudes of the time.

Not in the slightest, if someone thinks a character from KLK looks cool but hasn't seen the show they can use an avatar of said character, no skin off my nose.
Likewise if someone buys a shirt with an album cover on it, lets day Dark Side of the Moon for sake of example, because they think the design is cool, well, they have just as much of a right to wear it as any Pink Floyd mega fan. Again, no skin off my nose.

At the end of the day it's just a bloody shirt.

Sure someone might presume that by wearing the shirt or avatar the person is a fan, and it my lead to an awkward exchange. But that's life, suggest to them that they might enjoy it and to check it out when they have time and move on.