SAY CHEESE LOL!!
by Mike
For a couple reasons I decided I’d wear traditional clothes in Myanmar. First was the obvious reason, which is that the skirt-type thing – the Longhi – cools your legs and swishes mosquitoes away from your ankles. Wearing a light top reflects the sun. So it’s a comfortable outfit in a very hot place.
The second reason I wore it was as an act of solidarity with those who continue to wear traditional dress. (read more)
When I first wore it out of the hotel room I was nervous, like I was taking a risk that I’d be stared at while walking down the street. I was one of the only Westerners wearing this get-up, and people would definitely notice the difference. I expected that locals would look at me and think I was stupid or trying too hard or whatever. A poser. Which isn’t that big a deal, I could cope with that, though it would be a disappointing reaction for a place that’s otherwise full of extremely kind people.
Of course the cynicism was not at all what happened. What happened is that I got a lot of thumbs-ups from delighted locals and those who could say it would smile and say, “That looks good! Very handsome!” For the most part, though, people did what they did before: they glanced at us and didn’t take much notice. It feels good when that happens.
Other Westerners, for the most part, DID look at me in the way I feared: “Who’s this poser?”
I don’t know if it’s personal or cultural, but this experience revealed the cynicism about standing out – that someone going outside the norm should first be mocked, then admired if closer inspection warrants. I think I’m a cynical person, and if someone, say, wore a cowboy hat in Seattle I’d react negatively about it even though I logically know it’s ok.
I guess the fear of standing out is the potential negativity, the judgment that I’m a person pretending to be something I’m not. But I’m sad to see young men wearing jeans and t-shirts. Others cultures have thrown away their own traditional dress, though it endures even here in a major city, the only major city in SEA where this is the case. I don’t think I can contribute to the preservation, but I can make a quiet statement (if anyone even cares) that what they have is beautiful, it’s enough for me, and I like it. Jeans are boring and ubiquitous. Why sellout your traditions for the symbols of Western consumerism? Why be the same as everyone else?
Published on February 16, 2010
at 9:33 am.
2 comments
When in Rome… I always notice people in Seattle who are dressed in a djleba (sp), burkha, sari or cowboy hat and boots. It takes some courage and my hats off to you. If I wore a hat.
We were just looking at some pictures in a cookbook from the American Northeast in the early 1970s – nobody was wearing mass-produced t-shirts or hats or anything, it was all stuff that seemed at least regionally-inspired. That’s one of the saddest parts of globalization.