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Tie Tyranny and Senseless Shoes
The pervasiveness of unexamined recognition norms
A strip of cloth.
Really? That’s what matters? Yes, according to some right-wing politicians.
I can’t remember the last time I wore a tie. I have two or three stuffed somewhere in my wardrobe (the one that doesn’t lead to Narnia). I’ve carried these strips of cloth with my possessions through three different countries, just in case I needed one. I have not needed one.
Let’s be honest, no one ever needs a necktie. Not like one needs shoes to avoid injury. Not even like one needs trousers to protect one’s skin from cold chairs, rough sofas, and prying eyes.
No, ties are part of fashion, that incredibly odd social reality. I am on record warning against the oversized pressure of fashion on our lives. Ties are conformity to fashion, and a larger conformity to social convention.
At some point in history, it became fashionable for men to dangle a strip of cloth from their necks. The length and width of the cloth has varied according to fashion, but the ritual developed that said that a man is not well dressed unless they are dangling a strip of cloth from their necks. Men most conform to this ritual, or not receive recognition as being “proper.”
