Outing oneself.

Today saw the Christmas holidays end and a brief return to school before we were all eventually allowed home due to the weather. Today also saw me in effect, 'joining' The Out Campaign; wherein participants simply brand themselves with an ironic scarlet 'A' on a badge for example. I placed mine on my school blazer. It's a harmless enough device, it's subtle, it's not really an advertisement, and my logic behind was simply this, "If I am branded as a *insert tag* due to this school blazer(there is a Biblical quote on it), then surely there is nothing wrong or crass in wearing a badge to earmark my disagreement with the labeling brought by this blazer." [Of course I could just not wear the blazer, but that would 1) miss the point, it's a school uniform, and 2) be very very cold]. I also made it a point to not, in effect, shove it in people's faces, or walk up and declare the meaning of my new accessory. Though I was not going to attempt to hide it. I will also briefly give some background to the scarlet A idea. It is in fact taken from American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne. In his book The Scarlet Letter, a woman is forced to wear a scarlet 'A' across her chest for life to represent the adultery she has committed. So in effect the 'A' symbol is a sign of religious oppression, not simply as the declaration of the lack of belief in the supernatural. Which I think is a wonderful meaning to have. I also recommend this book to anyone as it is fantastic.

My point with writing this is not really so as to defend myself, as I don't feel I have done anything to defend myself against, but more so as to give comparisons where they are fitting, and present the logic of why it is not provocative or trouble-seeking to wear such an accessory. Note, I would not be doing this if I did not feel, if not hostility, then certainly an uneasy feeling in response to the badge. I got that feeling that people were saying, "What's the fucking point." I submit though, that they are missing the point by asking such a question.

So, is there anything wrong with wearing things that will label yourself to others with a glance? Does this portray an ego-centric solipsism wherein said person simply wants to garner attention and stir the pot with regards this labeling? There is no doubting, that this can be the case. Wearing a Celtic top in certain parts of Belfast is, more often than not, a commitment to a particular Christian sect, a political affiliation, and seemingly lastly, an affirmation of support to the particular Glasgow team. Is there anything fundamentally wrong with this provocative clothe wearing then? For me, I believe it depends on the case. Should this person be actually able to argue/present the case for reasons why 1)they are a part of this Christian sect or 2)they agree with a certain political goal, then why shouldn't they be allowed to wear it? (I am not listing 'argue reasons why you support the team' as a needed accessory, as it is both linked with the other two, and is off the point). Whatever risks are involved, are ones that they will be more than aware of, so should this be the case, let them wear it. It only affects those who let them affect it. Similarly, wearing a crucifix around your neck is a form of branding, the same rules apply here. Wearing a badge with Obama on it saying, "Change," is a form of branding, the same rules apply here. Wearing a Che Guevara top is more a form of branding than people realise, the same rules apply here. As can be seen, there are a plethora of examples. It applies to such a huge variety of our discourse; religion, politics, social issues, football(or any sport) and so on. Either you allow them all or you allow none. That is to say, if one person can wear a crucifix, then where does the logic follow that a badge is an attention seeking thing to wear? It seems, that the fact that I(and in fact a couple of my good friends, shout to out Ciáran here, who has a badge of his own, I don't think anyone will disagree with me here when I say simply, that Ciáran is a buck) am in the minority in the grander scale, that I am simply being contrarian and an attention seeker for adopting an accessory. I will make clear again the idea that it is subtle, and my idea is that I will only discuss it if asked.

Contradictory though it may seem, I felt the desire to lay out this brief particular piece of writing.