College & Clothing: Where Culture Trumps Faith

To the trained student’s eye, clothing choices betray a person’s socio-economic status, cultural identity, and religion, and cause the “watcher” to make a snap judgment of the student being observed. This judgmental nature creates a desire among college students to fit in with the social norms of college – colorful pants, Vineyard Vine fleeces, and fancy jewelry – for fear of standing out and being ostracized. 

 Understanding the fear of being judged solely on one’s clothing makes the lack of stars of David, crosses, and Hijabs on the Hill make sense. Instead of disregarding clothing norms, many students of faith choose to hide their religious identity by tucking their religious necklaces and symbols under their shirts or in their bags until they are alone or surrounded by like-minded individuals. 

 The few students who do choose to wear their faith quite literally on their sleeve, do so, many times, to “stick it” to the dominant college culture, as if saying, “Sure, judge me on my faith, but there is more to me than just this cross!” The fashion language on campus forces religious students to label themselves as overly devout or irreligious.

"Fashion too is a language of signs, a nonverbal system of communication." 

– Alison Lurie 

Power of Perception

        As Shabana Mir discussed in both her lecture and article, “You Can’t Really Look Normal and Dress Modestly”, appearance is a crucial part of our identity. Although we may hope and believe that we’re in control of our first impressions, there is something that always gets the chance to speak first – our clothes. Despite our best efforts to reserve judgment until actually getting to know someone, it’s incredibly difficult to not categorize an individual at first glance. Later on, we may be able to look past this initial judgment but nonetheless a first assessment has already been made. It’s hard to deny this aspect of ourselves. It’s how we work to make sense of our surroundings and generally function on a day-to-day basis. The issue to discuss here is the disconnect that occurs between the message we put out and the message that is received.

        What I hope to convey is not always what others pick up on. As such, a fair amount of control lies with the observer. As I was sitting down to consider how religious clothing or paraphernalia factors into identity on campus, I realized that I couldn’t come up with many examples. This may be attributed to the fact that there just simply isn’t a lot of religious clothing worn around campus. Or perhaps it’s because I’m not looking for it. The most common example I could think of was cross necklaces. Do I notice these because they’re most common or because, as a Catholic, this is a symbol I am most attuned to pick up? The answers to the commonality of religious paraphernalia on campus are not ones that I know. However, thinking about this issue drew my attention to the power of perception. It highlighted the fact that while we may like to believe our identity is in our hands, the beliefs and perceptions of our peers in fact play a significant role in our identities. Thus, bringing forth the question of how private is the formation of our identities? Do we internalize the perceptions of self that society throws back at us?

The Hostility Invoked by a Cross

There are a variety of fanatics and supporters of different causes on Hamilton's campus. Avid fans come together to watch soccer games and people proudly sport LGBTQ alliance stickers on their Nalgenes. Hamilton students are often proud to support their unique affiliations and "groups. But still, individuals are apprehensive to publicly display their religions or faiths through dress. 

Shabana Mir acknowledges how religious attire or symbols can lead people to preconceived conclusions: a "[hijab]...has these connotations for American people...maybe terrorist-related things." A dictionary definition of the word hijab solely indicates a head covering worn by some Muslim women; there is nothing about terrorism or oppression. As Alison Lurie writes, these ideas come about through "the language of dress", where upon first sight individuals "register the information unconsciously" about someone's appearance and form associations about the type of dress and the consequential type of person.

As a Catholic on this campus, I often find unreceptive sentiments when confronted over my religion. I think peers have formed negative associations between Catholicism and pressing social rights issues such as gay and female reproductive rights. I am made conscious of these ill-assuming views when I wear a cross around my neck. Students can be quick to assume one-dimensional facets of religion to be true and the same for everyone without any real acknowledgment of the individual.