I gotta vent a little...

[Sardious]

[RANT]

You know, I've spent the last few hours surfing the Internet on kilt-related information. Most of it is mis-guided, mis-information, dumb, malicious or just plain wrong.

From some ignorant englishman claiming that kilts are for Scottish ONLY, and only Ulster Scots at that, to some bible-thumping idiot quoting the old testament claiming that anyone (male) wearing the kilt is going to hell, because dressing like a women is a sin!

Why is it that as soon as someone does (wears) something just a bit off center according to their idea of "normal", the person is branded as "weird"?

Why must people be this ignorant?? We are constantly bombarded with the mantra of being a tolerant society and accepting people for who they are, yet when these very same people are confronted with something outside there perception of reality, they are the first to finger-point and ridicule!

Yes, I wear a kilt.
No, I'm not strange or wierd.
No, I'm not gay.
No, there isn't a special occasion.
My wife loves it, as a matter of fact.
Yes, I DO play the bagpipes, but that's not why I wear a kilt.
Yes, I wear it almost every day.
Yes, it is cool, doood.
No, there isn't some type of Scottish holiday today.

[/RANT]

I should just clarify something. I, frankly, don't give a rats a$$ what other people think. Most of the time I ignore most things said anyway. (My bad ears help me ignore everything else) I just wish people would stop and think just one second before opening their trap.

T.

You do some crazy surfing. I have never come across anything that extream. I have seen some sites (usually you can tell they base all info from braveheart) and they think only Scot's can wear the kilt and they seem to think that Scotland today still hates and wars with england. Great to assume that a Hollywood retelling of a story in the 1400's somehow means things are still just like that today.
I still have yet to see or meet a religious site or person to tell me kilts are bad. I have heard and read about how men should not dress like women and women to look like men. But I have yet to meet a church goer let alone a pastor that did not know what a kilt was and know it is a mans garment. If you are surfing for kilt info and come across a site about religion then may be best to pass on that. As a Christian myself I would not see a need to have a religious exposition on a kilt unless it was on some heritage of a name.

We need to get you surfing better spots. In all reality there is only so much info out there on Kilts. I think if I wanted to surf for hours solid about kilts I be re-reading a lot of info I had already read. I do like to looks at places every few months to see what new items they have but yeah all the history on the Modern version of the kilt that is popular now has been written for the most part.

[DTrain]

Basically, you're right on about ignorance. Most people simply don't know, and are forced to confront their ignorance. Some choose a simple question, like "Where did you get that?" or "Is that your family tartan?" while others are curious "What do you wear underneath?" Others simply see it as different and assume that it must therefore be bad.

I wore mine to a formal event last weekend and found it strange that other people felt obliged to tell me about their own family heritage--such as "I'm Dutch!" or "I'm French!" While I do have distant Scottish roots, its not why I wear the kilt. I wear it because I like it. If you have a problem with it, that's YOUR problem, not mine.

[macwilkin]

wore mine to a formal event last weekend and found it strange that other people felt obliged to tell me about their own family heritage--such as "I'm Dutch!" or "I'm French!" While I do have distant Scottish roots, its not why I wear the kilt. I wear it because I like it. If you have a problem with it, that's YOUR problem, not mine.

I don't see that as strange at all; for most educated people who know something about it, the kilt is ethnic dress. This happens to me on a fairly regular basis -- folks will come up and start a conversation about genealogy and their ethnic background. I've had some very interesting and pleasant coversations this way.

Regards,

Todd