Best of all possible arguments

[Alan H]

I draw the line at miniskirts! EEeeeewwwwwwww.

Bubba, if you put on a miniskirt, I'd get in line to see it. *grin*

From a safe distance, anyway. LOL!

I don't mean to rant (well, OK, maybe I do!).... It just bugs me when I see kilt-wearing folks demand open-mindedness from the world about kilts, but then reserve the right to be closed-minded about pants in return.

[Bill]

I think the bottom line here guys is that we wear what we wear because of choice not because we are told. I'm far more comfortable in a kilt (especialy on a hot day) than I am jeans or dress trousers but my job and at times circumstances demand they be worn instead. What defines a man is not what he wears but who he is. Ok ending rant.

Bill

[Freedomlover]

I have a question or two for all the "ONLY kilt-wearers are Real Men" crowd.

Does the shape of the cloth around someone's hips define who's a man and who isn't, or do attitudes, integrity, honesty, courage, kindness and open-mindedness define a Man? If a man decides to wear pants because he just DECIDES to wear pants, who are you to tell him he can't, or tell him he's a spineless wuss for making a decision different from yours?....I lose my Real Manhood to a piece of cloth that says Levi Strauss on it??

My genitals have been entirely happy and gotten their occasional workouts just fine in all the decades I wore pants.

Get a grip. Physiology is what it is. My remarks were rooted in matters of physical health and were directed to those who are either ill informed, or who choose, for the sake of 'acceptability' to ignore it. For some strange reason you have chosen to take my comments personally. I wonder why.

But kilts, alone, don't define who I am.

No one suggested that they do.

If we as kilt-wearers suggest to the world that a dose of open-mindedness about what we choose to wear is in order, then should'nt we apply that same standard to ourselves, and not blanket-attack people who happen to choose to dress differently than we do?

Please. How did you discern an attack when there wasn't one?

[Alan H]

I'm going to single out the couple of things that bugged me about your post. All I can say is that if you can't understand why they're annoying, I'm not really sure what to tell you.

First let me say that this server really sucks.

I seem to enjoy the time I spend at X Marks despite the horrible server, and I haven't found the need to comment on it. Occasionally someone will ask if response time is slow. Sometimes it is. Most of the time it's pretty quick. There's a difference between writing

"Has anyone else noticed that the web response time seems slow today?"

and

"the server sucks"

It won't matter to you anyway since you never did have a genuine male perspective..

To paraphrase what you wrote right there: "if you don't agree with me, then you're not a man."

That said, I have to ask the question: What the hell, gentelmen? Are you more interested in your manhood, or in conformation to a 'societal norm' that is designed to emasculate you?

Kilt-wearing does not automatically equal Manhood.

Wearing pants does not automatically make someone emasculated.

A Man may choose to wear kilts. A Man may choose to wear pants. A Man may choose to wear kilts on some day and pants on other days. Kilts/Pants has precious little to do with the measure of this mysterious thing called "Manhood" , which if you ask me, a whole lot of people spend way too much time worrying about.

I'm all for celebrating kilts, here. That's what X Marks is all about. It's a place where we celebrate the great things about kilts, and all the positive things about wearing them. It's a place where we make information available to anyone who wants to come find it, including some health issues. It's a place where guys who wear kilts in locations where nobody else ever wears one, can find a little support and encouragement.

That's fantastic.

When it turns into a place where we say that people who make different decisions from ours, and decide to wear pants are "emasculated", then I don't think that's so fantastic.

[Alan H]

Here's a completely different take on the whole thing.

If I ever get the question..."Why are you wearing a kilt?" I just tell the person the truth:

"Because I want to. It's fun and I enjoy it."

Works for me. If that doesn't work for them, that's their problem.

The next day I might be kilted or I might have pants on. I'm the one who decides.

[Freedomlover]

O.K. Alan. If my directness offended you I apologise.

[Woodsheal]

Like everyone here, I love to wear my kilts, BUT - I have no problem with pants either.
REAL MEN who have worn trousers: Gauls, Romans (after they picked `em up from the Gauls), Allimanni, Britons, Visigoths, Vandals, Huns, Franks, Picts, Irish, Scots, Frisians, Vikings, Tartars, Cossacks, etc., etc., etc.....

[Celticman]

I draw the line at miniskirts! EEeeeewwwwwwww.

Only draw the line on mini-skirts for men! Lassies, please continue; short is good! :-D

[Celticman]

What defines a man is not what he wears but who he is.
Bill

I don't know if I could agree with this statement more! Too often men (and, women too, on occasion) define themselves by what they have instead of who they are. I for one, have been guilty of that on occasion; it's a hard thing to change. But, the farther I get away from defining myself by what I have the more I like me. It's a shame that the world judges us by the things we have.
I'm reminded of something Jamie Lee Curtis said some years ago...she said "the more I learn to love myself the less I want to be someone else." Pretty profound considering she made her living for many years by pretending to be someone else.
The more I learn about who I am the less I care about having the things my neighbor has.

[Graham]

Well said Alan.

besides, what's wrong with the server????
I rarely have any problems accessing, or with the speed. I'm on Broadband.