How would you respond?

[Amoskeag]

Maybe I live in La-La Land or maybe I don't get out much, but I have never associated kilts with any kind of sexual pretense. A kilt has always been a man's Scottish garment and I just assumed that the whole world realized this. I guess it's just me! I don't have the time this morning to go on at length about how attitudes like this bother me (and that's a good thing!). I'm going to stop before my wife throws a bucket of water on me! Wow! There are some real jerks in the world. NOW HEAR THIS, NOW HEAR THIS: The Rant Is Over - That Is All!

I agree with your assessment of "former friend"
Bob

[Tommie]

Thanks to all of you guys.Your the greatest and im proud to be among such intelligent friends.
I will have to remember all of these responses the next time someone insults not only me but the kilt and the history of it.

The sad thing is-one stupid remark said without thinking-broke up a twenty year friendship.
I questioned his remark many times after,and wondered did he himself somehow connect my wearing a kilt to being homosexual,and was using his buddys as an excuse to say something he was afraid to say directly to me.
He knows that I have a very close friend that lives up in Canada that is Transsexual,and did at one time make a remark to him being gay.
I said nothing at the time an thought,if hes not intelligent enough to know the difference in being Transsexual and Homosexual,than why bother in trying to correct him.

Again thanks so much for some of your ways to handle or to respond to insulting remarks.
What are some of the things that you guys have run into and what else can we expect to hear from people speaking without thinking?

[Tommie]

Oh,and one more thing I ment to mention.

I am the type of person when told I should not do something !!!
Well,you can place bets that I will than do it for sure and you'd win.

[Drillagent]

( Yeah,but its still a skirt) Had a jerk say this.

My 1SG does this to me constantly. Not a lot I can do about it. Sometimes I make an offhanded remark about his lack of manhood or courage. Besides, he's so redneck, his cell phone ringer is a turkey call. He's retiring in a month so that will be the end of it.

( Is that a Kilt?) Had someone ask this in a crowd at a super market.

To those people I just say "Yes, it is." At least they're smart enough to recognize it for what it is.

( Hey dude,Love your costume) Idiot at the mall while we were Christmas shopping.

If a stranger says this, they get ignored. If it's somebody I know, then I make a comment about their upbringing or family.

( Hey Bud,would you not mind wearing your kilt? I have some buddys coming and two are very homophobic ) Said by a former friend when he invited my wife and I to a cookout last labor day.

I like how you say "former" friend. That's pretty much how I would have handled that one.

These are just a few,but they are well offset by all the positive comments over the past year or so.

I've generally had the same positive reactions. More than the negative.

[Riverkilt]

Ummm, a kilt is a type of skirt. You can just agree. "Yes it is."

Silence works, with or without an eyelocking glare.

And, if appropriate, education.

I'm a firm believer that these questions will moderate the longer you wear your kilts and the more assured/normal/at ease you seem to other's kilted.

It'll get to the point where you'll be so self-assured people will begin to ask if you're from Scotland.

As for the homophobe deal just tell them, "Hey my balls already made parole, there's no way I'm sending them back to prison."

Enjoy the freedom. Kilt up often and the questions will dwindle.

Ron

[Jack Daw]

In my case, 100% of the time such comments come from immature guys; not women. Depending on the situation, I either ignore the comment or I keep it positive by smiling and saying, "I don't care what men think of it; I only wear it for the ladies, who seem to love it." If you have a spouse, then you limit the number of ladies to one. NO woman has EVER made fun of my kilt. I only get compliments from women, as probably every man here does, too.

One of the very first times I wore the kilt was at an outdoor St. Patrick Day celebration at the Garden in the Heights in Houston The music was very loud so the jerk had to get close and yell in my ear, that he thought the kilt made it easier for me to rape sheep, or something along that line. I thought better of grabbing him by his hair and slamming his face in my naked knee because I didn't want to get hauled off to the jailhouse (the place was crawling with police security) and not get to finish my pint.

[ChromeScholar]

It'll get to the point where you'll be so self-assured people will begin to ask if you're from Scotland.

I get this question at least once whenever I wear a kilt. I've never actually gotten a seriously insulting question. The non-complimentary remarks I get are more from curiosity or ignorance, rather than a need of the questioner to be offensive.

[auld argonian]

Seems to me that there are two kinds of questioners, those who are genuine curious and those who are trying to yank your chain.

It's nice to be able to chat with the genuinely curious...they're usually very positive about the kilt and many seem actually delighted to see one "in the wild" instead of on TV or in a photo.

As several of the kilted brethren have suggested, it's better to let the chain-yankers go without comment. There have been several threads about witty responses to all of the usual kilt questions...I'm sure that you can find them with a search. I've just gotten over trying to engage in clever banter about wering the kilt. As I once said, when I get some "clever wag" who starts the whole thing about "what's under the kilt", I just deadpan "Just boxer shorts...sorry to disappoint you." and move on...that usually derails the whole comic performance on the questioner's part and makes them look like they're making a lame attempt at being witty.

As to the whole "homophobic" thang...I assume that it's more of some kind of a cross-dressing or transvestite thing? I mean, I know a whole lot of gay guys (don't personally know any who even have a kilt) and there are several who participate on this forum and that still doesn't change the fact that a kilt is a MAN'S garment. A man's a man for a' that, eh? I have a couple of friends who have the same problem and I just try to make it a non-issue...if I'm getting together with them, I just wear pants...when they ask "where's the kilt?" I just tell the truth: I love wearing it but I don't want to spoil my enjoyment of wearing it by wearing it around people who have a problem with it. Then I just let it drop and let it sink in that it's THEIR problem, not mine. I often stop by some of these folks gatherings on the way back from some other event where I did wear the kilt and I won't change just for them...again, I simply explain that I was at an earlier event where the kilt was welcome and didn't think that it would matter that I didn't go ALL the way home to change into PANTS just so I could stop by for a little while. But then I make sure that it's a LITTLE while...one beer, some superficial chit-chat and vamoose...I think that that helps get the point that it isn't all that important across.

Hope that all of these responses give you some help in dealing with this stuff...we all have to put up with it at one time or another.

Best

AA

[Daaaaang]

This comic's fourth panel is my favourite way of dealing with accusations of homosexuality. I have actually repeated it verbatim several times now.

[auld argonian]

This comic's fourth panel is my favourite way of dealing with accusations of homosexuality. I have actually repeated it verbatim several times now.

Now THAT'S comedy! Good one!

Best

AA