Monthly Archives: September 2008

So yes, I love fashion and I love statement clothing. I also tend to be slightly politically opinionated and all so yes it is possible to combine the two I suppose if one should insist. But where it goes really wrong is when you start getting serious doubts about how much the person actually knows about the thing they are wearing or the statement that they are making. I for one militantly refuse to wear any piece of political clothing unless I know enough about it – ‘enough’ meaning ‘a real good lot’.

I got majorly pissed off when last year half the world was running around in those Hamas scarves. They were sold by Urban Outiftters as ‘freedom scarves’…give me a break?!?! It’s all good being against the construction of a wall or being against supposed human rights violations but there is a big difference between being all for human rights on the one hand and sporting a piece of clothing that is clearly a trademark item used by a terrorist organisation to identify itself on the other. The keffiyah comes in many colours and represents different things in different colours in different countries, yes. I’m all for supporting different ethnic styles and fashions when you know the background that goes with it and wear it appropriately. But the scarves you could see being the new fashion statement were the Hamas scarves and to wear those and not have a sodding clue about it is just plain wrong and is basically saying ‘oh its completely ok to bomb kindergardens and nurseries’.

So this year the world has a new cause: Burma. Actually called Myanmar now – hey, after all it is only the UN that has recognised this as the country’s name. It’s like when someone’s name is Tom and you insist on calling them John. There was a massive flood, yes that was/ is without a single doubt a terrible catastrophy and a humanitarian disaster, yes there is absolutely no doubt about that. But why was the world really so interested? ‘Sudan’ is so boring, we’ve heard that name often enough…’Congo’? oh that country somewhere in Africa, oh well they’ll get over it…’Bangladesh’? doesn’t it flood there like every year, how boring…’Burma’? hmmm, never heard that name before (ok, maybe ’cause it’s actually called something different since 1989?!) – so lets fuss about something we pretend to know and understand the background of but don’t know shit about till we get bored of that as well! Not that the military has been in power since 1962 (oh well, lets ignore that little fact and pretend they only got to power now shall we) And wow, military leadership + flood means we have a hot new cause – bring it on!

Why am I even having this rant about people’s fake causes when it comes to Myanmar/Burma in the first place? Its all because of this strange bimbo I saw struggling with her bicycle yesterday when I got off the bus. She was wearing this ridiculous ‘Free Burma’ t-shirt and looked like the biggest airhead you’ve ever seen – imagine Paris Hilton petitioning for a free Burma and you get the picture.

Apparently this shirt is by Katherine Hamnett who thinks she’s saving the world by printing t-shirts with whatever cause ‘happens to be hot right now’. Deep inside I just want to punch her for profiting from other people’s suffering all over the world and then pretending to be a saint for ‘getting their message out’ – nothing but a leech and a parasite – the only message she’s getting out is the ka-ching in her bank account. The only cause she’s helping is herself and other airheads that just want to make themselves feel better by wearing a bullshit t-shirt.

Why couldn’t it be ‘Help Burma’ (if you insist on calling it Burma – atleast it fits better on the t-shirt I guess?!). Why did it have to be ‘free’ and unnecessarily move from the humanitarian arena into the political one?

So no, I’m definitely not saying I know everything about Burma at all. I’m also definitely not saying the evil military uncle is our friend. I’m not saying that the people of Burma don’t need your help – please do everything and anything you can to truly help the people of Burma (and the people of Sudan, Congo, the Palestinian territories and Bangladesh).

My only plea is: please people please know what you are wearing because what you might be wearing or supporting might be causing more harm and danger to the people your good intentions are actually trying to help. If the political item you are wearing is an educated decision and you are fully aware of what you are saying and supporting with it – go for it! But just please don’t be an airhead.

All I’m saying – think twice before you wear a bullshit t-shirt.