Has anyone noticed the recent proliferation of skull branding on women and childrens’ clothing and accessories. Target Store is one of many stores guilty of pushing a new logo for women and children—the skull and crossbones.
The Jolly Roger – the signal of a pirate ship in times past, or times present? Today the pirates are represented by the omnipresent threat of terrorism on civilian America. Beefed up airport and mall security, metal detectors in schools, shootings in high schools and colleges all signal to American youth: The World Is Not Safe-The World is Threatening.
So you better wear your skull and crossbones t-shirt.
The skull and crossbones signifies and signals DANGER. When a bottle of pills has a skull and crossbones on it, does a parent give it to their baby to play with? “ Here play with this junior, oh look! skull and crossbones- just like the logo on his shirt.” A symbol that typically represents a warning of Dangerous Consequences- from which PARENTS are supposed to PROTECT their child- has become an acceptable form of fashion iconography. Watch Out.
Now with the advent of labeling youth with skulls, kids display just how vulnerable they are to accepting and identifying with the threat of danger- which some may call… the Dark Side .
The news is full of reports of how the dark side has easily “corrupted” or at least desensitized American youth to committing violent acts on each other. An abbreviated list:
1. 15+ shootings committed by High School students in Chicago in April 2008
2. 30 students and teachers murdered in Virginia Tech shootings
3. 7 killed in Chicago Mall Shooting
4. 14 year old girls in Florida gang beating a friend and posting it on internet.
The power of imagery to symbolize and communicate non-verbal ideas and concepts is the purpose of art and logos. When people choose to wear imagery that represents danger, threat, or the inevitable vulnerability of death presented to living creatures- they should understand the definition of the icon they choose to represent- especially when placing it on infants and children.
“If you do not believe there is a dimension of the universe that actively pursues evil in its forms, then ask for it, keep asking for it, and sure enough, it will come knocking at your door.” This line, from the CSI television show (Crime Scene Investigation - CSI), illustrates how a naïve fashion statement could attract the very danger it represents.
Kids shooting kids with guns, and physically beating each other to post on the internet are two examples of how promoting destructive imagery: messages through the media, video games and fashion pop culture- influence, corrupt, and erode youth resistance to identifying with “the Dark Side”. Does it exist? Yes it does. It exists in every one of us, we choose to repel or embrace it. The fashion victims in this case are children: who, ignorant to the power of negative imagery, absorb the consequences their parents choose for them….by NOT saying NO.
13 comments:
Thank you for this post Jill.
Just want to say that,
“If you do not believe there is a dimension of the universe that actively pursues evil in its forms, then ask for it, keep asking for it, and sure enough, it will come knocking at your door.”
- besides being from CSI is also from a conversation that we had in 2000 (?) after spending 4 + years in Chicago hoods. It is a truth that people need to hear, without this understanding people are laying themselves bare to this type of incendiary threat.
seriously? do you really think that a skull and crossbones had anything to do with any of the violence you're talking about? Do you think that a picture on a kid's shirt could give him the motivation needed to take a human life or beat somebody seseless? Parenting, psychological disorders, and fear make people do that kind of stuff. The media has no more control over us than we give it. Before you go blaming t-shirts and fashion for crime, just look at the reasons that those people you listed did the things they did. If people (who aren't extremely paranoid) are putting these logos on their kids and themselves, do you really think that they're trying to symbolize danger and death. The fashion companies too, what about them? Are they secretly trying to get people to convey messages of hate and crime? what is your point in writing all this? Is it to scare people, or just to point out the obvious-that you yourself are very paranoid and have a tendency to overreact to things. Let me guess, republican?
Wow Zack! Thanks for your comment. The thing is people wearing the Jolly Roger are not trying to represent danger or death. They want to wear a symbol of danger and death with no consequence - because it is a cool fad. Nevermind what it stands for - IT'S COOL! It is this desensitizing of dark/foul imagery (or words) that this post is referring too....just a casual observation.
Relax Zack1 Nobody's trying to take away your right to enjoy evil imagery on your clothing. But just who is behind this phenomenon? Is is your cry for self expression that somehow seeped into the minds of clothing designers who in turn gave you what you wanted - death decals. Can you differentitate between good and evil anymore? Do you know that alot of the stuff that is printed on clothing during this phase is occultic - including demonology, necromancy, alchemy, demonic sigils and secret societal imagery?
How do the clothing designers know about this stuff? Artists are often obssessed with all apsects of art both sacred and profane. A few delve too deep into the latter. Those who have done so have lots of work these days designing death and devilish clothing for "desensitized" consumers.
I cannot believe you connect skulls and crossbones to the Virginia Tech massacre. The shooter in that massacre was believed to be severly mentally ill. You CANNOT blame those kind of circumstances on skull imagery. We all have skulls inside us, it isn't really all that 'dark'.
Also most of my friends have loads of clothes with skull imagery and they would not harm a human being.
In my opinion the fact your almost encouraging people to judge a person by how they look is evil. You want people to assume there is a chance that the kid wearing the skulls is going to be a mass murderer.
Jill, you clearly have too much time and not enough brin cells on your hands. to believe that by wearing a shirt with a picture on the front will influence your actions, to the extent where you will physically harm another person, is absurd!
So by your logic, if we all walked around with pictures of fluffy clouds on our shirts we would all be fluffy and soft?
To believe that what you dress a child in determins their actions is crazy. If that were true then lets just get rid of parents, give kids lots of clothes with kittens, sunshine and rainbows on and then reap the rewards of a loving and harmonious generation.
Jill you are an insane lady who should not be allowed to post on the internet ever as you post pure rubbish. Your belief in this matter is stupid and i feel that you have offended more people than you would think. You need to get a job and a hobby so that you do not have the time to sit and post such nonsense on the internet.
PS: I'm currently wearing a shirt that says tutti fruity i wonder how many people that means i'm going to beat, film and post on the internet.GET A GRIP!!
There is a skull and bones in your body. I guess you are evil too then eh? Lighten up.
Johnny Depp is the devil!
Hi everybody,
Please do more research before you post things like this, it only makes you appear ignorant.
"they should understand the definition of the icon they choose to represent- especially when placing it on infants and children"
Yes they should, but so should you. The Skull and Crossed bones was the flag used by the Knights Templar (approx. 1100-1312AD), an order of armed monks created and ordained by the Pope to protect pilgrims in the holy land. The skull and crossed bones symbolize the bones they found in the temple of Solomon... Holy relics, not evil symbols.
The skull and crossed bones became associated with pirates only recently through its appropriation by Hollywood.
Pirates themselves are not inherently evil or violent (as sometimes portrayed by hollywood), they simply chose to live outside of feudal law. Many a pirate were honest citizens fleeing the persecution, torture and destruction of the Inquisition. They still had a code of honor and conduct though. Violence was often a defensive measure against the feudal naval Empires.
So, we have in the skull and crossed bones, a complicated symbol that represents the sacred bones and knowledge of an ordained order of monks, as well as the violence portrayed in pirate movies. It also represents to many people the ideals of freedom from oppressive rule. And yes, poison too.
Another symbol that is frought with contradictory interpretation is the Cross. It's most recent historical adoption by the Holy Roman Empire, gives us the version most of the world is familiar with, which symbolizes salvation and forgiveness and grace to many, but oppression and violence to others. In fact, prior to its association with Christ, the cross was a symbol of Mithras, a Roman god of war. The Romans adopted it in their new Christian church to gain the support of the legions. Really if you think about it, the Holy Roman Empire, with the blessing of the pope, was probably the most violent organization ever in the history of the world. The crusaders, under the sign of the cross, committed unspeakable (and well documented) atrocities. Between the crusades and the Inquisition far more people were brutally tortured and slaughtered than all the deaths ever attributed to 'pirates'.
So, I am not asking anyone to stop wearing crosses, because I understand that most Christians aren't wearing them out of association with the brutal violence perpetrated globally by Christian wars throughout history. They mean something positive to most of the people wearing them.
Likewise I would ask you to be more informed before you pass judgement on any symbol. Semiotics is an incredibly interesting field, and it shows us the wide range of interpretations given to various symbols by different cultures in different periods.
So next time you see someone wearing a skull and cross bones, maybe ask them what it means to them. Maybe it just means that they don't believe in a government that has let them down their whole lives and identify more with the spirit of individual freedom they've seen represented in pirate movies. Chances are they won't say "I wear this because killing and violence are cool" or "I like poison!"...
anyways, research more next time, and chill out a little, or else your kids will likely become pirates in order to escape from your somewhat overprotective rule.
yar!
Blake
PS. that cute Disney onesie that you approve of or the Nike swish tee, were made by malnourished little asian girls who make $0.20 a day. Thats right, you support slavery, which is essentially sustained violence against poor children. Real violence directly linked to the clothes you buy with their 'wholesome' imagery. Who's violent now? Is is the teens or their consumer parents who can't be bothered to consume responsibly? Mikey mouse is responsible form more misery today than any pirate anywhere. Check you priorities.
Blake,
I want to make this VERY clear. We do not support Nike or Disney onsies!
Aaaaarrrggh!
Thank you for you comment.
Miss- Can you post this?
Update on Skulls on Kids
STILL A BAD IDEA.
For people to be haters in defense of wearing skulls proves my point. Not a positive vibe. Art History talks eloquently about the meaning of skull symbolism dating back to the Middle Ages. The paintings of skulls represent the notion of VANITAS- the meaningless of Life, the material realm and the inevitability of death.
"Common vanitas symbols include skulls, which are a reminder of the certainty of death; rotten fruit, which symbolizes decay like ageing; bubbles, which symbolize the brevity of life and suddenness of death; smoke, watches, and hourglasses, which symbolize the brevity of life; and musical instruments, which symbolize brevity and the ephemeral nature of life. Fruit, flowers and butterflies can be interpreted in the same way, and a peeled lemon, as well as accompanying seafood was, like life, attractive to look at, but bitter to taste.
Vanitas themes were common in medieval funerary art, with most surviving examples in sculpture. By the 15th century these could be extremely morbid and explicit, reflecting an increased obsession with death and decay also seen in the Ars moriendi, Danse Macabre and the overlapping motif of the Memento mori. Paintings executed in the vanitas style are meant as a reminder of the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. They also provided a moral justification for many paintings of attractive objects." --wikipedia- Vanitas
Ahhh, so that's it... you folks think death is bad/evil/scary. The vanitas interpretations is certainly a prominent one in the west, especially for people who are afraid of mortality. But it also symbolizes rebirth and reincarnation. Look outside of elite western aristocracy and you'll find many different cultural interpretations and indeed celebrations of skulls and bones. Mexico's day of the dead for one, has nothing to do with "the futility of pleasure" as you put it. It's a fairly joyful celebration of life and death. Native americans use bones and skulls as sacred medicine objects in their rituals and celebrations.
Anyways, skulls and death can be scary if you've not come to terms with your own mortality (or immortality depending on your views)... but that doesn't make them evil. Nor does seeing them symbolized (or wearing them) cause people to do bad things.
Also, simply because I disagree with you does not make me a hater... I don't hate you or your ideas, I just think you have an uninformed interpretation of the symbol in question. But your still open minded enough to post response that disagree with you, so I respect that.
everybody dies, thats not evil, it's necessary and beautiful, celebrate it! Wear a skull!
yar,
Blake
PS
Glad you don't like disney or nike, didn't mean to imply that you personally did, just comparing 'evil' symbols ;)
*sigh* everyobody has a skull, and death is ultimately part of life. so I don't think there's anything dramatic about skulls on kids clothing, but to each their opinion of course.
indeed, disney is based on adult stories that are surely far from suitable for children, that was also the first thing that came to my mind when I read this bs. a bit sad that people call the reactions on it "hate" and think it proves their point, which it doesn't..
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