Uniforms-Privelage and Control

When I wear my track uniform, I feel that I am more than myself, and maybe a little less myself. I am a representation of the school I run for and the training that I have done. All of the other aspects of myself that are not related to the sport fall away-that I like to read, draw, ride horses-that doesn't matter when I wear my uniform because at the moment, it's not relevant.

I only wear my uniform at competitions. If I happen to put it on at any other time, I actually do feel more competitive. Simply wearing it puts me in a certain mindset.
However, wearing it at anything other than a competition feels utterly wrong. Because my unifrom is small and tight, I feel self-conscious. If the context of a competion is taken away, then I just feel like a fool. Surrounded by other athletes in small tight uniforms, even if they are not on my team, gives me a sense of comeraderie. We all recognize that our training has allowed us to deserve our uniforms, and we can compete with each other.

That is the closest thing that I've ever had to a school uniform. Dussel writes, "School uniforms are signs and signifying practices that carry along meanings about identity and difference and that enact the disciplining of the body by a power that subjects and subjectifies. As such, uniforms are not external screens on which meanings are reflected but are part of technologies of power that "govern and regulate both the outward and inward disposition of the pupil"(9). I think that pretty much describes what I wanted to say about my track uniform, but I don't feel negatively about it at all.

This chapter also talks about the idea of a national costume. That particularly reminded me of Guatemala and how their indigenous dress is not indigenous at all, but was enforced by the conquistadores. The style was pretty much the same, but each village or area had a defining trait. This allowed them to be regulated by the conquistadores. You could always tell who the outsider was (within the same culture). Dress made enemies of communities. It was a simple way for the conquistadores to control. So while their dress is pretty and can be admired aesthetically, or from a tourist perspective, it was also very much a methodical means of control.