subject: The Good You Can Get From Hoodies [print this page] Try picturing what a criminal would look like and you may just get the image of one wearing a hoodie big enough to cover his eyes. This is what television has done to you; the stereotypes are implanted in your understanding of reality. If you think this is not true, try to watch those cops and crime shows being shown on the idiot box so often and you will find out how the hoodlums are made to wear hoods always. This is how TV influences culture, blurring reality in favour of fiction.
You should avoid TV. Instead try reading about how hoodies came to exist and you will certainly realise that these are worn for practical reasons. Medieval history will tell you that Christian monks were one of the first to use hoods. In fact, vestiges of this habit still continue to exist in some religious congregations. The monks of old had to wear these in order to protect themselves from extreme solar heat as they toil on their gardens. These also provide some insulation for their heads from the cold winter season.
You do not have to be a monk to appreciate what wearing hoods does for you since the same purposes are true today. In fact, with the damage being done on the ozone layer, climate change has required the protection of the head from extreme temperatures. Of course, while practicality is the main reason for it, the love for anything fashionable cannot be dismissed. Fortunately, many designers have integrated practicality and fashion in it.
In advertising the practical side of these types of clothes is not usually shown. Instead, since the target market is usually those in their teenage years, the hoodie is presented as attire that brings about a certain mysterious air in the wearer. Sometimes, this is also advertised as an item that makes the wearer look like a mean gangster, a character which many young people tend to admire. As a result, the hype creates a bad image out of something that is actually innocent.
Now, hoods have become unfortunately so identified with gun-toting angry youths mugging a person in a dark alley or robbing a grocer's shop. Because of their association with crime and trouble, many clubs and bars have decided to ban people wearing them from entering the premises. It is interesting to note that they strictly try to prevent wearing such kind of apparel in their places instead of potential felons themselves.
It is clear that this ban is merely caused by the stereotyping of hoodies as a thug's fashion choice. This rule may be totally lacking in wisdom but a number of clubs continue to implement it. However, people will always decide to wear it, notwithstanding the undesirable impression it creates sometimes. Fashion has less to do with it. People simply cannot ignore the practicality of wearing these during the cold months. The hoods are definitely not just for aesthetics. Its purpose is to lessen the harsh effects of extreme temperatures on the head.
