Page 224 - Encyclopedia Of World History
P. 224

574 berkshire encyclopedia of world history




                                                                                  A Sioux pictograph
                                                                                  depicting Sioux killed in the
                                                                                  battle of the Little Bighorn.
                                                                                  Viewers of the pictograph
                                                                                  could tell the identity of the
                                                                                  slain warriors from their
                                                                                  costume, paint, and body
                                                                                  adornment.



                                                                                  jugation. An example is the queue
                                                                                  (a braid of hair usually worn hang-
                                                                                  ing at the back of the head) and
                                                                                  Manchu clothing that were imposed
                                                                                  by the conquering Qing dynasty
                                                                                  (1644–1912) on the ethnic Chi-
                                                                                  nese. Clothing of subjugation can
                                                                                  take on symbolic meaning and
                                                                                  come to represent the political sys-
                                                                                  tem that institutes it. Its removal
                                                                                  also can take on political overtones.
                                                                                  One of the symbols of the 1911
                                                                                  Chinese Revolution was severing
                                                                                  the queues, although Manchu cloth-
                                                                                  ing was mostly retained because of
                                                                                  its practicality.


                                                                                  Occupations
                                                                                  Within social divisions dress often
                                                                                  became a marker for occupations.
                                                                                  Specialized garments developed to
                                                                                  protect workers or their clothing
                                                                                  from the dangerous elements of
                                                                                  their profession. Dress such as the
                                                                                  blacksmith’s apron or the baker’s
                                                                                  hat became integral parts of the craft
                                                                                  or professional identity. In some
            Sumptuary (relating to personal expenditures) laws that  cases, such as academic dress, specific garment details
            govern the clothing of particular classes developed in  became institutionalized and continued as a marker long
            early times.They are most numerous where class tension  after their original purpose was gone.Today the color of
            exists. During the early Ottoman Empire sumptuary   one’s collar is used to denote hierarchy in the Western
            laws were seldom published, implying that the social  workforce. Occupational custom could be so strong that
            boundaries between classes were generally accepted.  workers had to fight for the right to wear more practical
            However, in early modern Europe the frequent publica-  attire. U.S. nurses and female hospital workers faced both
            tion of such laws coincided with the struggle for power  custom and gender boundaries in their battle to wear
            between the nobility and the rising middle class.   pants instead of skirts and white hose at work.
              Just as dress can denote status, it can also denote sub-  Dress can be an external expression of one’s religious
   219   220   221   222   223   224   225   226   227   228   229