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Popular Culture Review
may choose the type of dress style that is keeping with a specific social or with a
specific occupational event. What was considered as acceptable or unacceptable
modes of dress in the work place or in an academic setting in the past has
yielded to a lessening of strict dress-code standards.
As for popular culture, consider Jib Fowles’ claim that popular culture,
among other aspects, is received by individuals (105). Moreover, Fowles
presents several guidelines that are relevant to this investigation. First, he sees
popular culture as modes of behavior received by individuals. Second,
individuals turn symbols into meaning. Third, social behavior is less likely to be
directed by traditional external protocol and more likely to take account of the
emotional make up of individuals (106).
Taking the first of Fowles’ observations and applying it to the T-shirt
research, individuals who wear T-shirts assume that T-shirts, as modes of
remembrance, are received by members of the group or by members of the
larger community. Presently, it is common to see individuals wearing these
modes of dress at funerals or after the funereal event has taken place.
Previously, these forms of dress would be considered as inappropriate on such
occasions. Gender is not an issue since males and females wear memorial Tshirts, although males appear to be the ones who are most frequent wearers.
Some members of society may ostracize members of the group who wear Tshirts to the funeral. Such individuals may consider these forms of clothing as
demeaning to the local community or to the larger community. Unmindful of the
negative views expressed by some individuals, the growing presence of T-shirts
in the community where mortality takes place would support Fowles’ claim in
that T-shirts are cultural forms received by a majority of members of a specific
community. Furthermore, as symbols, individuals wear T-shirts to present
meanings beyond the shirts themselves. The interaction of symbols and the
meaning associated with T-shirts are similar to the Saussurian view of signifier
and significant (11-12). In other words, both the T-shirt and the social event
reinforce each other to make meaning. Besides, this interaction is similar to
Lemke’s view of an utterance, a bridge between the linguistic and the social
(21). This observation of arriving at meaning is similar to that proposed by
Jacques Derrida in that “meaning is generated through the play of signifiers and
not by reference to an independent object world it can never be fixed” (qtd. in
Barker and Galasinski 10).
In addition, the language written on T-shirts, as forms of remembrance,
would support Fowles’ observation of breaking traditional external protocol. As
was noted earlier, individuals use many mechanisms for remembering those who
have passed on. These mechanisms may take the form of headstones, memorial
services, shrines, and sympathy cards. Thus, when persons who use other forms
of expression to show remembrance and grief are observed, agreement with the
third of Fowles’ points is possible in that the wearing of T-shirts, as modes of
remembrance, defies traditional ways of showing respect and memory for those
who have left family and friends. In short, they have used traditional forms of