PRO
Men are permitted by the unspoken rules of American culture to do just about anything to themselves with regards to fashion. Pants that drag on the ground and require six belts to hold up are cool in some circles. Ear gauges as big as golf balls are fashionable among a certain crowd. And bro tanks, sadly, are the article of clothing seen most often on the backs of men on this campus.
But for some reason, in those same unspoken rules, there’s a line that says don’t even think about wearing a scarf, you pathetic excuse for a man.
All over the world, good looking men wear scarves for both function and fashion. See: David Beckham or Brad Pitt. Very few would criticize these men’s fashion choices since it’s commonly known they stand among the best-dressed out there.
Except here’s the catch: Go into a bar here while wearing a scarf and run the risk of being labeled homosexual — how utterly stupid.
Look, sexuality — and its corresponding masculinity — can’t be determined through clothing. “Gaydar” doesn’t exist. Sorry, but it’s true. You can’t look at someone and just know which side of the coin they’re on, and a scarf doesn’t change that. Period.
On the positive side, a well-placed scarf can take a normally average outfit like a T-shirt and jeans and make it instantly more fashionable. Yeah, I know, straight guys aren’t supposed to care about being fashionable. Well, that may be true, but those straight guys we’re talking about need to get a reality check; they might not care about how they look, but women certainly do.
When a woman sees a scarf tied properly and worn confidently, that wins you points. It takes you from being a slob who isn’t comfortable enough with his own body to dress it properly, to a confident man who knows his strengths and amplifies them.
Rock the scarf, gentlemen. Thank me later.
— Joe Dusbabek is a senior studying linguistics and French. He can be reached at arts@wildcat.arizona.edu.
CON
Scarves for men. Man scarves. Marves.
I have never been a fan of marves. When I see a man scarf I immediately think the man is either: a) trying to hide some sort of infectious disease on his neck, b) in high school and trying to hide a hickey, c) suffering from amnesia and thinks he is his girlfriend, d) that it is some sort of hazing activity through a fraternity, or e) that he is insanely too feminine for my taste.
Marves can also be highly inconvenient in numerous situations. For example, when you are mowing the lawn it can get caught in the blades and pull you down, ruining your scarf and propelling tiny blades of grass into your eyes. Or picture yourself at the end of a date with your crush. You lean in for that momentous, long awaited kiss just as a gust of wind picks up your marf and smacks it into her face. Now, the most important moment of your date is ruined by your insanely metro man scarf.
All jokes aside, as a woman I can say that man scarves send the wrong message to the opposite sex. If your girlfriend sees you in a wispy red or a layered plaid scarf, she will most likely assume it is a gift for her, or that you are becoming a wannabe Ricky Martin.
I don’t judge a man in a scarf if it is the dead of winter in New York, but in Arizona there is no need for them. If you must wear a man scarf for the sake of warmth, at least choose a neutral, dark, masculine color and tuck it into your jacket. Scarves for men are not OK with a V-neck T-shirt, sweater or cardigan. Also, if you insist on wearing a man scarf, it should be solely used for warmth and taken off with the coat once you’ve gone inside. My point is, man scarves don’t exactly say “sexy” to girls. The message is more like “shopping buddy” or “friend zone.”
_— Ashley Pearlstein is a journalism junior. She can be reached at
arts@wildcat.arizona.edu._
