I’ve been thinking a lot about how we dress, what we communicate through clothing, and the expectations we put on each other.

This, of course, was prompted by the recent discourse about Senate rules requiring men wear suits on the Senate floor. The irony, of course is that the history of the suit was not as an elevated form of dress, but that it was the common dress. It wasn’t required of a profession, but of everyone.

Removing someone for not wearing the right outfit has become very situational for us. As has the idea of dressing “up” or “casual”.

Lost in this discourse, of course, is what the clothing is actually for and what expectations are actually worth anything!

Should someone be tortured for eternity for not meeting a wealthy person’s unspoken expectations? And is shaming others into submission a worthy goal?

What really is the point of these expectations?