Hoodie Day (May 26th)
“It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself–anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face…; was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime…”
- George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 5
Hoodies Banned in UK
Coastlands Mall has banned the wearing of hoodies within its premises since 2005. The Imperial College in London also banned the wearing of hoodies and Islamic veils under a wrath of protests. This is how democracy gives way to Totalitarianism. The logic of: criminals wear hoodies to obstruct their face; therefore people who wear hoodies are criminals, casts serious doubts on the educational system and the understanding of elementary analogies. This is especially hypocritical for a mall which sells hoodies that can not “fully” be worn on the grounds. This ban was actually supported by Tony Blair who publicly stated his support for the ban.
The definition of a Police or Totalitarian State is:
“A state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population, especially by means of a secret police force which operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional republic. A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, and there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive.”[1]
Is there something wrong with this? Have boundaries been imposed on the public by a force outside of a constitutional republic? Are cameras a means of social control through fear? More than 4 million cameras are watching London and that is from estimates over four years old.[2] Do you feel like you are being watched? Are you concerned about causing false suspicion due to a nervous tic or slight expression of anxiety in front of the “telescreen”? If don’t yet, you will as hoodie bans and public surveillance of social life continues to rise at the present rate.
So one may ask, how do I protect myself from this so called “facecrime?” The only answer is to cover it. Cover it whenever you leave your home, on the sidewalk, in class, in shopping centers, riding public transportation, and even in Church. Yes, Big Brother is even watching God now. Who is really in control? You are. So throw on a Whoodie and enjoy your right to do so while it lasts.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_state
[2] http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0206/p07s02-woeu.html
Whoodies Encouraging Crime?
Naturally after coming up with the idea for Whoodies I discussed it with several friends and colleagues. Whilst the idea was to create a garment that allowed the wearer privacy from the UK camera culture, clearly there is a lot of scope for misuse. One of my colleagues told me that I was “evil” and was absolutely certain that this would lead to a crime wave the like of which we have never seen. I can’t help but disagree.
If you want to cover your face there are any number of ways in which you can do so, without the expense of buying from us. A pair of stockings kept in a trouser pocket is pretty unobtrusive as is a balaclava kept in a bag or an inside jacket pocket. More simply a standard hooded sweatshirt and a handkerchief can hide everything but the eyes very effectively and so on.
Lets be honest, there will always be a criminal element, and some of them will undoubtedly wear Whoodies, or other masked hooded concepts simply because they own the garment and have decided to commit the crime. There may even be criminals who decide to buy our product in order to commit a crime but these elements in society will commit crimes regardless of whether or not we produce our garment. Does that mean that the rest of society should be denied the opportunity to hide their face if they so wish?
Big brother is upon us whether we like it or not, our cell phones can be tracked independently and down to a very short distance, security cameras cover ranges of miles at a time, and yet the majority of crimes remain unsolved. Here at Whoodie, we believe we have the right to privacy providing we are not breaking the law and from the stats I have seen even forgoing our rights to privacy is not solving the crime load.