Clothes Don't Make the Woman

Today, I dressed as a goth. I put on dark makeup, wore all black, and let my normally tied-back, ribbon-bound hair, fall messily across my face. My friends and teachers didn't recognize me. Although who I fundamentally was obviously did not change, the way people looked at me did. In the beginning of the semester, Janelle told us that when she first came to Hamilton, she was the only goth and people noticed. Today, I felt noticed. I don't feel like a wallflower in my day to day life as my tongue's penchant never to stop moving doesn't allow for that. However, it was an interesting social experiment to notice how my peers who both didn't recognize me or thought that I normally looked like as I did, reacted. Similarly, "vampWillow" is not the "doormat" that Willow usually considers herself to be. Even if she weren't an aggressive lesbian vampire, her "sexy" garb wouldn't allow her to go unperceived. Before she even opens her mouth, one of Oz's band members declares, "Dude, look at your girlfriend." The way that one dresses can cast one in a certain light. Because of the way that I normally dress, due to the human mode of constantly stereotyping, no one would suspect that I was an undefeated, co-ed, middle school wrestler. But I was. Willow Rosenburg may not look like she harbors the typical, homosexual dominatrix-loving vampire potential inside of her in season three, but we later find out that she does. At least a small part of her does and we find out that she can't repress it forever. Let's follow the old, 10% Freudian iceberg rule her: An outward appearance or impression one gives is only a small part of who they really are. The rest remains under the surface. Most likely, there is something deep down that they aren't sharing and certainly that their clothes don't show. Who knows? Maybe I feel more akin to my goth counterpart than I ever thought possible?