Laughter?

[Blu (Ontario)]

... when she got off the phone, she suggested that maybe I shouldn’t bring the Kilt on the trip. I asked her what was said and she says, “Well, she said she didn’t want us to dress up or anything, but I’m pretty sure that she was trying hard to keep from laughing out loud.” ...

The bottom line issue here is ignorance.

Mudd... Are you prepared to take the bull by the horns and educate these people despite themselves or would you prefer to capitulate and live with the status quo.?

The questions you need to ask yourself are...

1. Why are you doing this in the first place?
2. How important is this to you?
3. Is this a novelty or are you serious about it?
4. What are your goals? (where do you want this to go?)

You should know that there are a number of individuals on the board (including myself) that have been through the process of dispelling ignorance amongst family members. They may snicker once or twice... so what! The joke gets old pretty quickly. If you want respect from these people you're going to have to earn it.

Thems the facts, man.

blu

[mbhandy]

Let Me put it this way You were worried about her reaction. It would have passed but they live close to the Arroyo Fairways Mobil Home Club and I thought I lived in the middle of noware. She would have gotten over it. Besides You could have dressed down with your kilt. Sneakers or hiking boots or better yet Tevas. My father in law saw pictures of my Black Watch and his comment was "Nice Kilt" and he is upstate Ny. German retired fire fighter.

MrBill

[GMan]

How do I handle the humor? It all depends on how and who has said it. Usually just roll my eyes.

[flyv65]

I'm a fairly large, somewhat intimidating individual so I'm not usually laughed at face to face-although it did happen one time a few years ago. I was running some errands and stopped at a strip mall near my house where I saw four children between 6 and 8 years old who at first stared, then started to laugh and point as I walked by. I stopped and smiled, and started to laugh along with them, if only because they seemed to be so happy. I think laughter is a natural reaction to the unexpected, and I'm pretty sure these kids hadn't seen a man kilted before. I said good bye to them and walked away, still smiling.

Bryan...never had an adult laugh, tho...

[Schultz]

As someone who was heavily into the streetpunk scene and hung around folks with foot tall orange mohawks and other assorted fashion (or anti-fashion) statements, I'm pretty used to the snickering of ignorant folks. It can be a little offputting at first, particularly if I'm in an aggressive mood. Yesterday, I took the wife to a mall that has a Frederick's of Hollywood to spend some of her Christmas money on some new...ah...presents for me ;) and I got more than a few snickers from younger girls as we walked through the mall. Guys pretty much just stare, but the teenage girls are the worst, so caught up in their own twisted concepts of fashion.

One particular girl kept elbowing her friend, who was on her cellphone, trying to get her attention to look at me. Her friend was apparently way too busy in her conversation to even look, which only made the gawker more animated. Feeling a little mischievous, I finally walked over to the girl on the phone, tapped her on the shoulder and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I think your friend wants to show you what I'm wearing." I did a little spin, prompting some laughter from the girl on the phone who went, "Nice!". I tipped my hat to the gawker, who was very red faced and obviously embarassed herself.

I do love turning things around on people.

In short, bollocks to the laughers. Their ignorance and lack of respect should not have any bearing on what you choose to wear, be it a kilt, blue hair, or even silly looking baggy bondage pants.

[Valencian Kilted]

As someone who was heavily into the streetpunk scene and hung around folks with foot tall orange mohawks and other assorted fashion (or anti-fashion) statements, I'm pretty used to the snickering of ignorant folks. It can be a little offputting at first, particularly if I'm in an aggressive mood. Yesterday, I took the wife to a mall that has a Frederick's of Hollywood to spend some of her Christmas money on some new...ah...presents for me ;) and I got more than a few snickers from younger girls as we walked through the mall. Guys pretty much just stare, but the teenage girls are the worst, so caught up in their own twisted concepts of fashion.

One particular girl kept elbowing her friend, who was on her cellphone, trying to get her attention to look at me. Her friend was apparently way too busy in her conversation to even look, which only made the gawker more animated. Feeling a little mischievous, I finally walked over to the girl on the phone, tapped her on the shoulder and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I think your friend wants to show you what I'm wearing." I did a little spin, prompting some laughter from the girl on the phone who went, "Nice!". I tipped my hat to the gawker, who was very red faced and obviously embarassed herself.

I do love turning things around on people.

In short, bollocks to the laughers. Their ignorance and lack of respect should not have any bearing on what you choose to wear, be it a kilt, blue hair, or even silly looking baggy bondage pants.

:mrgreen: great history, man! Spain is also full of that kind of "babes", and I also don't like them at all, but young lads are worst,... they're becoming violent as well as superficial!, but ur reaction was really funny!

Cheers for the next year!! ¡Salud!

T O N O

[GlassMan]

I tend to find that the ones who laugh the most are also those who look the most laughable themselves.

[NewKilt]

Originally posted by mudd
So here’s the point of this post. How do you guys deal with being laughed at in your Kilt? I must say, I don’t like to be laughed at. Being laughed WITH, or in good humor is one thing, but someone snickering under their breath really irritates me.

Well, I haven't experienced laughter in my face. I think I've heard some snickering (usually teenagers). My suggestion is to ignore it. If's it's from family members that you see every so often, it will eventually go away when they realize that it has no affect on you. In the case of your MIL, as someone else said, she may not laugh at all once she actually see's how you look. If she does laugh, it's her problem, not yours. If you repeat not wearing the kilt in her presence, then she is dictating what you wear. I think its better for you to control the situation rather than letting the situation control you.

All of us that wear the kilt realize that on occasion, we may be the subject of laughter due to ignorance. When it happens, remember that the laughter is a defense mechanism, you have just pulled someone out of their comfort zone of what they perceive as the "norm."

Darrell

[JayFilomena]

Anyway, when she got off the phone, she suggested that maybe I shouldn’t bring the Kilt on the trip. I asked her what was said and she says, “Well, she said she didn’t want us to dress up or anything, but I’m pretty sure that she was trying hard to keep from laughing out loud.”
The picture of my mother-in-law laughing under her breath all day was enough to change my wardrobe plans.

There were so many good replies to this topic. I must say, like everyone else, I mostly get snickers from teenage girls, and I am only...a little above average size, 6' 210lbs, so there are still some guys in the world that think getting with in arms reach of a man in a kilt is a bright idea. I have fought in Jordan, in Scotland, at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in London.... I don't usually have to lay hands on unless the git gets to close or makes a gesture, but sometimes it is necessary. Ok, maybe not necessary, but I do anyway. Last year, I was lauged at by a former special forces sgt major at a going away party (for a friend who asked me to wear the kilt), but in a room full of 30 mercenaries in Baghdad, it's not like I didn't know it was going to happen. After a few minutes of the typical jokes, the room focused on other ideas, topics and situations. If you want to fight, you can try smart remarks, like if they ask you what is under there, tell them "your mothers lipstick", or play the homophobe line and ask questions about their orientation. If they giggle, just come out and ask if they are fantasizing about sex with a real man right in front of their husband or boyfriend. (that usually gets me scraping) If you dont want to throw down with your father in law, and If you can go with out popping somone in the eye, your a better man then me, but if you can suck up the jokes for 10 minutes ...the insecure mommas boys move on to something else.

[millar]

For some reason I keep hearing Led Zepplin in my head when looking at this topic. As far as my mother-in-law laughing, she did the first time she saw me in a kilt but soon got over it when she saw my kids had no problem with it and my wife was completely ok with it. She even apolgized for laughing. Now when I wear it she doesn't even bat an eyelash.

My ex-wife also laughed but when my son told her it was cool, she got on the bandwagon as well.
Wearing the kilt is something that is important to me, and I refuse to give people the power to take that away from me.