I like baking. Actually, I like almost everything that accompanies baking (raw cookie dough? check and double check). Kitchen gadgets are a weakness of mine. I even like aprons and consider them practical (and cute) apparel for the kitchen.
Thanks to Trendcentral, I recently read an article that mentioned aprons as a trendy item to wear over dresses.
The report brought to mind how generations can perceive certain objects or ideas differently. Things to me (Gen Y) that are otherwise benign can represent something entirely different to someone of another generation.
About a year ago, my Baby Boomer mother and I were shopping together in a crafty little boutique. I spied a darling apron that I wanted to buy for a friend. I turned around to ask my mom what she thought of it, and I was met with this quick and decisive response:
"An apron? I would never give someone apron. It's a symbol of everything women in my generation fought against and tried to overcome. It's offensive"
Whoa. I would never have considered an apron as something that symbolized one of the forces held women back -- something that kept them in the kitchen and out of the workplace. I just thought it was cute and actually pretty practical. But my Baby Boomer mother, who went to college in the 1960's, was appalled by it.
For me, this interaction was an illuminating instance of how the experiences of a generation really can affect thoughts, beliefs and social symbols. Otherwise innocuous objects can offend, just depending on the social context in which you see them.
- posted by Hillary Hempstead
(Many thanks to The Apron Queen for the image)
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