Americans are addicted to self-expression. Among other things, we have the right to free speech, as recognized and ratified by our founding fathers. While I don’t think they had light cotton shirts that bare the arms and are emblazoned with witty sayings, graphics, and whatnot in mind, I’m sure they’d approve of this most American way of expressing ourselves.
Walk down any street in any neighborhood, town, or city across the nation and you’ll find you can feast your eyes on other folk’s “self-expression” by simply reading their t-shirts. One can buy a t-shirt for any reason, to suit any purpose, and to state any belief.
What does your t-shirt say about you? Well, that depends on the shirt, doesn’t it? If you have a quirky sense of humor, you may choose to wear shirts that show funny situations or have jokes printed on them. You might believe that part of your purpose in life is to spread happiness to your fellow man. Wearing a funny t-shirt is an easy way to achieve this goal. You may be free-spirited and happy-go-lucky, and just want the world to know it.
You may have t-shirts hanging in your closet that reflect your political views. Maybe you are a member of a political party and have graphics depicting a donkey or elephant on your shirt. Maybe you want to support a particular political issue, such as withdrawing troops from the battlefield and choose a shirt that sports a yellow ribbon.
Many people wear shirts that show-off their interests. Lots of these types of shirts include humor; one that comes to mind is the one with three cats or dogs walking on the front, and their rear ends on the back of the t-shirt. You many have participated in a big event, like a hunting convention, and bought or received a t-shirt commemorating your participation. Wearing this type of t-shirt is another way to show the world what you enjoy.
Perhaps you want to share your spiritual beliefs. You might then choose a shirt that has inspiring verses from the holy texts of your religion. Your shirt might show a particular icon that is sacred to your beliefs, like Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.
Still other people wear t-shirts that show their support of a particular sports team, whether it’s a professional or an amateur one, or their kid’s soccer team. This may be one of the most popular types of t-shirts you’ll see coming down the street, especially during play-off time. In fact, when showing their support for “their team”, people will gladly wear their team colors on their shirts, but will also match their shorts, socks, shoes, accessories, and sometime their hair and faces to their t-shirts!
Another group of people who wear t-shirts that will give you a clue about who they are are people who support a charity or a cause. Think about the piles of t-shirts that are given away to participants in Red Cross marathons, Alzheimer’s walks, Green Peace rallies, and so on. Not only do the shirts draw attention to the event’s particular cause, but they show the world that the wearer is aware of the issue, and supports it. A person wearing one of these types of t-shirts is working to raise awareness of their cause, in one of the easiest ways of doing it; by wearing it!
What you’re wearing does indeed say something about who you are. Whether you are supporting your favorite charity or sports team, or want to share your faith or your love for cats, you can do it with a t-shirt. The only difficulty lies in picking one from a nearly infinite number of choices!