Transgressive Signs
With the Olympics going on right now I thought a lot about how many flags there are in the world. These flags represent areas throughout the world. This symbol of the United States that is in the picture is my country and is completely in the right place for me. I was thinking that, for many though this flag is completely transgressive. I decided to think about this assignment in a cultural way. I saw Germany win an event the other day and I know that they hold flags to represent their country and themsevles, but for me the flag was completely transgressive. It’s not that I don’t care or respect the fact that they are proud of who they are and their country, but I am not from there, nor am I German at all. There are many flags that are transgressive for me throughout the world, that is why I chose the one that is not. If an immigrant comes to America and sees this flag flown, they may believe it is transgressive because even though they are here they may not consider themself to be an American. This sign is very important to me and my country and it was created a long time ago to represent the original states of our union. It has been the one symbol of our country for many years and Americans should be proud of the symbol we have to represent us. At the same time, as I said this sign could be transgressive to many who are not American. There has been public uproar around this sign, such as people burning it in the middle east becuase of the dislike and hate aimed at our country. This sign is in the right place for me if I see it almost anywhere because it represents me and who I am and especially where I am from, but for many it is out of place, such as a Canadian flag in America would be for me.
March 2, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Hi Brian. Interesting choice for a transgressive sign. I would argue that many people from the U.S. often feel that American flags are transgressive when placed in certain locations. For instance, I often feel off put when I see American flags hanging on the side of people’s homes or from office buildings. I think I feel off put because being a first generation American and a skeptic of the government, I have never had a strong sense of nationalism, but I also think it is interesting how my determination of the extent to which flags are transgressive depends on how I am feeling about current U.S. politics. When Bush was in office, for instance, it made me skin crawl to see people waving American flag all over the place. What we learn here, then, is that our designation of certain signs as transgressive depend on many extenuating forces that shape people’s attitudes: background, family, politics, ideologies, etc… Interesting to think about…