SKIRMISHER

Thousands of activists dressed in “professional attire” are going to March on Washington on Sept. 15 to push for the end of war.

We do not think individuals’ choices of self-expression will undermine the protest’s goals. But we believe that a professional appearance will be more effective in projecting seriousness and determination to the administration, and more effective in swaying the opinions of those who are on the fence about the war.

Some might object that dressing provocatively challenges the status quo that gave birth to the war. This perspective has value: certainly it is worthwhile to push back against the elements in our culture that have permitted the war’s continuation.

Dressing professionally will communicate two ideas to audiences. Firstly, it will symbolize our ease in speaking the language of power. Professional attire is associated with business and politics, but neither of these domains belongs exclusively to the Right, or even the mainstream. Our critique of power will gain added force when we appear calm, intelligent, and articulate. Like it or not, all of those things are associated with professional appearance and presentation.

Secondly, professional attire sends a signal to the community of protesters. Professional attire is associated with organization and, of course, with professionalism. As activists labor to end the war, and as we look even beyond the war’s end to the goal of building a more just society, we have to keep these concepts in mind. The simple act of dressing professionally may help us to feel more professional, more organized, more in charge.

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