Here's one of those "discussion prompt" type things I can't really figure out how to formulate into an actual rules-following question. I'm thinking about the week's theme, and about the idea of clothes that directly denote your job/position/status and how I feel like -- am I wrong? -- that has become less popular over the course of the 20th Century (perhaps?) And I wonder the whens and whys of this trend, if it actually is a trend.

Some examples: I think for a very long time a monarch wearing splendid robes and a crown and being beladen with jewels was considered not only proper but almost necessary. But now people put up pictures of King Charles in his new royal drip to mock him, as self-evidently ridiculous and despicable. But lest you think that's only a sort of popular disdain for anachronistic royalty, I am going to say that this goes for all classes and walks of life. I think there is a sense that it is a special humiliation to have to wear an identifiable uniform for your shitty working class job (such as I have had), a McDonalds cashier or whatever -- the office workers, wearing regular clothes, are higher status than the uniform-wearing cleaning lady etc. Catholic priests may still have lingering special clothes, but the minister at the megachurch wears a regular suit. Even in the military, with its clear hierarchy, the generals wear camo same as the grunts do, these days.

I have a feeling that people think of special clothing for certain people as anti-democratic, as reeking of a system of privilege, class, caste; and also, with our bizarre system of thought about individualism, simultaneously degrading and pretentious to wear "marked" clothing. Everyone knows the (childish and inaccurate, imo) jape that members of subcultures (goths, punks, etc) "try to stand out by all dressing exactly the same". And to feel proud of a certain uniform, which shows membership in a certain group, like a Boy Scout or whatever, is pretty much considered to be fascist. Certainly gone are the days when every sitcom dad belonged to a fraternal order wearing a silly hat and epaulettes.

As an anarchist who sews for a living, who likes fashion and dressing up, who laments our individualist approach to politics, who felt absolutely horrified at the prospect of a school uniform or having to work at a job with a uniform, who has always been too afraid of ridicule to dress the way she wants, etc etc, I think I am far too close to this topic to really see it clearly, but I will always wonder, why is it like this? This year I joined a volunteer board in my city government (yes as an anarchist, I also use money as a communist) and one of my friends said we should get a stipend, and I thought what I would rather have is a splendid emblem of office, a big golden ribbon or something, to walk the streets wearing. And I'd like to think that desire doesn't make me a fascist, but who knows.

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Does anyone know the name of the old God or Legend that had so much testosterone he had sexual relations with both males and females because he couldn't tell the difference? Genuine question. I heard it awhile ago and have spent the better part of the full week trying to find his name.

I swear to myself I will have my previous shambolic answer fixed before the Sunday Digest reveals my shame.

What periods and subjects is French useful for as a history major?