Airports are wonderful places to people watch. Where else can you witness the comings and goings of thousands of people from all over the world as they interact and pass by quickly and (mostly) efficiently? It is almost like a cross section of regional, ethnic, and cultural traditions. What is really interesting about people watching is not just what people say and do but what they wear and design themselves to be and what message they are sending to the strangers they might meet. Why is it important to send that message to strangers and what are they trying to say to someone they will most likely never see again?

I live on the border between The Castro and The Mission in San Francisco. You could easily draw a line between these two neighborhoods based entirely on clothing and conversation. You could almost do the same based on the drink selected by recipients of the various neighborhood  bars. People don’t just identify with each other locally but carry symbols or signs of this commonality. Symbols have deep and multiple meanings and it is up to the community to decide the interpretation of these symbols.

Semiotics is the science or study of signs and symbols, mostly discussed from an anthropological dimension. It looks at anything from the sounds we make and convert to words, body movements conveyed, to something so simple as red for hot and blue for cold water. Something as simple as clothing and hair treatment carry great cultural weight and convey to other’s the group to which you belong.

The interesting part is that these social groups are more than regional affiliations. A heavy metal fan in Kansas looks more or less like a heavy metal fan in Norway. A hipster in Ft. Lauderdale looks like a hipster in LA. Our “tribes” are no longer regionally created and developed demographic hubs of genetic or economic signifiers, but globally accepted subsets of the population designated by a preference and self imposed style of behavior and purchasing. We create our communities and use the symbols we register as being inclusive to designate who we believe our selves to be.

Its interesting when people say things in regards to clothing or lifestyle that “this is me!” Clothing and hair don’t determine an outlook on life but are a reflection of the values and interests of the group they find to be most interesting or matched to their preferences. For example, I met someone in college who considered her self a “California Girl” even though she had never been there. She subconsciously picked up on the signs and symbols of those she knew from California or what she saw in the media and consciously decided they best matched the symbols she saw in her self. A state became not a place of dwelling but a state of being.

I think its interesting that “not caring” also has a carefully crafted look. Remember how trendy “bed head” had been in the past? What message is being sent by such a look – cool, laid back, lacking the stress that is characteristic of the 21st century? How about the classic teenage bored look? Why is it cool to not care? How much time and effort is spent buying the clothing that designates the wearer as “not caring”? Its ironic.

So, is this systemic of globalization and branding; where McDonalds tastes the same everywhere people look the same as well? Or, are we faced with so many signs that we adorn our selves with symbols because its so hard to see those around us (like the Beatles wrote, “Got to be good looking ‘cause its so hard to see”)? Last but not least, do we struggle with identity because are bound into some form of accepted individualism, where you must be unique and present something new but still stay within a range of behaviors?

My vote is the last: individualism. But with individualism you can’t just stand out, you have to follow the rules. You have to stand out within a range of consciously or unconsciously observed criteria that is somehow determined and distributed without barely a mention of this action being performed. We learn without learning. We pick up on our social cues without realizing we are changing our views. It is perhaps the most ironic to want to fit in and stand out simultaneously and effortlessly, and those who are able to do this become the trend setters. Slavoj Zizek defines this behavior as unknown knows – you don’t know that you know something. The simple act of assembling and adorning the signs of a social group then becomes both a conscious and unconscious action: we are aware and conscious of our actions but the meaning is quietly obscured.