Dressing Up for America - and Community
By Mollie Berg ‘16
I love the Fourth of July. One, it’s a long weekend (or a day off from work/school), so what’s not to like? But secondly, it’s one of those community/family-oriented holidays. Like Thanksgiving—just less turkey and more fireworks. To celebrate America’s independence (after all, that is what we’re celebrating right??), I met up with my family in Santa Cruz, CA.
After my six-and-a-half hour car drive to Santa Cruz from LA, I arrived in the beautiful beach town—arguably one of the happiest places on earth (after Disneyland, of course—we all know that takes the cake!). My first point of business, after greeting my family and dogs, of course, was to make a Fourth of July cake. It seems since Pinterest became a thing, holiday cakes have gotten so much more extravagant. Thus, my mom bought the materials (well, some of them—she missed a couple, but I’ll forgive her for that eventually) and she put me to work on our giant, red, white (or yellow) and blue three-layered cake. I stayed up late slaving over that cake, which my family went on to devour the next day.
In the morning, the Berg family embarked on the family parade, with our crazy dogs dressed in red, white and blue ribbons. We talked, ate BBQ, and watched fireworks. I recently spent some time thinking about why I (and American society) love the Fourth of July so much. As delicious as the food is and as fun as the parades are, I think a lot of it has to do with the dressing up in our colors and feeling like we are part of something greater.
Why do we wear cardinal and gold and scream at Trojan football games? Personally, I don’t really understand football (I sort of scream when everyone else does, and boo when the rest of the crowd does—it’s my very clever scheme to pretend like I know what is going on). However, I still throw on my USC shirt and yell my heart out during football games. Putting on the cardinal and gold—or red, white and blue—is a kind of initiation, and a symbol that you belong with a team, group or even a country (and there are really adorable ways to accessorize…not that anyone is keeping track of that).
Overall, we college students like any time we can dress up and feel part of something. Whether it is dressing up in a crazy theme for a party with my sorority sisters, or repping my Daily Trojan sweatshirt proudly around campus. Dressing up kind of creates a community in itself and can make someone feel special in that they are part of something.
Last year, I participated in USC Best Buddies—a program that strives to enhance the lives of people who have intellectual disabilities through one-to-one friendships.
Whenever I would go over to Lanterman High School, to meet my buddy Charlie, I would bring some sort of hat or necklace or accessory that we could wear to match. Charlie, and the other buddies, loved it because we all got to match and feel connected in a special way.
So I suppose I will continue dressing up for the sake of community and belonging—for my sorority, for Charlie, for USC football games, or even for ‘Merica once a year on the Fourth of July…
