A tribute to and a lament for Marshall McLuhan continues. If he had lived Marshall would have been 100 on July 21, 2011. Join me in the countdown to his centennial, and an exploration of more of his observations on the way media work in the electric age in which we live.
The miniskirt is the message.
Marshall McLuhan (1970, age 59). Its tribal!
“Miniskirts are not fashion. They are a return to tribal corporate costume. In tribal societies men and women wear the same short skirts. There is no change . … The miniskirt is not sexy. Sex does not interest tribal man as a theme.”
Me (March, 2011, age 58). We can learn a lot from this about McLuhan.
But not a lot, I think, about the miniskirt. Here is a man with a theory. Electric media is turning us into tribal beings. Each new thing that comes along, such as the miniskirt, must be part of this pattern. As Marshall liked to say, “with the miniskirt the end is in sight.” The end that is of rational, print-oriented, visually-biased man. Take a look for yourself. What do you think? Sexy or not sexy?
Cordially, Marshall and Me
Reading:
Marshall McLuhan, Culture Is Our Business, 1970, p. 304.