(non) Conformity

head coverings. cape dress. modesty. plain. 

I have been researching women's dress at EMU this fall. And in the past few days I have been spending a significant amount of time on that research. of it all, one concept has stuck out to me: NONCONFORMITY. 

It has been noted that in Mennonite circles, woman's dress held the standard of nonconformity - a physical signpost of what it meant to be "in the world but not of the world."  the ideal was not to be catchy, not to be trendy  ("disassociated from the trends of the world" - Marlene Epp), but for their very dress to be a witness to the counter cultural message of God and the church. the values of pacifism, of mutual aid, of community, and of humility were enshrined in the head covering and the plain dress.

when  dress changed there was fear that Mennonite values would disappear along with it. If Mennonites were no longer to be dressed differently than the community, would they continue to be distinct from the society? If we began to dress "worldly" would we not become "worldly?" 

skip forward a few years. EMC dress policy has changed significantly. most female students have recently begun to  take off their head coverings. in a year they will be allowed to wear pants on campus. it is 1969 and an unrelated article in the year book posses a critical question:

"examine our witness as individual students and as a school. What do we really think is important for others to know about us? What are we saying or failing to say as a school to the community and to our neighboring schools?" - William Cornell

Cornell did not address the the dress question. It was probably not even on his radar. But he did notice that their was some confusion as to the witness EMC was providing in the neighborhood. he did note that something was changing, some values were slipping, and the identity was unclear.

now i understand the reasoning for removing the head covering - it represents a doctrine of patriarchy that is outdated and probably goes against what Paul was preaching anyway. but I wonder what Mennonites have lost in giving up the physical signpost of our nonconformity. 

 by associating with the fashion trends of the world, have we also associated with the value trends? have we lost a unique identity? have we forgotten our commitments to be alternative? what has happened to Nonconformity?