I've sat by and been content to roll my eyes at the hubbub regarding "effortless perfection" up to this point, but upon reading yesterday's letter about Comfort Day, I had to pinch myself and then laugh out loud.
Comfort Day? Are you serious? I really didn't think that we needed to take this whole thing so far as to enact some sort of slovenly fascism. There are plenty of people at Duke who put a lot of effort into their appearance, whether it be putting in multiple piercings and dying their hair some unnatural color, spending lots of time in front of the mirror putting on make-up and jewelry or simply taking the time to make sure their outfit looks appealing. I am not one of these people.
For me, every day is Comfort Day and that is my choice, but I would never view it as my obligation to shame these other individuals out of making themselves uncomfortable, relatively speaking, in order to cultivate a physical appearance that makes them, for whatever reason, feel better about themselves.
I think that Duke students are old enough to dress themselves in the morning. Just because you're uncomfortable doesn't necessarily mean something's bad, either. Getting exercise is not comfortable, but it's good for you in the long run. Same with spending time in the library looking down at some book all night.
Since when is it a bad thing to aim at making something better of yourself as opposed to settling for the lowest common denominator? Should we extend Comfort Day further and aim for a community with out of shape, ignorant slobs as our ideal? I know that I, personally, am most comfortable on my couch watching television, so no one will get the chance to see just how comfortable I am on Comfort Day.
Mark Boyd
Trinity '04
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