By Michelle Iannucci
Throw down the gauntlet! The gloves have come off! Well, during this pandemic, we might want to avoid such idioms. Back in medieval ages, the leather and metal glove of a knight was thrown as a challenge—a sign of an official duel. Boxers would sometimes throw their gloves off to inflict more damage. What started as a formal or friendly fight, now is not. But maybe we can use these expressions paradoxically to keep on our gloves. Take it as a challenge as the world challenges itself to get back to work, school, and life as we knew it before the quarantine. As a matter of fact, gloves were popular in the very early 1900s for two purposes: first, it was a sign of class and wealth. Women and men of an upper class did not work with their hands—and they were even further kept smooth and soft with these coverings. Conversely, those with labor jobs also wore them to hide their rough coarse hands. And thereby hide their social status to a degree. Masking has always been around! Those who read Great Expectations, certainly remember Estella’s comment to Pip, “And what coarse hands he has!” Her comment so struck a chord that Pip, once he entered into a gentlemanly community, was keenly aware of gloves. In fact, he was more than happy to wear gloves. The second purpose—and more relevant for our time—was to protect from disease. Yes, contagious diseases were rampant, and so people wore gloves to safeguard their health. And on a side note, frequent hand washing occurred after eating, working, or gardening and before putting gloves back on. There were a wide array of gloves: leather, satin, lace, and even “gauntlet.” The latter were worn for work or riding horses. They were a more heavy-duty glove. Even popes, bishops, and cardinals wore gloves to keep clean for the holy mysteries. Romeo said to Juliet, “Oh that I was a glove upon that hand so that I might touch that cheek.” His hands were not coarse, but, of course, he would never want to make his new love ill! And we today thought that gloves were only necessary when outside to keep our hands warm. Maybe the glove will make a comeback. Michael Jackson certainly gave the glove a glam and pop look. Baseball players and golfers wear gloves for a better grip. Well, we ought to get a grip and come to grips with the fact that gloves can be vital in protecting our health and the health of others. New normal? Perhaps. Hell, even St. Peter wrote, “Old things have passed away, behold, all things become new.” What was once normal, now new! For heaven’s sake let’s just pretend gloves are now in vogue. Not a St. Peter or fashion magazine fan, well Stephen King wrote, “Sooner or later, everything old is new.” Or what about the expression, out with the old and in with the new. Take it as the latest fad—new normal; one might even argue old normal! For more on gloves, see vintagedancer.com.
Here is the Surveyor Staff embracing the new normal with their gloves on!
Glove graphic by Sophia Laraki
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