SAME AS
I was coming off the tube
yesterday and saw a pair of twin women. They were in their late forties and were
identical. And I mean identical in every way. Their hair was cut in the same
exact pixie cut and dyed purple (yes, purple). They were
dressed exactly the same down to their jeans, rolled up a few inches, the same
jumper, jacket, vest, and Velcro sandals. In essence, there was not anything
that distinguished one from the other aside from the fact that they were not
the same person.
Same, same, same.
It of course made me ponder. As a society, the majority of us are constantly trying to individualize
ourselves, stick out, be different, be seen and appreciated for who we are as
individuals. And yet, admittedly, some of us are very content to be the same,
we fear different, we seek out that sartorial uniform that says safe, I’m falling the rules, so to speak, so leave me be. And in fact, there are those, like these identical twins, that actually
crave to be exactly the same down to our Velcro sandals, like this buys us some sort of invisibility.
I’m not a twin, so I don’t
get the twin dynamic or psyche. My mom was a twin, but they were fraternal, so
visually they were very different. I know they definitely had a bond that went
extremely deep, but they were very different in many ways and proud of these
differences. But the identical twin bond is a bit of a mystery to many; their
compulsion to not individuate themselves, to want to dress the same way, and be
seen, the same way is something we non-twins just do not understand.
Some twins have reportedly
said they like to confuse people. They have described it as some sort of game
where the more they stir a reaction or fool people into thinking they’re
interchangeable, the more they enjoy it. Others say it’s a celebration of being
twins, being members of this special club where you have been one since the
womb. After so many years as an identical twin, perhaps you begin to see
yourselves exactly as others do, an exact reflection of your twin. And without them,
it’s as if you don’t exist (And yet you do, you do!! See the conundrum here).
I’m one of five sisters, and
to be honest, while I was extremely close to the sister 13 months above me
growing up, I knew from an early age I wanted to be different, express my
individuality and embrace my differences – whatever they may be. Sure from time
to time my mom dressed us the same way, but I couldn’t imagine doing this as
adults. On the contrary, there have been times we have bought the same item
with the caveat that we can only wear it in our respective countries!
Next time, I’m compelled to
stop these sisters in black and simply ask why? Why match down to
your sandals when you can be different. Then again, take a look around; I
suppose ‘same’ has always been comfortable, safe, easy. We understand safe
(esp. as fear the sh*t out of different), it says, I know you. I am one of you.
We are in this together.