Design is Dangerous: The Belt

Like so many other products in life, the belt is a piece of design that was created for one particular purpose but later came to be used for another. As crucial as it may seem to have one’s trousers supported at waist-level or have one’s outfit completed through its usage as a fashion accessory, belts have become involved in more serious issues in the events of today’s culture.

Simply put, a belt is usually made from leather and is typically worn around the waist in order to prop up pants. As straightforward as this may seem, belts have unfortunately become instruments in various acts of violence, such as abuse and suicide.

For example, belts have been promoted in today’s society as ways to “discipline” children through the act of beating them with such strips of leather. Even belt buckles worn as ornaments can be used to harm children in this way. As a result, belts have been misrepresented as a form of child abuse.

Belts have also been valuable instruments to those looking to end their life through suicide. Particularly amongst the teenage population, belts have been exploited as a way to hang oneself. This has been seen in recent years in several news stories as belts have been used to hang people in their own closets. Consequently, belts have acquired a reputation of being tools for suicide.

As belts become a more versatile object in today’s fashion industry, often used as an accessory for dresses or dress shirts, they have also grown to be more dangerous. For those belonging to the emo or skater fashion scenes, belts have come to be rough strips of leather decorated with sharp, metal studs, making them seem as if they are weapons rather than parts of fashion.

Even occupations such as policemen support the connection between belts and violence, due to the fact that they are used to carry weapons, such as guns, knives or batons. And because belts have also come to be a sign of authority, belts have ultimately become dangerous forms of design.

As stated earlier, belts did not intentionally adopt such a harsh relation to violence. However, with its simplistic design, belts were quickly discovered to be useful for actions other than holding one’s pants up. Because this consequence was unintentional, we must recognize that belts as a dangerous form of design is not the fault of the designer. Instead, it is our own faults since this lies solely on social responsibility. Thus, we learn that all forms of design may have other uses, but we must ultimately be responsible for the consequences that result from using these forms for other purposes.

At this rate, belts won’t be able to hold up its reputation any longer.