The history of veils

7,000 years ago, Assyrian men got all the women in the community to wear veils.

The question is, How do you get the culture to adopt this practice?

Well, according to David Graeber, they passed a law that says prostitutes are not allowed to wear veils.

So, if you wanted to differentiate yourself in the community as someone who is “respectable” or “distinguished” you welcomed the opportunity.

This has everything to do with Keith Johnstone’s riff on status roles.

Every interaction we make either raises or lowers our status.

Who’s status is higher? Who has things that are scarce? What signals are you sending? Who gets to eat first?

Status roles drives so much of what we do in our culture. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.