Las corbatas fueron noticia mundial la semana pasada cuando el diputado maorí, Rawiri Waititi, fue expulsado del debate del Parlamento de Nueva Zelanda. Se negó a usar corbata y la describió de manera evocadora como una "soga colonial".

Not that Mr. Waititi avoids ties.Rather, he explained that the traditional Hei Tiki, the green stone pendant he used in his place, represented for him both a tie and a loop to his people, culture and the rights of Maori.

In the intense debate that followed, ideas around acceptable business clothing, based for a long time on Western clothing codes, were questioned against the expression of indigenous cultural identity.The ties are no longer necessary as part of the "appropriate business attire" of men in the New Zealand Parliament.

In Australia, Parliament members were allowed to get rid of the tie in 1977 when safari costumes were officially considered business clothes.Since then, however, the clothing standards of the Parliament's house have changed informally, with male politicians wearing uniform ties in the chamber.

The ties have been entangled in controversies here as in New Zealand.This narrow cloth strip has many meanings for those who use it.

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"The statement that the Maori must wear a European tie in Parliament has nothing to do with a clothing standard.It has a lot to do with affirming the power of 'pākehā' (a word that refers to neozyos of European origin) "

From the throat to the groin

Shells, feathers, gold and fabrics have adorned people's neck for millennia.The origin of the tie dates back to the seven -century Croatian mercenaries that used fabrics around the neck.One of the purposes was to protect the neck from the sword leaf.

Ties, wrapped or tied with buns, and "stocks", a rigid fabric that is tied in the back of the neck, were used in Europe for later centuries and by the first colonial administrators of Australia.They were made of lace, linen, silk and muslin.

The 'bowl' and the tie, in a recognizable way today, were increasingly visible in the 19th century.

The tie symbolism attracts an especially heated discussion about the style of the male body.While the suit jacket creates a V shape from the shoulders to the waist, the tie attracts attention from the throat to the groin, in the same way, some argue, as the panties did.

It has been suggested that this "excessive compensation" explains the preference of former president of the United States, Donald Trump, for long ties, and an observer compared them to the panties.

The tie in Australia

When Captain James Cook landed on the Australian coast, he wore a uniform with linen tied around his neck, or that suggests many paintings.

The first administrators also wore clean and clear ties, while the convicts had a neck scarf as part of their uniform.

Meanwhile, influential aborigines were sometimes presented a shell to wear around the neck.

The artist St Gill illustrated life in the Victorian gold fields in the 1850.But the wasteful and dandies that drew frightened in striking clothes, including bright colored silk ties with golden pins in the style of the knights.

At the beginning of the 20th century, when manual workers took their jacket and ties, wearing a three -piece suit and a tie became an abbreviated form of authority and professionalism.

As the business suit became a basic element of male fashion at the beginning of the 20th century, the popularity of the ties shot.In 1950, when The Sydney newspaper published everyone's ideal closet: the extensive list recommended only 18 ties.

However, the costumes and ties were hot, if not oppressive, as the "Climate Reformers of Australia".When Ray Olson photographed the fashion of the new season of David Jones in 1939, he captured two men with contrasting outfits walking down a city street.

One wore a fashionable cross, a cheerful hat and a tight tie.The other wore a short manga shirt, without a tie, and tailored shorts.Radical for the time, this look was adopted decades later, with the Prime Minister of Australia del Sur, Don Dunstan, leading the load on the relaxed clothing standards.

In 1967, The Bulletin described the set of shorts, long socks and a short -sleeved manga shirt without a tie as a "summer example" for government and bank employees.

Skinny, wide, noisy or print

As attitudes towards ties have been transformed over the decades, their styles have become fashionable.The thin tie popularized by bands like The Beatles in the 1960s was favored by Australian young people.

The wide tie has also had its moments.In the 1970s, wide and striking ties were at fashion.For the extravagant political to Grassby, wearing wide colored ties marked a movement towards "a new colorful Austral".

These days, politicians can use certain colors to mark their loyalty: the coalition has many comments on the preference for blue, for example, although this is not always evident.

The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, often chooses a tie with an indigenous design to point out his inheritance.

Ties do many things.Although they express identity, they can act with the same ease as a "uniform" for those who carry them.They can be able to some, while they take it away from others.Does Rawiri Waititi's criticism suggest to the "colonial rope" that Australia could also be heading towards an adjustment of accounts with the tie place in our history?

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*By Lorinda Cramer, who is an associate postdoctoral researcher at the Australian Catholic University.Works on a project that analyzes the social and cultural history of male clothes in Australia of the twentieth century.

*The conversation is an independent and non -profit source of news, analysis and comments of academic experts.