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My Dear Friend:
While I am nowhere near finished with the site, it is slowly becoming more functional. I am still fixing little quirks and trying to do as much as I can within the framework of a free WordPress page before I get enough traffic to justify expansion.
I invite you to explore the tabs in the top right to navigate the site’s contents. You can read about each category by clicking “Writing”, “Hamilton”, or “Audio/Visual”, respectively, or you can skip ahead to the content on the pages supplied by the drop-down menus. Every page has comments enabled so that I can collect every little piece of feedback you wish to give, be it about form, content, or an expression of general distaste for me as a person. All are equally valid.
I appreciate your patience and the time you have taken to stop by.
I am extremely grateful for you.
Hamilton
Laura Kemp
December 29, 2011 at 3:27 pm
I like it so far! The brown is good, and who doesn’t love organization??
hamiltonbarber
January 3, 2012 at 9:57 am
Thank you! Sometimes change is just needed, you know? If you have changes that you want to see or that you think would be better, please let me know!
cowrockLisa Tester
January 3, 2012 at 9:12 am
I am continuing to wait (with baited breath) the open letter to fellas. I enjoyed your open letter to females. However, as a somewhat avid wearer of leggings I hate to hear my IQ has dropped. I can only hope that somehow in your next blog you will find a way to soften your blanket beliefs Does this mean poor women in underfed and underserved countries should accept your disdain and judgement about their attire? I truly understand your concerns but feel like such harsh judgements only serve to make you appear less than you are.(And as a mother and someone who thinks ur awesome no matter what.) So, as before,I continue to wait to see how you approach your next article. Your friend, Lisa Tester
hamiltonbarber
January 3, 2012 at 9:45 am
Thank you for such honest feedback! I got tired of coming right out and saying it every post because I felt like it kept falling on deaf ears, but this is the kind of thing that I look so hard for. I understand and appreciate your concern and hope to clear some of the air.
As I have never worn leggings, I cannot attest to their comfort, but you have to understand the point of view from which I approached them. It was not one of practicality or one of stifling individual expression, it was a response to the (and I think I expressed how terribly I feel about this) transformation of women in this country from people to sexual objects. I enjoy sitting in front of the Library when I’m at school because it’s generally less crowded and I am afforded an opportunity to people watch, which, in a University setting, is extremely interesting. It also allowed me to hear quite firsthand and audibly fellow men’s opinions of the women walking by in leggings, yoga pants, etc. I completely understand, from conversations with women about it, that on cold days and in comfort situations that they simply make sense – but what I’m suggesting is something, ANYTHING, over it. Shorts, skirts, something else that I, in my somewhat fashion-inept man-ness am unaware of. I did not tell anybody that their IQ’s have dropped, I did not express disdain or judgment about attire, I did not speak to hopelessness or those less fortunate to be able to afford clothes, because all of those are different subjects entirely. I merely attempted to give women an honest look into the workings of a man’s brain, which was accompanied by a choice either to accept my (what I am convinced is a pretty whole, accurate grasp) imploration to be a little more conscious of how men perceive the showing of skin, form, etc. or not to. I called nobody stupid, I exposed what is in my experience talking to and interacting with other men a fairly across-the-board perception.
Second, I hope that you understand that I possess a strikingly small amount of harsh “blanket beliefs.” If you recall, I established a rhetorical stance in the second paragraph when I said that I would be speaking in “a rather extreme, generalizing way” not to judge, but “meant only to enforce my points and encourage thought.” The purpose of a rhetorical stance is not to accept every word as the truth in and of itself, but rather to push beyond that towards concept and object lesson.
I in no way intended to slap people on the wrist for something that they’re doing – in fact, it is quite the opposite. I feel as though I was fair and honest, empowering and hopeful, calling women to rise above the degraded place men have shoved them (again, this is a somewhat rhetorical statement. I do not, of course, believe that every single man in this society has objectified every single woman) and become who they are to be without relying on what somebody else says of them. With the exception of that one tiny paragraph, this was the theme of the rest of the post. It was how I started it, how I finished it, and how I colored every point I made. In no way do I stand to judge with disdain, but rather to encourage through love. And sometimes love is difficult to hear.
Please know I’m not on the defensive here and I’m not attacking you or anything you have said. I just didn’t want to be misconstrued into something that I wasn’t trying to say. If it was not clear in the post, that is entirely my fault and I hope that perhaps this helped to clear it up a bit
Again, I cannot thank you enough for one of the first in what I hope will be many pieces of honest criticism. I assure you I’m working on the one for men also, and you will have it in front of you before too long!
Hamilton
Ariel
January 6, 2012 at 1:55 am
In the name of “honest criticism,” and in response to the above two posts, I will risk a candid opinion here. Please take it as such.
While I understand that your intentions are good, I feel it necessary to speak for my fellow women here in saying that there are few things so degrading to a woman as being told by a man what she should and should not wear. When you do this, you inadvertently assume the very role you detest: a man who believes himself entitled to dictate the purpose of a woman’s body.
I do not think that you meant to patronize, but it is unfair to assume that women do not understand what men think of their choices in clothing, when we are quite drowning in the hyper-sexualization of our bodies not just by the media but by real live boys every single day. Often, we know full well how an outfit will be perceived, but frankly, it’s tiresome to make all our decisions based on how men will react to them. Sometimes, a seemingly scandalous choice is not a mating call but rather the result of one of us growing tired of tiptoeing around the unruly passions of the opposite sex. (If the most conservative church retreat will let you take off your shirt on the beach, why can’t I take off mine?) Our mistakes are ours to make. Likewise, your passions are yours to control.
(That’s a universal “your,” not a personal attack.)
Perhaps I am out of line in my reaction, and perhaps I will realize this later, but I wish to add my thoughts to this discussion if only to let you know the potential for misinterpretation in words that were no doubt written from a place of love and honesty and disgust at an injustice.
I think the rest of the post was quite fabulous. (I especially liked your criticism of the fact that even in church circles, women encourage one another to pray for the right man rather than to strive for our own greatest potential as individuals before God. Excellent point. It gave me food for thought.) It is easy for a single opinion or a few incompletely conceived words to undermine an entire point. It is for this reason that I speak with perhaps an irritating degree of honesty (and, I hope, some degree of truth) to put forth the idea that people are degraded by people, not clothes.
hamiltonbarber
January 6, 2012 at 2:19 am
See, now we’re getting somewhere! Being a few months removed from writing this, I see lots of things I glossed over and even left out entirely.
But you do make valid points: I was a bit unfair in my wording of that section. Of course all things I say won’t be true in all cases for everybody involved. My intent here was in two parts: to enlighten those not in the know (which, as you pointed out, may be fewer than I thought. But on the other hand I’m assuming that it helped a good number of people, judging on its reception up until now) how unfairly most boys allow their brains to react, and to offer somewhat of an answer to the “men are pigs” craze sweeping the nation.
I did not intend to push the responsibility of the male thought life on women’s shoulders, but rather to try to be an encouragement in the midst of what is a pretty jacked up system. Judgement was not my intent, nor was it my intent to tell someone what to wear or what not to wear or to put the ones receiving the brunt of the injustice on the defensive by telling them they brought it on themselves. But like I said, upon re-reading, I can see how this can be taken from it. All the more reason to encourage a community of thought rather than simply my (clearly at times underdeveloped) point of view.
As always, I appreciate your time both reading and writing, friend. Your thoughts always have a place here, though perhaps sparingly, for they are often more valid, better articulated, and generally in a state of overshadowing mine.
Ariel
January 6, 2012 at 6:32 pm
I did think after leaving that comment that I probably ought not to profess to speak for women as a whole, considering how often I am shocked by the variations of opinion (or awareness, though that sounds arrogant) between myself and others. In truth, my reaction to that post would have been wholly different if I’d read it a few years ago. I should not assume that others’ experiences have been the same as my own or have led them to the same conclusions.
On the one hand, I feel that this issue of the double standard within the church needs to be addressed more often than it is. On the other hand, I know that I have a tendency to be a loud-mouthed feminist, and that I have a horrible bias in the direction of the ladies when it comes to these topics, based on certain twisted words I’ve heard spoken from pulpits and overly personal experience with the guilt that accompanies the judgment, direct or implicit, “You brought it on yourself.” It’s not that such a statement is entirely untrue, but these things are often far more complicated than we allow them to be.
I will try to be more sparing in my use of valid, articulate, overshadowing thoughts in the future. But be ye warned: This might just be what you get when the lady-fellas start taking your advice to them.
hamiltonbarber
January 6, 2012 at 6:53 pm
I hope I’ve adequately expressed my distaste for judgments like those, especially coming from a pulpit. It is inexcusable exactly because these things are more complicated than they appear.
Loud-mouthed though you might be, I still welcome whatever man-hating you want to bring to the table. Maybe we can get some chauvinists in here and have a good old fashioned smashing time
And I think that as you get to know me, you might see that your warning and my ideology fit quite well together.
Always a pleasure, Ms. Parsons
Hamilton
Katy Beth
February 15, 2012 at 9:00 pm
man you’re attractive. I like the artsy picture in the woods. You should definitely keep that one
Oh, and I like your page too hehe 
Susu
June 25, 2012 at 4:03 pm
I found this by accident when I was looking up y’all’s band and I am so glad I did. You are so inspiring and I am so glad I got to meet you at MFuge even if it was only an exchange of a handful of words. I pray that you keep inspiring others and that God continues to work wonders in your life.
Tucker Oglesby
July 7, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Hamilton, it is Tucker Oglesby. M-fuge was awesome and They Came Running is awesome. I was there week July 2-7. Talk to you later.
Hunter
June 14, 2013 at 9:40 pm
Hey Hamalot I was in your For Guys Only class at the very first week of FUGE!!!