Why do we suspect those who wear a hood?

In the avalanche of images of looting that have reached us in recent days, whether the scenes are from Paris, Marseille, Barcelona, or Bilbao, there is a common aesthetic denominator: the black hooded sweatshirt. A garment allied both with those who confront the State apparatus in defense of their rights and those who need anonymity to break the law with impunity. The hood hides the face, key to visual identification, while the black color favors camouflage and the roominess of the sweatshirt facilitates mobility and allows for the hiding of objects. It is no wonder, then, that this garment has historically sparked suspicions, controversies, and complicities.

In medieval Europe, the hood was common among the population, regardless of social status. Whether it was a standalone piece or part of a cloak, often made of wool, it was essential for protection against the cold, wind, and rain. Over time, this practical function coexisted with an ornamental one, and the hood adopted increasingly imaginative and sculptural forms. In its playful dimension, in 15th-century England, the game of hoodman blind was played, a precursor to blind man's buff, in which one of the participants covered their eyes with a hood worn backwards. But not everything surrounding the piece was fun. In 1399, an ordinance by Charles VI of France banned the use of certain hooded garments in Paris, because they allowed the face to be hidden and, presumably, facilitated the commission of illicit acts.

Suspicion did not fall solely on men. In 1713, an anonymous chronicler railed against the voluminous hooded cloaks worn by women who engaged in prostitution. According to his account, they allowed for hiding stolen objects, concealing pregnancies, and preventing the wearers from being recognized. While in these cases the hood aroused suspicion, in the religious sphere it became a sign of community belonging and aesthetic unity among monks, and favored the withdrawal and introspection necessary for prayer.

Urban cultures

However, if we look for the origins of the modern hoodie, we have to go back to the 1930s. Far from responding to a desire for anonymity, Champion created it so that athletes would stay warm before and after training, during the times spent waiting out in the open. Its practical function and the weight of sport in university settings contributed to spreading its use, until the garment was adopted by urban cultures such as hip-hop. If, on the one hand, it offered them the necessary comfort to dance breakdance, on the other, the hood also hid one's identity during illicit acts, from graffiti artists to skaters. This appropriation by urban cultures contributed to a semantic shift: from a garment associated with sport, the hoodie went on to acquire criminal connotations.

In 2012, Trayvon Martin, a seventeen-year-old African American teenager, was returning from a store where he had bought candy when George Zimmerman, a member of a neighborhood watch, deemed him suspicious, among other reasons because of the hooded sweatshirt he was wearing. Zimmerman ended up shooting him dead. The garment became a focus of public debate regarding racial prejudice: while some attributed part of the blame for the misunderstanding to him, others organized the Million Hoodie March, a protest in which participants wore hooded sweatshirts and which was joined by elite athletes like LeBron James.

The hood holds a history that ranges from protection against the cold to the need for anonymity. And it is precisely its association with criminal uses that has also turned it into a garment capable of bringing out the prejudices of those who behold it. A far from minor issue if we take into account that, today, the hoodie –often worn with the hood up, perhaps also due to the fascination exerted by the aesthetics of delinquency– is one of the most common items of youth clothing.