Quote:
Originally Posted by August
Well again that's why Bush's picture doesn't belong with the others.
He's bending over for purely utilitarian reasons. That head bowing thing might be required to get a knighthood but not to receive the MoH or Olympic medals.
Nothing that i've ever heard or read mandates that they bow to receive their award. They have to bend over only so the medal can be hung on them. If they were, say, 4 feet tall and the person hanging the medal was 6 feet tall then they'd still get their medal even if they kept their heads up straight.
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The only reason that I know this is because all of the matriculation ceremonies that I am involved with. Candidates receiving a masters degree or doctorate have a seperate hooding ceremony, where the hood is placed on the neck in the same manner; symbolically acknowledging the authority of the institution to award degrees as it sees fit. Nowadays, a university would not withhold a degree so long as all course work is completed, but long ago, when these ceremonies were created, the university could refuse to award the degree as they saw fit, and frequently did so. We also joke about the mixed messages, as a candidate for a masters would have had to complete their undergraduate studies and recieve their bachelors degree, which is awarded through a handshake and handing of award; a sign of equals. Suddenly, they are being awarded the hood around the neck; a sign of submission.
Anyway, although it is a sign of submission, President Bush was in no way offering himself in obligation to the King of Saudi Arabia, just as President Obama was in no way presenting himself in vassalage to the Party of the Peoples' Republic of China. Ike was not signaling his inferiority to Charles de Gaulle, nor was Nixon submitting to the Chinese. That is exactly why the picutre does belong there.