Objectives:
- Evaluate personal values and paradigms around body decoration and physical beauty.
- Investigate how physical appearance affects definitions of identity and belonging.
- Analyze values and belief systems of physical appearance across cultures, sub-cultures and generations.
Artifact:
For this assignment, I had decided to pick out three people that stood out the most to me during my time of people watching.
The first person that I’m going to describe about was American. He had long blond-brown hair, tattoos on his neck and his legs, sporting pink earrings. As for his clothing, he wore what appeared to be some rock band group (I wasn’t able to properly see the name) with baggy cargo shorts and flip-flops. He was wearing glasses and appeared to be around 5’10 and he looked a little big (chubby). In my opinion, I felt that they are truly invested in the individuality/hipster look, as they seemed like they wanted to look different from the rest. Based on their appearance I assume that they are American, around their mid-twenties, and that they must’ve had a rebellious teenage era earlier on in their lives. I also think that they are very liberal in person, as seen by their tattoos and pink earrings and what not. As I come from a very conservative culture, I do feel that his outfit was a little vulgar for me, as I know personally my family would never let me tattoo myself nor sport any earrings, nonetheless pink ones. Likewise, I know I’m personally the last person to want to stand out I always try to look as conservative as I can, so his look was different for sure.
The next person that I saw was a lot different. She was about 5 foot 4, wearing an all black dress and a hijab to cover her face. The only attribute that stood out was her eyes, which appeared green. From this look my assumption is that is she is Middle Eastern, and that she is cultural and religious as well. I’m a partially aware of the significance behind the hijab, but not too familiar with the cultural ideals overall. I just know that women only permit their husbands to look at their hair. I know there are similar cultural practices across the world, and appreciate having to see such differences today. For me however, I know I am not too conservative myself, and that the women in my culture aren’t as modest as this girl that I’ve seen earlier as well. However, one thing I can interpret from this is that the girl is very cultural and has a lot of self-respect for herself as well, and I am impressed to see that type of person in America despite living in a much different culture and lifestyle.
Finally, the last person that I observed was Asian. He was tall and skinny, wore big square glasses, and black hair with a Fohawk part in the middle. His clothes, unlike the other two, appeared a lot more city-like, in which he wore a black t-shirt with a fur jacket and dark blue jeans and black and gold shoes. However, I don’t think anything he wore were of an American brand, and I saw this because I’ve never quite seen anything he wore at various stores/malls that I’ve been too, nor have I seen anyone else with his particular style of clothes as well. I’m usually the last person to be able to identify a brand of jeans, but I can tell when they’re normal jeans and when they’re high-end, and his jeans definitely looked high-end to say the least. His shoes stood out the most to me however, as he was wearing a black with gold diamonds plated across the sides. They obviously didn’t seem like a Nike or Adidas style, nor were they an Armani or anything else; they didn’t appear to have a brand on them. One thing that I observed about him was that he had a different kind of walk. I’m not sure if I’m overthinking his appearance, but it almost seemed like he was a little uncomfortable with his surroundings; he walked around rigidly and then he kept turning back all of a sudden and going somewhere else, as if he forgot where he is supposed to be going. I felt that he was perhaps an international student and appeared to still be in the process to accustom himself here, although like I said earlier, I may be overthinking his background. However, his appearance slightly reminds me of myself, as I wear a similar style of clothing that he did today, minus the fur jacket. I like wearing darker clothes and always like to try matching, as he done well himself. I also think he is an international student because his style seemed very modern, and a lot of kids in India as well have been sporting the same style there as well, from the glasses to the shoes, etc.
Overall I enjoyed this activity, as it make us understand and appreciate different cultures and lifestyles around us, along with our own values and beliefs as well.
If you would like to read more on this artifact, please click here.
Reflection:
This activity had gotten me to become more aware of my surroundings and of those around us. Its crazy to think how there are 7 + billion people in our world yet its rare to see two people look alike. In completing this activity, I’ve learned that various clothes play an integral part in reflecting our individuality. Whether one is wearing different items to show their appreciation of their culture, or whether it is to support a belief or a cause, clothes can truly make an individual their own artists, and this assessment has shown me that insight.
As I’ve mentioned before, one of art’s most important characteristics is that it shows a particular story and can carry so many symbols, hidden meanings, and more. Likewise, the clothes that we choose to wear show our story and cultural significance to a certain extent. As seen in the pictures above for example, these are an example of a traditional indian clothing that come in many different styles and colors, yet all highlight our culture through various aspects, whether it be from marriages, celebrations, etc. This is relevant because it shows how significant our clothes can be to us and how much it can reflect upon our personality and characteristics for others to see. There are other styles of indian clothing as well, and this blog describes their traits to a certain extent. From my experience in living across the world, I’ve learned that there are different societal rules in various areas and the style of clothes that people wear can reflect upon their origins and background. However, Alfredo had a really good point in his comment on my post, in which he had stated that we have a societal flaw of generalizing or in other words, being too judgmental and stereotypical as those around us. “For example, being an “American” is a very broad ethnicity that truly anybody could fall into. Couldn’t all three be considered American no matter their appearance?” I’m glad he pointed that issue out to me as I judge others as well and automatically stereotype when I shouldn’t be doing so in the first place. Because I am multicultural myself, I feel that I am certified to stereotype others culturally, and he has shed good light on my naïve assumptions. Everyone has a different story behind them, and although their clothes can be a chapter or so of their lives, it is certainly not their cover, and I hope that we can look around us with appreciation of each other like we do with art in general.
Future:
From this activity I hope that I can continue appreciating others despite the type of clothes they wear or type of persona they put on. Also, I hope that I have the confidence to wear traditional clothing in a nontraditional environment. I feel that it is important for one to maintain their culture so that it prospers for the future generations to appreciate, and one’s clothing is a good tool of ensuring such a process. If art is referred to as culture, then clothes would be the paintbrush, and I hope that I can continue enhancing my own personal collection, along with appreciating the diversity and uniqueness of those around us as well.
Source:
Lathan, S. (2012, October 5). Indian Clothing for Men. Retrieved March 18, 2015, from http://sharonlathanauthor.com/indian-clothing-for-men