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.

Original post:

Personal adornment is not the most important factor in a person, but it can represent a variety of different things to other people. The way I dress is comfortably, but fashionably that also suits my personality. I am pretty aware of fashion itself because I read fashion magazines and I am usually always up to date on fashion senses and fads. From looking at current styles that are “in”, I choose the ones that look the most comfortable and that fit my personality best. My personality makes sure that I am not too open, so that I do not show too much skin and expose myself. I like to keep things to myself and not share my entire life with everyone around me, unless I trust them enough. My parents have always told me respect my body, so that I do not choose the wrong type of clothing that would misinterpret my personality when others are trying to identify who I am exactly as a person. I make this choice of dressing comfortably and wearing clothes that do not show too much skin, because I still have my morals and I promised myself that I will never lose my dignity when I am wearing clothes or doing actions. I choose my attire everyday with pride and I would never regret wearing anything I didn’t want people to see.

There isn’t anything wrong with body piercings or tattoos, but my parents completely disapprove of both of them because they say “you’ll ruin your reputation as an Asian”.  My mother doesn’t let me get any more piercings other than my ears because she says that I’ll have too many holes in my body which is ugly. My best friend also convinced me not to get a belly piercing because she says that when I get pregnant, the hole will stretch and will look ugly. So that influenced my desire to get a body piercing. As for tattoos, I’m really debating whether or not to get a secret tattoo that I will hide from my parents for the rest of my life. My parents say that tattoo ink “dirties my skin” and makes my skin look dirty all the time. My parents don’t really understand the reason to get a tattoo, but I choose to because I could have a very important aspect/time/symbol tattooed into my skin that will stay forever. For example, I was thinking about having a koi fish tattoo because koi represents courage and strength.  I will have that symbol to always remind me to stay strong when things are hard or when I need to have enough courage to do something.

Over the years, I can certainly say that my adornment has changed greatly. When I was in middle school, I did not know how to dress to express, only to impress. During that time, I had always wanted those big branded clothing such as Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch, just to fit in with the other girls. But then high school came and then I changed my looks. I started to wear make up on my face and comfortable clothing such as sweaters all the time to make myself feel good and look good. It was a way to make myself less insecure. Now college is here, and the weather is cold. My attire everyday only consists of stylish, but comfortable boots, sweaters/coats and beanies. These types of clothing were in style and were a few of the most comfortable attire that one could wear.

The community also sometimes influences my choices on what to wear. I look around campus while walking to classes and notice what people wear. That is how you can also find out what style you like in different people. I think to myself, “oh, that looks really comfortable” or “that’s a cute outfit” and I follow along with what my peers wear. But some of my friends go to parties and dress with minimal coverage on their skin. I know what is appropriate and what is not, so I choose not to copy what they wear, even if it is in style for parties. But mostly in Eugene, there are many different styles of adornment because most people I see wear clothes to represent their culture and value as a person. People’s attire can mainly be based on their personality, because people usually are representing what they love, such as their culture, sport, and fraternity/sorority. The other sections of the population that adorn themselves have piercings or tattoos. Overall, Eugene has such great diversity.

Reflection:

This assignment introduced me to understanding relationships between culture and adornment. Both are vital, but the adornment that a person wears, can reveal the personality within the person. Through people watch, I noticed that people can dress themselves to make others make assumptions about them, but sometimes you can tell that they’re a certain way by their way they present themselves. I chose these pictures because they both have beauty and meaning to the tattoos. People usually have tattoos of dream catchers because they think having a dream catcher attached to their body keeps themselves safe.

One of the objectives was to investigate how physical appearance affected the definitions of identity and belonging. Some physical appearances such as tattoos or piercings can reveal to others their belonging or identity. There is henna tattoos which are for those in Indian culture. I know that for a fact, married women have henna tattoos all over their hands; this shows their identity as a married woman and their culture. Also, in this generation, many people are getting nose piercings which people do not know much about their history of it. Mostly teenagers are getting nose piercings because their surroundings are getting it, and feel like it is a fashion sense.

Goals:

• • Learn about adornment in cultures
  • Remember that there are different types of beauty, relative to culture
  • Analyze my own identity in terms of adornment

Sources:

Sanders, C. R. (1989). Introduction: Body Alteration, Artistic Production, and the Social World of Tattooing. In Customizing the Body (pp. 1-35). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Ouch!Take me back to food!
My mom won’t let me get a tattoo…what’s next?