Artifact 5 – People Watching
This activity was one of my favorites for this class due to the idea of trying to match and outer layer to an inner person. It is very difficult to determine what type of person someone is based on how they dress, yet in our modern day it has become way easier due to the idea that people are trying to fit in to certain groups. “Fashion, like all other mechanisms of appearance alteration, is used symbolically to proclaim group membership and to signal voluntary exclusion from disvalued social categories.” (pg.4). In my passage I wrote about how I felt as though I didn’t fit this criteria and how I feel as though I am an individual who dresses his own way. When I really think about this though, I feel like I do try to fit a certain social category without even acknowledging it. I am a college student, so although am a normal 21 year old student, that would be the category I see myself dressing as and fitting into.
I viewed many different people while sitting on the lawn by the river, many of whom looked and dressed just like me. I enjoyed viewing and writing about the others who didn’t look like me for I felt as though it had more interest into the art of clothing and values. The way we dress represents who we are and what we believe in. As I continue into the future, I believe I need to dress myself they way I feel and want others to perceive me. I want to be well respected and look professional at all times to represent that I am a mature, nice, respectable man who wants to be treated they way I treat others.