I wish I could say that there are many beliefs that go into what I wear and my body adornment. But realistically the only beliefs I really think about with my visual representation is about freedom. I think it is important for people to have freedom of expression in the way they dress. I think fashion and body adornment is a huge way people like to express themselves. Each and every person has their own distinct sense of fashion, even if people buy the same clothing items from the same stores, every single person has their own way of pairing it with different clothing items that makes up their sense of style and makes it different than the way anyone else wears that same item. Everyone should be able to wear whatever they want, but in reason. I think that skimpy clothing is definitely looked down upon by most of society. I personally agree that people, especially women should find their sense of style in a way that is classy. I don’t believe this because society looks down upon it, but because women should respect themselves, and dressing risqué I feel reflects a lack of self-worth in most women. They don’t appreciate or value themselves enough that they want attention and try to gain it in the only way they think is possible for them. I think body adornment in the forms of tattoos and piercings are the same way. Some people like to express themselves in the forms of writing, painting, or music. Other people like to put images or words that mean something to them in a place that is always close to them, will never be lost, and will never be forgotten: on their skin permanently. I have to say, for me personally though I use body adornment not for beliefs but for fashion’s sake. I have piercings myself. One of them, I got almost as my own rite of passage for turning 18, and also because I thought it looked cute. My other ear piercings, I got because again I liked the way they looked. The reason I do not have any tattoos is because I am afraid of the permanence. What if I hate the way it turns out? What will it look like on my skin by the time I’m 60? What if the tattoo I get represents something of value to me now, but my values change when I’m older and it no longer represents what I believe in? I am in the process of trying to live a life free of regrets, so I think that’s the main reason I have not gotten any tattoos. I think the reasons for why I make my choices have changed over the years very simply from being impulsive to now thinking through my actions and choices and thinking about the consequences of each and every one of them. I no longer get piercings out of impulse because I think it would look cute, because since I have had a few infected piercings, I think about the possibility of a new piercing becoming infected. I don’t get tattoos because of the permanence and there are possible consequences of me regretting it.

There were some very conservative core beliefs in my family when I was growing up. Tattoos were a definite no. I got my first ear piercings when I was six years old, and I loved them. When I became a teenager, I wanted a double ear piercing, but I was told I was not allowed until I turned eighteen and became an adult. With clothing, my parents obviously didn’t want me wearing clothing that made me look much older than my age. Most of the time, my parents didn’t have a problem with me wearing inappropriate things because I was a tom-boy pretty much until I got to high school. My parents told me I couldn’t wear things if they were too short, too low cut, the usual. They had a lot of help keeping me in check since I went to a strict private school. No cleavage was allowed, dresses and skirts had to go to the knee, shoulders could not be shown, things like that. For the most part, I knew what was appropriate and what was not and my parents beliefs became my own with regards to clothing.

I think the core beliefs and values of my peer community are definitely more flexible than my parents. My generation has made more risqué clothing more acceptable than my parents’ generation had. Skirts have gotten shorter, dress necklines have plunged, heels have gotten taller. My mom used to tell me that when she was growing up the only women who wore thong underwear were prostitutes. Now, many women wear them so they don’t have the horrible and infamous underwear line. I feel I have a more relaxed set of beliefs than my parents because they have been shaped from my peers. I have more piercings than my parents did, I wear more revealing clothing than my parents did, but not quite as much as some of my peers.

Person One:

1. This person I assumed was a homeless person in the streets of downtown person. They were wearing worn, dirty clothes with rips and holes. His face was wrinkled and cheeks were sunken in with a gray beard growing. He was wearing a hat, but no shoes. He was holding a sign that said “Anything helps. God Bless” and holding a paper cup with crumpled bills and change in it.
2. It is hard to judge the values and beliefs of a person like this because I was so distracted by their dirty clothing and my empathy for them. I will never know if they are a good person, if they were once successful, or what their political beliefs are. When I did community service at a downtown chapel in Portland, we held a community coffee and bagel event which gave students the opportunity to socialize with some of the local homeless members. Many of these people were not weird. They had just had some very unfortunate circumstantial things happen to them that they were not able to support themselves. Many of them had interesting lives before they became homeless. Now, some of them had mental disorders which prevented them from working and earning a living for themselves. My point is, it is hard to judge people like this for their values and beliefs because they are not dressing themselves to show their style, they are dressing themselves to stay warm, protected, and alive.
3. I made the assumption that the man was old, white, male, bad health, and not very good emotional condition.
4. These assumptions say that I believe that all homeless people probably have bad health and are not in very good emotional condition. I guess it’s possible they might have surprisingly good emotional conditions given the circumstances, but their health is probably very bad because of lack of resources for good hygiene.

Person Two:

1. I saw a middle aged woman with bleach blonde hair, wearing a Luis Vuitton hand bag, designer brand denim jeans, and big sunglasses. She was carrying a small fluffy dog inside another bag and walking into the department store Nordstrom.
2. I thought that this woman’s values and beliefs were most likely very superficial. She seemed to be one of those people who have a lot of money and choose to flaunt it and show off their worth. She seemed to be doing this with wearing very expensive clothing and pet. She didn’t have any tattoos or piercings from what I noticed and she didn’t seem like the kind of person who would have any or support other people who had them. She seemed very proper.
3. I assumed that she was around 50 years old, female, white, raised in a wealthy family, good health, and probably not a very good emotional condition. I think that usually people with a lot of money have enough resources to stay relatively healthy but they don’t have very good emotional condition. I think that people who choose to flaunt their money in their clothes or what they own tend to be compensating for some kind of unhappiness.
4. I think that these assumptions say that I can be very judgmental, but going to a private high school with a lot of wealthy people has shaped how I view other wealthy people. I also value people who are humble and I don’t believe it is good to flaunt your money. I think it makes people look superficial.

Person Three:

1. I saw a young man waiting for the max train in downtown Portland. He had a buzz haircut, and he was wearing a fitted solid color t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. He had a tattoo sleeves covering both of his arms, and part of a tattoo on the back his neck showing above his shirt. He didn’t appear to have any piercings. He was dressed as an “average guy.”
2. I thought the man’s values and beliefs were hard to read and place. Clearly he had no problem with tattoos so he probably believed in body art as a form of expression. He seemed very fit, so he probably takes his personal health seriously. Other than that, I couldn’t place anything else.
3. I assumed that the man was about 27, white, male, probably a middle-class cultural background probably grew up in America. He seemed fit, so I assumed he was healthy. I also assumed that he had no out of the ordinary emotional issues and relatively happy by his facial expression.
4. These assumptions say that I believe that a person can have a lot of tattoos and be normal, even though there is a part of me that was surprised and I expected a person with that many tattoos to be wearing all black and black lipstick or something. But I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with tattoos. I think it is a person’s choice whatever they want to put on their body. I may not want to have a lot of piercings and tattoos myself but I wouldn’t not hire someone because their tattoos if I was an employer.