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Values and Personal Adornment

Feb9

Goals

  • 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.

When I get dressed every day and every morning, I never really thought of taking notice on what I wore actually portrayed. Even though I am aware on what I put on everyday, I never really thought of what other people actually thought of me. Am I judged? Am I stereotyped like a lot of other people are? Do I stand out to others that are

“people watching”?. I am an athlete on the University of Oregon track and field team, so I tend to where spandex shorts and leggings pretty much every day. But when I put those articles of clothing on, its not to show off my features its for the comfort. I’m so used to wearing it everyday to practice, it just became the norm for me. Wearing jeans or khakis is just so uncomfortable for me. Since I’m not a very religious person, I don’t think what I wear can really relate to my religious views or culture. In general if I was going to class I would not be wearing a belly shirt or a shirt that is really revealing. But if I was practicing, I am not against working out in shorts and a sports bra. If I am coming straight from practice I am also not against wearing just spandex shorts. But I am also not a person that has a lot of curves and features to show off. My body is more athletic looking not flirtatious looking. In a way, I think that’s why I think its ok for me to wear those types of clothing.The picture below shows what i wear competing and in practice most of the time which reflects my own personal adornment.

Big East Indoor Track Championships

I guess in way the way I dress reflects my values. One of my main values when I put on clothes is based on comfort. A typical every day outfit is leggings and a big comfy sweatshirt. I think that shows that I am not trying to always impress anyone especially with what I wear. If they like me, it wont be based on what I wear. It will be based on my personality. This picture is my team, represents how we all dress pretty similar and have a value of comfort.

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Why do I make these choices?

I think the reason I do this is so people judge me for who I am and not by what I wear. They will like me based on my personality. I think my smile and laughter in general will over ride anything im gong to be wearing, Well that’s what I would like to think and I don’t think I need to distract people with a crazy distracting outfit. I think im very simple the way I dress. Lazy, comfy and simple. I work so hard everyday with track, the last thing I want to do is get all dressed up in uncomfortable clothing and try to impress others.

What has changed?

Over the years things have definitely changed. From Middle school, to high school, even to my freshman and Sophomore year of college are different from my current junior year. I think I definitely was more into what I was wearing in my past years. I was more into impressing others and I wasn’t all just about making sure I was comfortable. I think that just comes with maturity. I don’t feel the need that I have to impress every body every single day. I think the way I dress shows that I am comfortable with myself.

What are the core beliefs and values in your family and how are they communicated through dress and body customization?

Honestly, My family isn’t very religious but I think the way my parents brought my brothers and I up was a with a value of HARD WORK. My family is made up of all state, all American, national champion athletes. We have values that make us push our selves to every level even when we didn’t think it was possible. We work hard to get good grades and excel what ever we put are mind too. When we fall short we are always there for each other. None of us dress crazy or have crazy tattoos and piercings because I think my brothers and I were brought up in a way that we knew we didn’t need to express our selves through what we wore. All of us dress pretty simply and comfortably. We dress pretty simple and ordinary, but are personalities are nothing but. I think personalities matter so much more then what you are wearing.

What are the core beliefs and values of your peer community? How are they expressed through dress and body adornment?

I’m surrounded from a team of athletes that all have the same goals and same clothing style. We all dress comfortably due to the fact that we all work hard every day. A lot of us don’t put the time and effort to be uncomfortable in other types of clothing’s like jeans or skirts due the fact that we have similar core values of working hard. In general I think the people you surround your self with tend to be pretty similar to you when it comes to values and the way they dress. So its not suprising all my friends I surround my self with have the same typical clothing styles. This picture below represents my friends and how we all wear similar things as well as us smiling and goofing up. We end up caring more about each other personalities and how we make each other feel around each other. Rather then what each other are wearing.

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Reflection:

This weeks artifact has helped me figure out a lot about my personal adornment and how we all view other people and other cultures. It gave me the chance to think about what i actually wore and how my personal adornment were related to my beliefs and values. The way i dress is all through comfort because i put my body through so much work with what i do, i never put the time and effort to make my body dress in something that is uncomfortable. However, things have changed since i was younger. I think when i was  younger, peer pressure to impress others took a toll. The idea of Beauty was all about impressing one another and showing others what you have. Which i think is all affected today by the Social media. I think as i have grown up and matured i have strayed away from not really caring about anyone else. I always do whats best for me. I feel like i know what  true and real beauty is: PERSONALITY

This artifact allowed me to see how someones personal adornment can say a lot about there own value and beliefs. For example, I value comfort the most. It represents my values of how i think i have confidence in my personality, and don’t really bother impressing people with what I’m wearing. I think personality is the reason why someone wants to be with you or be friends with you.

Future

I think it would be really interesting to learn how personal adornment changes over time with other people, as well as yourself. Traveling a lot with my team to other states and competing abroad is always a awesome experience. But after learning about this artifact, i will have knew knowledge before going to other countries and observing what kind of personal adornment they have. Different countries dress different due to there cultures and beliefs. Here is a website that shows you the variety which i can’t wait to explore.

Portfolio

Artifact 1: Life Value Assesment

Artifact 2: What is Art for Essay

Artifact 3: Is Food Art?

Artifact 4: Personal Adornment 

Bibliography 

Assumptions and Stereotypes

Feb4

People Watching.

As I sit in Starbucks, I first notice a girl that has similar taste then I personally do. She wore Nike leggings; Nike shoes and an Oregon black zip up that has a green O on the chest. She generally just looks like an athletic person, which is why I think I noticed her first. She has strawberry blond hair that is put up in a straight ponytail. She doesn’t look much taller then 5’4 and is around 20 years old I would guess.

Looking at her appearance and what she where’s I assume she probably is on a sports team just like me, and most likely is more like me when it comes to culture and religion. Dressing like the way she did, I assume like me that she is hard working, dedicated and fit. She looked fit and toned which makes me think she is an athlete. She was also eating carrots and rice cakes with peanut butter, which are all healthy snacks, which makes me assume she watches what she eats. Her face expressions make me think she is laid back and easy going because she seemed like she was laughing at everything. In general I don’t really think any of these are bad assumptions to have. I think since I categorize myself with her so I am not assuming the worse. But I think some people might assume, skinny, really healthy eating= anorexic. Which is an awful stereotype to put on someone I think.

The next guy that I saw, he was sitting next to me reading the newspaper, looked like it was politics. This tells me that he likes to keep up with society and today’s news. This also tells me that he seems knowledgeable and enjoys being educated. He was an older guy and I assume he is around his 40’s. He has a watch on that looks pretty expensive, along with a nice suit, shoes and slicked back hair. His appearance makes him look like he is a successful man and a well off person. I would most likely think he is Rich and has tons of money, but I think that’s just a typical stereotype people have. I think he is similar to me in a way, because he seeks education and he obviously works hard at what ever he does. I realize that all of these assumptions are based on all of what he is wearing.

I see a Caucasian college male, probably nineteen or twenty years of age, rummaging through his stuff frantically trying to find something. From his posture and what he is wearing I can tell that he values a laid back lifestyle. He appears to be wearing a ‘golden state’ jersey so I am assuming he is from a stable middle class family from somewhere in California. Also, from what I can infer about his speech, he much also value education and seeks a higher quality of life. Due to the aforementioned basketball jersey as well as the backwards hat, I’m assuming he may be an inconsiderate jerk despite his alarming vocabulary. Granted I’m using mostly physical features to build this stranger’s character shows that I value general stereotypes that my peers might notice as well. In retrospect, I’ve come to realize that we, as a society, fall back on stereotyping complete strangers.

There are so many different assumptions and stereotypes to have, some are better then others. Its crazy to see how by just looking at one person for a little while what you can come up with or figure out about them. But in general, I don’t think its right that people judge people by only there appearance.