Looking at others: Adornment
Person number 1:
The first person I watched was the man with the mullet. I found when I was watching people I was attracted to the eccentric and the “out of the ordinary” people. So the first person who caught my eye was the man with the mullet. He was wearing jeans, a generic t-shirt, and toms. The man gave me several impressions ranging from a “Bad Ass” to a regular Joe on the street. From the front, nothing looked out of the ordinary, but as I looked closer I realized the mullet that immediately made me think of him as “harder” than the regular person. Then I realized that he was wearing a shirt in almost 30-degree weather. This confirmed my first assumption until I noticed the toms as he got closer. The shoes really changed my perspective, from a “Bad Ass” to someone who really just did not care about his appearance. To me if he were “hard” he would be wearing a tough shoe, not something that is usually seen on hipsters or girls.
Person number 2:
The second person I noticed was the bearded man. He walked by wearing a loose fitting poncho and jeans to go with his sandals and big wire framed glasses. His head was shaved bald, which gave the look a district assumption to me. My first assumption told me that he was maybe Middle Eastern and most likely Muslim based off of the prevailing religion in that area. The baldhead and beard along with the poncho were the main signs that pointed toward the Middle East. I immediately assigned him several assumptions in my head based off of the Middle East conclusion that I had come to. First my assumption was that he was probably decently wealthy, because although his garb did not show it for an international student to come over he must have a decent amount of wealth, as it is expensive to do so. Second, I assumed that religion was a large part of his life because he had the dedication to up keeping the beard and shaved head and many times the dedication also spills over to spiritual life.
Person number 3:
The final person I watched I labeled the athlete. He wore Oregon affiliated sweatpants, an Oregon sweatshirt, and a backpack that read “Oregon Football.” The last part was dead give away. He had large diamond looking earrings and a gold necklace around his neck. Being an athlete I immediately assumed that he was at least part African American due to a large amount of the football players being a part of that race. I also made some large assumptions about his background. I think that he probably grew up being one of the most popular people at his school due to the earrings and necklace. The fact that he is wearing collegiate level equipment I think that he was many times looked up to in high school by younger kids. I also thought from the gaudy earrings and necklace that he enjoyed the attention. They made me think that he wanted people to notice him as he walked by.
3 comments so far
9:40 pm - 2-7-2014
Jordan,
I think the first person that you observed was the one that was most interesting for me to read. This is because it relates to the author’s description of body adornment and appearance modifications displayed by individuals who do not want to follow societal norms for appearance.
“Deviation from and conformity to the societal norms surrounding attractiveness are, therefore, at the core of discussions of appearance and alterations of the physical self… Choosing to be a physcial deviant symbolically demonstrates one’s disregard for the prevailing norms.” (Sanders, 2).
My assumption about this person is that if he has a mullet and also is not wearing something warmer in this winter weather, than they must not care about some societal norms that I am used to around here.
In addition, it seems like the two other individuals you observed reminded you of other specific descriptions and/or assumptions that are sometimes thought of as typical for specific groups of people (stereotypes). It is interesting to read my classmates write descriptions about observing people that I have probably seen around campus, and think about whether or not I consciously/subconsciously made similar observations/assumptions about these individuals.
Thanks,
Anna
7:43 pm - 2-9-2014
Jordan,
I like your honesty in the first person that you observed. Stating that you enjoyed watching people that are “eccentric” is something that I can relate to. I, too, find myself observing people who are different than myself. I believe people who are “out of the ordinary” are interesting to watch because you don’t know what you’re going to observe while you’re watching them. Due to the fact that their appearance is different than ours, it makes us believe that they act differently, as well.
9:33 pm - 2-9-2014
Hi,Jordan,
I look through your post and I found an interesting sentence that you said:”I found when I was watching people I was attracted to the eccentric and the “out of the ordinary” people.” I can feel like the same way because I would always catch the eye by some people who are wearing specific cloth. What do you consider about it? Do you think it is good for people to analyze a person just by their appearance?