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.
Artifact:
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.
Reflection:
This article was one of, if not, my favorite that I encountered during the term. Looking at others is something I enjoy on a regular basis when I am stuck in a situation where I have little to do. Just watching someone long enough can tell you a story about who they are, how they interact, and what they hold dear. In this example we were asked to spend time doing just that, but instead of looking at the way they act or interact we were asked to look at how they adorn themselves.
I sat in front of Lilis and observed three men that walked by during the middle of the day. As I mentioned in the article I found that people who were more eccentric caught my eye and stuck in my mind. When I think more about it, most any time I “people watch” these are the people who I focus around. Many people simply blend into the sea of normalcy and because of that it is hard for them to stand out in my mind. It’s interesting because from the outside perspective I would place myself as one of these people that “do not stand out.” The more out of the ordinary, the more people will notice. For this example the notion rang true for me. These people don’t usually have anything inherently different with their physical body but many times they show their differences through how they dress and how they adorn themselves. This is something that I noticed during the assignment that accomplished the goal of investigating how physical appearance affects definitions of identity and belonging.
Future:
Going forward I feel that this realization will be very important to me especially in the instances that I am found with nothing to do again and I resort to people watching. Knowing that the way we adorn ourselves gives us a sense of belonging to a group or maybe belonging to no group. Many people dress in a “blend in” sort of way as a way to find a sense of belonging with the mass culture. Others take the opposite route to seek a belonging that does not associate with mass culture but the opposite.