Unit 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: The One About People Watching…
I was able to spend some time at the Nike Employee Store this week, and in doing so I was able to spend a lot of my time watching people do their business in a Nike store. I spent a few hours in the store and so I was able to watch a number of people come and go, but I was able to watch several people spend a similar amount of time in there that I did.
The first person I was keeping an eye on was a lady who was pushing her child around in a stroller. Her child couldn’t have been more than a few months old, so I felt a little bad for her having a young child in such a crowded place. Her attire really reminded me of someone who lives in Eugene. She was wearing a long sun dress, a head band, and a plain t shirt. The key for me was the Chocos. In my opinion, it demonstrated that she has a kind of a free spirited nature. Seeming like she was from Eugene, she looked like someone who is an organics person. I would say that my assumptions say that I believe that some people in Eugene have a distinct style that I can recognize.
The second person I was able to observe for a while was an older man who spent at least two hours looking for a pair of shoes. He was wearing pretty basic clothing, khaki shorts, a collared shirt, and tennis shoes. His hair was well-kept and looked like a clean person. I believe that by dressing the way he does, he’s trying to show that he is comfortably successful, but at the same time he isn’t trying to make a show of it. Nothing that he was wearing was really flashy, but by the way he carried himself, it made me think that he was pretty well off. I think that for my own beliefs, it shows that I take notice of the way someone handles themselves. The man walked around looking confident, just enjoying his time at the store. The combination of his demeanor and dress made me associate him with comfort and success.
The third person I encountered was certainly the most well-dressed and presentable of the three. She was an older woman, probably in her 50’s, wearing a professional suit and pearl necklace and her hair well done. In my opinion she is clearly doing well for herself, and she values looking professional and presenting herself as such. I think that she has a high value in showing her success. I assume she comes from a successful family and her background is in business or financing. I think that my beliefs from the second person are supported by what I took from observing the third woman. She was wearing a business suit so I associated her with success and money.
Reflection:
This unit continued to make an impact on some of my thought processes when this assignment came around. As noted in another portfolio entry, I took a lot of value in the way I dressed and used it as a method of projecting my own values. This assignment, however, showed me how I use other people’s dress to try and develop an idea of what their values may be like. Again, immediately in Sanders’ reading, it is stated that, “People use appearance to place each other into categories” and I believe that this is a good summary of the artifact I have presented above. As I was investigating their physical appearance, I was simultaneously, and subconsciously, putting them into categories.
I also feel that this artifact highlights how my own values are expressed through appearance, only this time I was reflecting my own values onto other people. When I saw the two older people in the store, I related both of their expressions as successful, while the third person I did not. By placing my own values onto other people, I created assumptions about them that may or may not be true. Ultimately I was able to better understand what I hold valuable and how I try to express that through m dress.
Future Goals:
After learning about the objectives in this unit, and combining them with the values I am continuing to learn about, I hope to be able to reduce my brains instinct to determine someone’s values solely based on what they wear. I also want to broaden my scope of what someone may be trying to project about themselves in the way they dress. By understanding different generations and how they dress, I will be able to better address this idea.
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