Objective:
- 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.
Post:
As I began watching people walk from class to class on 13th today, I noticed an older white man sitting in the shade with his dog across from the president’s building. I could tell he was an older man because he had gray hair underneath his hat. He wore round glasses, a button up shirt, khakis and a book bag across his chest. He had his arm wrapped around his dog and would sometimes brush the dog’s back with his hand as he watched people walk in front of him. I think that he finds the value of companionship very important. He would sometimes talk with people as they walked by when they commented on his dog. I think that he may have been a professor because he dressed well and he had a book bag that would suggest that he was carrying papers and such. I think that this assumption comes from my experience of taking classes with professors that look and dress like him. Maybe he lives close by so he decided to talk his dog for a walk before he went to class.
A white female was sitting on a bench nearby with her feet up and computer on lap. She looked about 20 or so, which I assume because she looked about my age, maybe a year or two younger. I think that she was a student because she seemed to be working on homework and was taking a break in between her classes like I was doing. She seemed very focused in what she was doing because she hardly ever looked up, which may be because she values how well she does in school. She wore black leggings, white shoes, a gray shirt and red cardigan. She had blonde hair that was pulled into a ponytail with a couple pieces falling into her face as she hunched over her computer screen. She wore a necklace, but no rings and had double ear piercings. I think that she may be a sorority based on my biases of what sorority girls wear, although I did not she an letters for a sorority. I guess that shows that I seem to have a stereotype of what I think sorority girls dress and look like that may not be fully true.
Another white female was in the AAA library on one of the computers who also seemed to be a student and again about the same age as me. I assume that she is either an architecture or interior architecture student because that is the major most people in this particular library are studying. She has blonde curly hair that is a little less than shoulder length. She wears a olive green shirt and has a bunch of rings on and a watch that make her seem artsy. She uses a recycled bread bag as a bag to carry her electronic cords in, which makes me think that she values the environment. She had headphones in while she was working on the computer so she seemed to isolate herself from anyone wanting to talk to her. I seem to always think that people who have headphones in do not want to be bothered.
Reflection:
This was a very interesting assignment because it made me realize how many prejudgements I make above people just by looking at them. It is so ingrained in society to assume things about people based on how they dressed or their body decorations. Sanders explains that “people use appearance to place each other into categories, which aid in the anticipation and interpretation of behavior, and to make decisions about how best to coordinate social activities.” (1) The idea of using how they look to put them into a categories relates to what I did while people watching. I took the man as a professor, the girl on the bench as a sorority girl and the female in the library as an architecture student. As humans we are always trying to understand the people around us so that we can be more comfortable with them.
It also shows though that people with certain values or beliefs or even in the within the same environment will have similar physical appearances because it affects how they want to be perceived. It is also a way for them to “control their social identities, self-definitions, and interactional prospects.”(Sanders 3) This is something I think everyone can relate to because I personally have gotten piercings because I wanted to show that I controlled what happened with my body and my parents did not have a say.
Future Goal:
I am very interested in what things people want to express to others through the certain things they wear or what body decorations they have. I hope to ask someone about their tattoos or piercings when I am talking to someone who has those body decorations. Their explanation will give insight to the many reasons why people express themselves and their values or culture through their physical appearance.
Video:
Alexa Meade who is actually using the body as a canvas.
Sources: