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.
Artifact: Adornment
People Watching Assignment:
I decided to do the people watching assignment outside on my porch. Since it is on a main street there are a lot of people that walk by everyday. The first person I chose to write about was a young white male, in is young 20’s walked by my house with a Trail Blazers jersey on, basketball shorts, basketball shoes, and Dre Beats headphones. From what he was wearing I assumed he was a basketball fan specifically a Trail Blazers fan, and maybe even played basketball himself. I could tell he was excited about the game that night because he was showing his support for his team. I also believe that since he was wearing Dre Beats headphones like he enjoyed listening to music. I assumed this because I like music and bought the same kind of headphones because it helped enhance the quality of the music. I think these assumptions I have made really speaks about my love for sports and music. I usually wear the same kind of outfits and listen to music when I walk.
Next a brunette woman in her young 20’s was jobbing by in a T-shirt, soccer shorts, and running shoes. From this outfit I could tell she was healthy and liked to stay in shape. I also think that she was played a sport. This is because of the shape she looked like she was in, and the attire she was wearing. She was running with sort of a limp so I assumed that she may have had some of injury in the past. I assumed this because I had recently injured my ankle and tried to go on a run a couple of weeks ago and was limping in the same kind of way. I think these assumptions I have made shows that I like to be healthy and active.
The last person I decided to write about was a male in his young 20’s with blonde hair. He was wearing a nice pink polo, plaid shorts, sunglasses and flip flops. I assumed he was was well put together based on how he matched all of his clothes well. It looked like he liked being outdoors because he was also very tan. This male didn’t have any sort of visible body adornment, and just looked clean cut. I value the sort of clean cut look because I pride myself in looking presentable when I am out in public. I think from how this male was dressed that he came from a pretty stable financial situation because of the clothes he was wearing. I have made these assumptions because I have bought clothes from those type of stores, and they aren’t as cheap as simple T-shirts.
This assignment has made me realize that it is sometimes very uncomfortable to people watch sometimes. Especially during this assignment I felt like I had made assumption after assumption, without truly getting to know the person. I think in society this happens all the time, and that people are judged based on what they wear instead of their actions and values. I think from this assignment I have learned that my personal values and beliefs are what helped make the assumptions I have made. I actually really enjoyed this assignment because it has opened my eyes to all of the assumptions being made by people everyday.
Reflection:
For this week we learned about different types of adornment and how it can be considered as art. On the first page of Sanders reading, “Customizing the Body” he talks about people’s physical appearance saying, “A person’s physical appearance affects his or her self-defintion, identity, and interaction with others. People use appearance to place each other into categories, which aid in the anticipation and interpretation of behavior, and make decisions about how best to coordinate social activities.” (1 Sanders) I think that in some cases when people get piercings or tattoos they are expressing themselves, or just like the way it look on their body. Not every time a person has these adornments does it necessarily mean anything, which is something that people in society today try and use too much.
I decided to choose this assignment for my artifacts assignment because I found this assignment to be one of my favorite, and it is one I think I learned the most from. I would say I people watch a decent amount on my porch at night, but not during the day and not looking for specific things. I think this assignment taught me to not assume things of people based on what they dress as, but get to know them. I think how society is today people are judging people based on superficial stuff rather than having conversations with people.
Future Intentions:
My future intentions for this topic is to make sure that I am judging people based on personality and not on how they appear. People come from all different backgrounds so it really isn’t fair to judge someone based on how they look. After dong this assignment I have really tried to not judge people in general, and have tried to also preach and tell people not to judge people at all. If there was no more assuming of people I think that the world will be a better place for everyone, so I will try and start the trend myself and hope to have people follow along.
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