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 

Personal Reflection Essay

When doing the people watching assignment I found myself reflecting a little bit more about myself.  Thinking about how I normally dress everyday I have a type of style where I like to be comfortable and wear basketball shorts, or sweats a lot during the day.  At night when I go out in public I like to look a little more put together, by wearing jeans and nice t-shirts.  From how I dress I would say that I do have some personal beliefs that that express how I dress.  From how I dress I would say I am very lax and love to be active from the basketball shorts.  I would also say I am well put together because of how I like to dress when I go out at night.  I would also say I am pretty reserved due to the fact that I have no body adornments at all.  I make the choices that I make because of how I was raised.  My parents are a huge influence in how I make choices because they have instilled their beliefs in me to make the best decision in every choice that you make.  I would say it has changed very little over the years.  The way it has changed is that I try and live a little bit more and enjoy myself more.  My thought process has also changed in the way that I have learned that it is ok to make mistakes.  This is because if you make mistakes you learn from them, rather than if never trying anything new and never making any mistakes and learning life lessons.  I think that my clothes definitely expresses my personal beliefs and values, and I think I will continue to do that.

Growing up in an Asian family there are specific core values that were instilled into me by my family.  The main values are family first, respect everyone, and follow through with plans. These values can be communicated through dress because I have a lot of shirts that have the saying family first, and I try to not have any clothes that would be offensive to anyone.  I think how I dress when I go out shows that I am a pretty reserved person, which can show the main values that are from my family.  I think also me not having any body adornment shows that I don’t want to do anything that will make my family upset, and since I am more reserved I have never really thought about getting anything of that sort.  The only thing I have thought about maybe getting when I am older is a tattoo that says family in Chinese on my wrist.  This shows the kind of beliefs that I have about my family and how much I care about them.  I think that the core beliefs and values that come from my family make me the person I am today and it shows from the clothes I wear to the way I conduct myself.

I would say that the core values of the peer community are very similar to the ones that I have.  I try and pride myself on having friends that have the same beliefs as myself because then you can relate to them more than with people you don’t share the same values with.  If it is just the community values, that would be a little harder to think about because since I am currently living in college town that is so diverse so it would be hard to come up with core beliefs that everyone in this community believe in.  I would say based on my friends how they express their beliefs is exactly how I do.  Mostly my peers wear the same kind of attire that I do because they share the same kind of beliefs that I do.  Mostly all of my peers too don’t have any body adornments because they come from the same kind of family as my own and don’t feel the need to get any of them.  I think that it says a lot about you if you find peers in your community with the same core beliefs because then you have more to relate about.

I have actually really enjoyed this assignment because it has made me think and reflect after the people watching assignment.  It has taught me that because of my beliefs I try and find people who have the same sort of beliefs as I do because that is what helps you relate and get along better with that person.  I really didn’t realize at first that I looked for these beliefs in peers, and it has become clear to me that all my friends have the same beliefs.  This assignment has showed me also that even if people don’t have the same beliefs that you shouldn’t judge them based on that.  Everyone comes from different backgrounds and circumstances, but that is what makes people so unique.

Reflection:

I think this assignment really made me think more about how I personally dress and how people would possibly judge me.  Most of the time especially to class I wear basketball shorts and T-Shirts when its nice out, and sweats and sweatshirts when it’t not.  I would say the people would probably see me as being lazy or plain because I don’t take the time get ready when I go to class.  When I go out at  night I like to dress in nicer clothes and look put together.  I just feel like during the day there is no point to try and look nice because I am not going to class to talk to people, but more to learn.

I decided to choose this assignment as part of the project because for me this assignment had me do a lot of thinking about my life and my beliefs.  Looking back on things like where I came from and how I was raised really helped me realize why I have the ideas I do, and why I act like I do.  It is so interesting being in a fraternity, and seeing so many different people join a house for a common belief.  Although all of my brothers come from different backgrounds and areas, we are all alike in the sense of having similar beliefs.  This is also how I tried to choose my friends.  I tried to choose friends that I related to and that had the same common ideas as me.  This assignment has really helped me realize to always take other peoples feelings into consideration because something that you may think isn’t offensive can be to someone else.

I chose this picture because it shows not only my heritage, but also my biggest core value.  I have always told people that I would never get a tattoo because of my fear for needles, but if I were to get a tattoo it would be the symbols family in Chinese.

Future Intentions:

This topic has really made me think about myself as a person, and all my core values that I live by.  I think for the future I will continue to live by these core values, but also try and develop some new ones that will help me be a better person.  I will also try and find friends that may not have the same core values as me, so I can experience different thoughts and ideas from other people to help me develop as a person.  I think that family will always be the number one thing in my life because I know that in the end they will always be around for you.  For the future I will also try and dress more professionally especially since I will be entering the real world in the near future, and should look professional at all times because you never know who is watching you.  This assignment has helped me reflect more on myself and I really enjoyed doing it because it has also helped me realize what I want in the future.