Artifact 3: Personal Reflection

Objectives:

• Evaluate personal values and paradigms around body decoration and physical beauty.
• Investigate how physical appearance affects definitions of identity and belonging.
• Analyze valuesand belief systems of physical appearance across cultures, sub-cultures and generations.

Original Post

Throughout the years of my life, obviously much has changed about
myself, and alot of that was how I dressed, not only in the sizes but
also in the different styles that I have chosen to wear throughout the
years. Up until I started to develop a mind of my own to start making my
own decisions, like most little kids, my mother was the one that had
been picking out what I was to wear for that day. Alot of what I wore
consisted of alot of overalls and bull cuts. This decision of wearing
overalls was mainly due to the fact that it seemed to be the style for
little kids my age throughout that time. Over time, and once I started
to dress myself, I would often start wearing alot of shorts and tee
shirts that had to do with sports. I believe that wearing shorts was due
to the fact that I liked to be comfortable and the Sports tee’s were
worn becuase of how into sports I had been getting and started playing.
As I started to get older and times started to change, I was often seen
wearing Jeans with converse shoes and again, alot of sports tees. I
start wearing this change of clothes because of how everyone else around
me started to wear alot of jeans and pants. Nowadays when I get dressed
for going out or just to go out in public places, I will either be
wearing jeans or kahki shorts, with either a nice button up or polo. Now
when I am at home and relaxing, I usually wear something light and
comfortable. I think some personal beliefs that come into play with me
and my clothing options are due to what I find not only comfortable but
approachable to people. I have always believed that first impressions
mean alot, so wearing something appropriate and acceptable in society is
something that I value when it comes to clothes.

Like the previous statement, my families values and beliefs have alot to
do with what is accetpable to society. Dressing appropriate to different
occasions, along with staying up to date with the most recent fashion is
something that we value. Our families clothes are usually neat and clean
because we also value items that we have boughten in the past and
respect ourselves enough to appreciate wearing something nice.

I think some of the values of my peer community reflect alot on what I
believe in. Most of my peers usually stay up with the current fashion
and keep things neat and comfortable. Most of my peers will usually get
dressed up and look nice and apropriate due to the same belief as me
that first impressions mean alot to society. I also believe that my
peers value having good body posture and often keep their head up and
make eye contact because they are big believers in respect and think
that are large components in gaining peoples respect.

Reflection:

Through this artifact I was capable of understanding  and evaluating the overal value and paradigms that surround physical appearance. The different choices that I make throughout the day reflect on what I may value in life. Alot of the values came from the influence of family and friends because they are the ones in my life that I feel as if I can trust to lead me to the right path. Another thing in this assignment that I found important was that first impressions are almost everything. How I present myself helps display to the public the types of values and beliefs that I may have and gives an impression to people that I am confident in myself and the decisions I make. One example that is found throught the various course readings is the statement, “clothing and fashions are adopted in order to display symbolically gender, social status, role, lifestyle, values, personal interests, and other identity features” (Sanders 4). This statement helps explain my examination on peoples clothing options. Clothes is something that lets people and others around them know who they are as a person and is sometimes used as a way to communicate.

One important thing when discussing my appearance is the culture background that comes with it. Both parents of mine have come from similar backgrounds, both from small towns who are hard workers and believe in having nice things and keeping those things nice. It is neat to see throughout our family that alot of the same values get passed on through generations.

Future Goals:

Something that I have interest in that deals with clothes and appearance is advertising. It would be interesting in my opinion to see how advertising affects peoples values and beliefs through clothes. I think these would be valuable subjects because the topic could either have positive or negative outcomes amongst it.

Table of Contents:

Artifact 1: Social Media

Artifact 2: Life Values

Artifact 3: Personal Reflection

Artifact 4: Is Food Art?

Artifact 5: Remix Project

Artifact 6: Horror Films

Artifact 7: What is Art For?

Artifact 8: Creative Spirituality