The phenomenon of dress and bodily adornment has always been a matter of conflict. It seems that society is constantly trying to repress the notion of aesthetics being a priority in any sense. Generally speaking, we are taught from a young age that looks are not important and we should not use them to make judgements of people. This is then contradicted by the notion of a doting mother always concerned about their child’s appearance, a nervous girl on a first date spending hours attempting to find something to wear, beauty pageants, wearing your best for a job interview even if the job’s uniform consists of a store shirt and khaki pants, and the like. This discord between what we say and how we actually feel creates some problems in the …show more content…
As I have worked in the service industry since I have been old enough to work, the art of people watching and people reading has become an activity I like to think I have mastered. At the moment, I work at a bar in Atlantic Station where people come to be seen. Because of my experiences in the service industry, Turner’s article has only further validated my belief that what we put on is more important to us than we think. As far as fashion goes, there are two types of people who exist. People who are wearing their outfits and those whose outfits are wearing them. I have noticed that women who are “wearing their outfits” so to speak, exude way more confidence than women whose outfits are “wearing them”. It may be the confidence, but it seems that these ‘confident’ women are usually wearing outfits that seem to be congruent with their personality. By that I mean wearing something they are genuinely comfortable in, almost with an air of “this outfit was made for me and no one else.” On the other hand, there are those women who look as if their clothes are holding them hostage. It is as if the clothes are not correctly communicating to the rest of society who they feel they really are. A perfect example of this is a woman who frequents my bar often. She is quite friendly and always willing
Clothing has its own meaning in communication. We are being judged by our clothing every time we come in contact with someone. Human communication is accomplished by two ways, one third by words and the rest by nonverbal communication (Hickson, 1989). Clothes serve to be protection, social identification, sexual attraction, and many other services. Someone’s clothing can be different compared to others. Their clothing is based on their age, gender, occupation, personality, and values. According to William Thourlby, there are ten decisions that people around someone make based on their clothing along (Hickson, 1989). The ten decisions are:
Under society’s customs for decades, young women have found themselves immersed in the pressure and anticipation to have exemplary bodies. Nearly every young woman prefers to be slim, have a perfectly shaped body, that is beautified by applying pounds of makeup to their face but does not appear ridiculously overdone. Who’s responsible for these measures imposed on young women? When a young girl picks up the model on the cover of Vogue being called flawless, naturally it’s easy for her to then aspire to be a real-life imitation of the that model. These companies produce magazine covers shown with girls’ images daily. As if keeping the perfect body wasn’t hard enough, our culture also forces girls into the forever expanding world of composition, however, body image is a surging subject for young girls. Advertisements and pictures of lean female models are all over. Young women are measured and perplexed by their physical appearances with attire intended to raise their physical structures; social media, magazines, the society, marketing campaigns, advertisements, and the fashion gurus add to a strand of excellence.
Upon reading, I noticed the thesis had 2 arguments even though and I understood that this essay pertained to how social media caused body image issues for teens. One of the topics consisted of how social media causes teens to have "excessive concern[s] on looking perfect," and another subject matter on how phones allowed for photographs to occur anywhere. Therefore, I find it unnecessary to include the phrase - "with their phones it is easier to to take pictures everywhere." Aside from that and a couple grammatical errors, the thesis is well-written with a clear standpoint, which holds social media as the culprit in this
In conclusion, the way people dress is indeed important. It has been important from the beginning of the ancient times until today. As much as we would like to believe that Hans Christian Andersen’s interpretation of “dress is not what is important,” there is absolutely no way that this is possible for us. We are shallow as a whole. Much like the Emperor was in The Emperor’s New Clothes. Works Cited
Fashion reflects the attitudes of a society more than any other art form. Like art, fashion is a material record of the ideals that swayed the nations at the time of their creation. Through examining the styles, and tastes of a particular era, we can realize where the interests and priorities of a time lie. As Frank Parsons wrote in his 1920 study, The Psychology of Dress, "There is surly no better field in which to trace the devious paths of human thought than in that of clothes, where man has ever given free play to self expression, in a way which, thought not always a credit to his intelligence, is yet quite true to his innermost self, whether he will acknowledge it or
“BEFOR I CAN TALK TO YOU, PEOPLE SHOW THEIR SEX, AGE, CALSS, POSITION, WITH WHAT THEY ARE WEARING. ALL THIS IS REGISTERED UNCONCIOSLY“ Those words said by Alison Lurie in the language of clothes (1992), reflect perfectly the main point of my research. The society we are now living is an extremely conscious society regarding body image and the way we are presented to the exterior. We found an obsessive trend on wanting to look like celebrities by having certain items or looks and in relation to that a fear of not being percepted the tight way. This is where we found relation to how clothes are part of a conversation we haven 't started and are a form of expression. As there will be explained further on, we use clothes as a sign of our identity,as a way of representing ourselves and stand out from the crowd and also influence on how we appear in front of others making them (clothes) a huge part of our non verbal communication. This essay will discuss the ideas behind self -expression and the role of clothes has changed in that mater thought time.
How many times have you opened up one of your social media accounts and saw a post or something pertaining to the body or body image issues? I can guarantee you it happens nearly every day. It doesn’t matter whether it was something positive or negative being said, it’s always there. We spend way too much time obsessing about how we look, and if we fit the perfect body image standers, and we completely forget what is really important in life. In my opinion I think we should stop talking about the body image all together and focus more on intelligence. The first reason is that we have exhausted the topic of body image and body shaming and it’s time to move on. Secondly, if you accomplish something in life and leave a legacy
Body image may be viewed as the way people see themselves and even imagine how they make look based off how they may feel about themselves. Yet it could also be viewed as the way other people see you. Body image, in medicine and psychology refers to a person 's emotional attitudes, beliefs and views of their own body (Positive and Negative Body Image). According to Positive and Negative Body Image, a negative body image develops when a person feels his or her body does not amount up to family, social, or media standards. Many people feel as if they don’t measure up to the belief of others. People who have accepted the way they look often feel good about their image and would be considered to have a positive body image. One’s appearance may not be measure up to how their family expects it to be or how it is perceived to be in the media, but once people learn accept and be proud of the way they look they’ll be better off in the long run. When a person is measured against the standards of the beauty seen frequently in the media and it doesn’t compare to how they feel about themselves it become discouraging. Having said that, long-lasting negative body image can affect both your mental and physical health which could lead to eating disorders down the road.
"Just Be" is a familiar slogan to the current American culture. It is the slogan of a well-known designer, Calvin Klein, who, in his advertisements, supposedly promotes individuality and uniqueness. Yet, Calvin Klein, along with all known designers, does not have overweight or unattractive people on his billboard ads, on his runways, in his magazine pictures or on his television commercials. Moreover, the movie, music and the mass media corroborate with the fashion industry in setting and advertising a certain standards for a physical ideal of a human body. Such propaganda promotes the public into depriving themselves of needed nutrition and generates eating disorders within people in order to fit the
Body image is a person's perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. For the longest time, people have been worrying about the way they look, it's a feeling or occupation we were all born with. Whether it's male or female both genders have insecurities about themselves. Along with the fears of oneself, people also have to worry about the opinions of others. Today's society is all about the media and lately, people have been feeling really brave and aren't scared to tell people their opinions. You would think that women would be supporting each other and complementing one another, but instead they body shame each other and unfortunately, it's the same thing with men. Having this said what problems do men and women face throughout their life because due to body image issues?
Today, there are numerous researches that have been carried out in relation the influence of fashion on self-perception on different people. All these researchers are of the opinion that the way that an individual dresses has a major impact on his self-perception.
As stated before, psychology is a form of self-expression, and a form of visual communication. The way one dresses may put one in a fashion subcategory. These subcategories are thought of as a whole and are subject to judgment and discrimination of sorts. For example, a person with many tattoos and a vintage style of clothing may be viewed as a “hipster”, and hence the viewer may assume many things of the individual. The fit of garments say many things about oneself. Made-to-fit clothing on men in the business world is more respectable than non-tailored clothes. With women, skirt suits create the balance between attractiveness and masculinity in order to appear respectable, much more than the overly aggressive pant suit. One may see the effect of clothing when one researches on how to dress for an interview in order to make an impression upon the hiring manager.
Ever since their invention many centuries ago, clothes have been used as a way of communicating. The message communicated relies on a number of factors including the social background of both the communicator and the receiver, and the context in which the message is communicated. Although at times the exact message or symbolism one is trying to portray may not be clear, it is evident that clothing has long been embraced as one of the best ways to project one’s desired personal image to those around them.
On the other side of the coin, some people do not care about fashion, and while this is fine, does not necessarily serve the person well. People are often judged by their lack of fashion sense. Even though people may not judge others by bad fashion sense on the surface, the issue does come up in the matters of job promotions and future success. If a person does not dress and carry themselves well, it shows a lack of pride in themselves, which may portray that a person does not care about other things as
As human beings, we are passively communicating with each other without even knowing it. As a society we are framed in a visual culture, which makes our appearance control our success rate in life and in the workforce. A person that is dressed professionally in our society is viewed as a prominent member of our society. This same person is taken seriously in his or her profession when dress appropriately. My research project will go into depth discussing the psychological effects clothing has on an individual from establishing boundaries in the workforce, enhancing cognitive skill, and influencing personal identity.