Meta tags:
Headings (most frequently used words):
fashion, threadbared, about, of, the, intellectual, and, our, icymi, case, for, inappropriate, conversations, asian, americans, in, on, cuny, tv, why, should, stop, trying, to, be, diverse, techno, orientalist, white, feminist, history, harem, pants, meet, burka, avenger, deja, vu, what, can, discussion, tell, us, america, culture, violence, lot, interview, tanisha, ford, haute, couture, another, tote, bag, giveaway, exhibition, tattered, torn, is, goods, stay, cool, against, seasons, swap, spit, rss, tags, are, showing, departments, search, closets, vintage, finds, tweet, titter,
Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (315), and (256), #fashion (87), that (86), for (50), are (45), women (45), about (39), this (38), with (30), their (30), violence (29), from (28), have (25), racial (25), what (24), white (23), not (21), models (21), politics (20), but (19), show (19), culture (18), these (18), 2013 (17), they (17), threadbared (16), race (16), gender (16), racism (16), new (16), body (16), black (16), our (15), there (15), color (15), like (14), other (14), asian (14), all (14), was (14), were (14), owens (14), style (13), some (13), girls (13), his (13), 2009 (12), 2010 (12), 2011 (12), can (12), under (12), you (12), been (12), percent (12), people (12), multicultural (12), august (11), beauty (11), another (11), ford (11), history (11), between (11), will (11), how (11), more (11), than (11), cultural (11), bodies (11), industry (11), dancers (11), 2012 (10), fashioning (10), america (10), minh (10), pham (10), filed (10), which (10), many (10), out (10), she (10), also (9), well (9), them (9), just (9), called (9), has (9), first (9), her (9), sncc (9), slow (9), comments (8), september (8), october (8), june (8), 2008 (8), july (8), burka (8), others (8), fun (8), day (8), used (8), who (8), sexuality (7), american (7), why (7), trying (7), cool (7), clothes (7), social (7), very (7), way (7), display (7), when (7), one (7), ways (7), power (7), only (7), research (7), age (7), eating (7), poiret (7), designer (7), now (6), blog (6), january (6), february (6), think (6), sartorial (6), creative (6), academic (6), tote (6), tanisha (6), couture (6), intellectual (6), harem (6), pants (6), should (6), stop (6), tagged (6), clothing (6), often (6), too (6), time (6), years (6), own (6), professor (6), while (6), school (6), journal (6), article (6), its (6), denim (6), far (6), never (6), magazine (6), diversity (6), sign (5), free (5), 2007 (5), march (5), may (5), 2014 (5), vintage (5), labor (5), dressing (5), spring (5), york (5), exhibit (5), class (5), tattered (5), torn (5), bag (5), haute (5), discussion (5), lot (5), avenger (5), americans (5), seasons (5), your (5), where (5), collection (5), worth (5), then (5), here (5), because (5), know (5), project (5), adornment (5), both (5), pieces (5), wearing (5), studies (5), into (5), don (5), written (5), ivory (5), such (5), political (5), read (5), less (5), questions (5), essay (5), university (5), take (5), magazines (5), see (5), post (5), difference (5), site (4), wordpress (4), com (4), email (4), comment (4), already (4), december (4), economy (4), interviews (4), human (4), vogue (4), arts (4), teaching (4), work (4), model (4), fat (4), interview (4), diverse (4), cuny (4), case (4), inappropriate (4), conversations (4), against (4), posts (4), histories (4), had (4), kinds (4), museum (4), result (4), brought (4), back (4), life (4), over (4), professionalism (4), example (4), using (4), rights (4), fashions (4), shows (4), woman (4), wore (4), series (4), tower (4), book (4), since (4), discovered (4), published (4), issue (4), would (4), identity (4), whose (4), street (4), few (4), recent (4), discussions (4), include (4), part (4), shame (4), rather (4), disorders (4), standards (4), everyday (4), nonwhite (4), self (4), doesn (4), control (4), virtual (4), party (4), paul (4), line (4), get (3), design (3), website (3), content (3), subscribe (3), november (3), april (3), theory (3), message (3), linkage (3), classroom (3), chic (3), outfit (3), orientalism (3), technologies (3), digital (3), music (3), hair (3), feminism (3), femininity (3), art (3), exhibition (3), giveaway (3), tell (3), techno (3), feminist (3), icymi (3), receive (3), mimi (3), two (3), cultures (3), really (3), objects (3), dominant (3), value (3), beautiful (3), around (3), reason (3), space (3), could (3), photos (3), dresses (3), atelier (3), kind (3), head (3), most (3), began (3), after (3), question (3), love (3), colors (3), statement (3), much (3), personal (3), professional (3), attire (3), students (3), wear (3), assistant (3), ago (3), books (3), reading (3), dress (3), particular (3), use (3), terms (3), image (3), male (3), including (3), activists (3), college (3), through (3), african (3), important (3), themselves (3), reality (3), images (3), intention (3), shootings (3), instead (3), relations (3), gendered (3), off (3), though (3), thinness (3), although (3), real (3), disordered (3), made (3), lose (3), weight (3), anorexia (3), problem (3), same (3), young (3), media (3), men (3), across (3), predominantly (3), mass (3), does (3), hide (3), technology (3), configurations (3), machine (3), introduce (3), rick (3), paris (3), mostly (3), remembered (3), vision (3), evidence (3), spectacle (3), exploitation (3), exploitative (3), each (3), said (3), systemic (3), scenery (3), runways (3), started (2), name (2), required (2), write (2), view (2), log (2), subscribed (2), account (2), join (2), 135 (2), subscribers (2), create (2), tweets (2), select (2), month (2), finds (2), search (2), closets (2), medium (2), police (2), gurus (2), indulgences (2), junk (2), drawer (2), industrial (2), complex (2), goods (2), cheap (2), departments (2), video (2), sales (2), photography (2), city (2), order (2), menswear (2), masculinity (2), lifestyle (2), film (2), blogging (2), designers (2), deja (2), meet (2), orientalist (2), twitter (2), address (2), thi (2), nguyen (2), academics (2), theories (2), older (2), governors (2), island (2), gowns (2), help (2), structures (2), public (2), displays (2), reflect (2), reproduce (2), valuable (2), functions (2), lives (2), described (2), words (2), longer (2), close (2), walk (2), seeing (2), simply (2), etc (2), whatever (2), institutional (2), neglect (2), conditioned (2), non (2), traditional (2), appreciated (2), saw (2), being (2), probably (2), actually (2), sites (2), critical (2), engagement (2), fact (2), short (2), fellow (2), online (2), store (2), etsy (2), shop (2), imagined (2), savant (2), thanks (2), several (2), celebrate (2), bags (2), easy (2), stylishness (2), yes (2), wrote (2), respectability (2), process (2), speak (2), sense (2), bright (2), eclectic (2), prints (2), number (2), rule (2), pretty (2), worn (2), together (2), recently (2), cream (2), hearts (2), shirt (2), blazer (2), having (2), mirror (2), wardrobe (2), remember (2), hard (2), skirt (2), last (2), 1960s (2), 70s (2), useful (2), analyzing (2), academy (2), professors (2), strategies (2), those (2), colleagues (2), redefine (2), heels (2), ornate (2), jewelry (2), makeup (2), winning (2), scholars (2), interviewed (2), long (2), topic (2), forthcoming (2), turn (2), understand (2), demand (2), writing (2), favorite (2), examples (2), chapter (2), photographs (2), washington (2), overalls (2), learned (2), civil (2), movement (2), down (2), hairstyles (2), among (2), africana (2), uses (2), soul (2), cover (2), fashionable (2), something (2), interest (2), adorned (2), dressed (2), influenced (2), choices (2), articles (2), especially (2), oppression (2), pop (2), six (2), focuses (2), imagine (2), did (2), shape (2), amazing (2), before (2), spread (2), able (2), ourselves (2), define (2), times (2), year (2), uncategorized (2), national (2), hope (2), expand (2), isn (2), entirely (2), hook (2), either (2), reinforce (2), impact (2), physical (2), deaths (2), appear (2), even (2), modeling (2), practices (2), told (2), behavior (2), attain (2), better (2), invisible (2), weighing (2), ideal (2), cannot (2), checking (2), hierarchies (2), pro (2), ana (2), dieting (2), reported (2), pictures (2), perfect (2), grade (2), wanting (2), includes (2), diet (2), million (2), early (2), nixon (2), relation (2), experience (2), countless (2), friends (2), websites (2), exercise (2), clear (2), links (2), form (2), spectacles (2), gun (2), shooting (2), mind (2), unthinkable (2), might (2), pakistan (2), innovative (2), language (2), original (2), wearable (2), play (2), thousand (2), second (2), night (2), hobble (2), science (2), society (2), 1911 (2), virtuality (2), usually (2), larger (2), modern (2), week (2), repeat (2), global (2), inclusive (2), count (2), dynamics (2), menkes (2), imagination (2), hand (2), mission (2), powerful (2), brand (2), attention (2), press (2), leading (2), hot (2), describes (2), following (2), benefit (2), event (2), benefits (2), structure (2), racially (2), require (2), possible (2), tears (2), performance (2), feelings (2), anti (2), during (2), whites (2), general (2), change (2), perspectives (2), step (2), sake (2), audience (2), window (2), visual (2), events (2), serve (2), groan (2), missing (2), make (2), representation (2), nine (2), coalition (2), efforts (2), editorials (2), letter (2), types (2), aired (2), appropriation (2), loading, collapse, bar, manage, subscriptions, reader, report, privacy, tweet, titter, wired, weekend, hijab, state, democratization, counterfeit, category, war, uniform, topshop, thuy, linh, thrifting, textile, icon, standardization, secondhand, sartorialist, profiling, queer, punk, nylon, neoliberalism, native, appropriations, muslim, morality, minoo, moallem, iran, individualization, indigeneity, immigration, homelessness, hipster, presentation, france, philanthropy, ethical, disability, copyright, consumption, commodification, civic, burqa, blackness, asianness, africa, tags, showing, rss, ifb, bloglovin, facebook, swap, spit, jun, 2026, enter, notifications, stay, copyrighted, evolving, collaboration, clotheshorse, discuss, aesthetics, subcultures, names, area, recommend, visiting, wasn, whole, information, came, neglected, couldn, comparing, abandoned, prevalent, organizational, museums, arrangement, behind, scenes, preservation, system, protecting, material, status, knowledge, production, meanings, choice, saving, studying, decision, remembering, borrowing, verne, harris, oppositional, memory, systematic, forgetting, created, spirit, discards, warrant, conservation, measures, security, high, glass, velvet, rope, electric, fence, separating, viewer, object, visitors, touching, engaging, sides, curatorial, standpoint, opened, tremendous, opportunities, hung, hangers, open, displayed, domestic, settings, kitchen, bedroom, hallway, possibility, wonderful, deaccessioned, removed, collections, deemed, damaged, ironic, surprising, compromised, condition, enhances, road, deaccession, swag, leave, period, friend, considered, seriously, throwing, professorial, scholarly, towel, opening, ecole, rejigged, homage, earlier, scholar, studio, french, purchase, launched, crowdsourced, doing, 3oo, submissions, 104, 000, followers, decided, milestone, respects, favor, handbags, shoulder, practicality, whatevs, mean, sure, yet, figuring, helpful, moved, searching, places, helps, learn, town, finding, great, flirty, patterns, shoes, mixing, girly, looks, rules, anything, styled, properly, purchased, pink, blouse, likely, pair, navy, striped, zara, mix, activities, undergraduate, course, feminisms, give, scholarship, engage, salient, issues, preparation, big, mini, front, allow, fall, existing, again, inspiring, look, fresh, ensemble, fierce, fly, strategizing, ended, secretary, today, sleeved, sleeves, rolled, featuring, cartoon, carrying, arms, yellow, pencil, metal, belt, clasp, wave, doyenne, position, provided, framework, contemporary, exploring, profession, reveal, similarities, employed, challenge, notions, incorporating, suits, stiletto, enviable, eye, faculty, mediasphere, classrooms, deconstruct, staid, glasses, elbow, patched, award, debunk, held, belief, serious, care, trivial, things, fashionista, asks, hoping, length, betta, werk, talk, bear, upon, deploy, negotiate, adhere, dimensions, uncovering, fascinating, student, nonviolent, coordinating, committee, dorie, joyce, ladner, stunned, seemed, antithetical, everything, kid, digging, papers, rereading, memoirs, tracking, members, cardigans, pearls, adopted, practical, reasons, naturel, caused, quite, stir, campuses, elder, revise, era, radical, late, twentieth, century, derived, southern, imaginative, landscape, labors, initially, particularly, fascinated, singers, nina, simone, odetta, miriam, makeba, admired, performed, stage, costumes, natural, caftans, wraps, inspired, printed, mere, items, express, unique, personas, communicating, nationalist, dynamic, sent, quest, alone, similarly, concerning, savvy, archivists, willing, let, piecing, fragments, vibrant, connection, struggles, led, destinations, flung, jackson, mississippi, london, johannesburg, dissertation, celebrities, later, become, monograph, progress, grassroots, utilized, tool, means, womanhood, conceive, fuel, evolved, nascent, encounter, interested, liberated, threads, soulistaphd, follow, currently, totally, psyched, author, photograph, wanted, met, annual, presented, awesome, paper, 1963, received, phd, indiana, spent, postdoctoral, department, afroamerican, michigan, starting, sexualities, massachusetts, amherst, graduate, symposium, illinois, presumes, walks, blank, slate, fine, given, groups, normative, check, religion, sexual, orientation, door, soon, onto, campus, certain, manner, administrators, competence, largely, judged, therefore, highly, aware, adorn, foremothers, forefathers, innovated, agendas, actively, dismantling, troubling, argues, specific, alongside, absence, reinforced, elite, observes, timed, weeks, sharp, inhabit, implications, response, racialicious, rockin, ellis, detract, conversation, epidemic, scope, scale, shaming, clearly, indicate, solely, blame, sphere, purveyor, millions, globally, circulating, enormous, leads, psychological, spiritual, normalizes, impossible, thin, regularly, photoshopped, slender, council, come, unhealthy, policies, weak, unenforced, set, guidelines, mandates, bans, sixteen, repeatedly, broken, without, any, consequences, adult, tacitly, strive, pre, puberty, goal, engenders, myriad, interlinked, violences, normalization, compulsory, huge, estimates, guilt, meeting, cfda, health, initiative, underweight, coco, rocha, 108, pounds, naturally, formal, pinching, tugging, monitoring, casually, perform, bound, precious, norms, whitewashing, girl, conceals, role, plays, diffusion, development, negative, perceptions, additionally, ideologies, rigorous, exercising, starvation, problems, positive, infrequently, discussed, olds, afraid, bracket, idea, expressed, desire, thinner, study, conducted, north, carolina, chapel, hill, found, skipping, meals, perpetual, incessant, smoking, maintaining, 1000, calories, per, estimated, eight, diagnosed, disorder, bulimia, begins, alarmingly, consider, statistics, association, nervosa, associated, anad, ages, behaviors, environmental, catastrophes, pollution, aftermath, chemical, warfare, concept, extended, every, believe, tied, appearance, please, seek, approval, vulnerable, verbal, nonverbal, messages, family, workers, wide, array, blogs, failure, fulfill, requisites, triggers, low, esteem, anxiety, depression, drug, alcohol, abuse, cutting, occurs, gradually, sight, delayed, destruction, dispersed, attritional, typically, viewed, rob, defines, dimension, perpetrators, victims, dysmorphia, significant, implicates, generational, differences, uneven, reports, middle, limited, reminds, always, spectacular, replete, trigger, warning, start, vijay, prashad, past, carried, aggrieved, entitlement, thinking, wake, newtown, connecticut, discourse, sometimes, mystifying, downright, numbing, thoughtful, link, took, place, sandy, elementary, acts, yemen, killed, scores, civilians, children, injuries, brown, cities, oakland, illuminate, seems, jacksonville, florida, chicago, drone, strikes, enlist, janitor, heave, bucket, shooter, knees, teach, kids, rush, shooters, term, loosely, sooo, donna, karan, summer, campaign, 2001, sports, illustrated, swimsuit, superheroes, catwoman, wonder, wouldn, worked, explaining, superhero, wears, creator, pakistani, star, aaron, haroon, rashid, says, mild, mannered, teacher, secret, martial, skills, flowing, fight, local, thugs, seeking, shut, works, excited, animated, want, episodes, english, trailer, urdu, full, title, winter, emphasizes, relationships, literature, magical, oriental, historical, once, threw, maybe, ever, loose, garments, freed, european, crinolines, corsets, enabled, proto, mobilities, breathlessly, magic, promised, transport, dull, materialism, temperate, zone, warmth, colour, perfume, tropics, photo, above, ran, influence, wife, happy, participate, poirets, jean, gaultier, kimono, bikinis, tom, gucci, satin, jackets, cherry, blossom, embroidery, locate, intersection, construction, key, mandchou, tunics, skirts, jupes, sultan, stepping, begin, recalibrating, structural, profit, talents, greatest, achievement, energy, named, forgotten, memorialized, agent, instrumentalized, agency, bold, deluge, reviews, instagram, videos, drives, consumerism, felt, reporter, publicity, generate, savings, buy, leather, jacket, dazed, stands, reap, immeasurable, financial, rewards, securing, reputation, provocateur, breaker, user, generated, regarded, force, edgy, showman, merely, looked, genius, current, topics, fade, outré, likens, sighting, referencing, netflix, inmates, graduates, celebration, orange, gloss, ufo, cut, hint, conjoined, quick, handy, litmus, test, answered, positively, participating, prevailing, answer, good, bet, disproportionately, dominance, gratifying, experiences, mark, andrejevic, excellent, estranged, surely, enjoyed, spotlight, trip, allowed, keep, gift, outfits, individually, tailored, dancer, stepper, adrianna, cornish, tells, reporters, blogger, notes, wiping, cheeks, draw, conditions, deny, diminish, emotionally, moving, participants, observers, necessarily, product, intentions, achieved, level, guests, dabbed, wall, dreamed, intentioned, act, undo, fundamentally, alter, enable, exploited, individual, popular, reflective, misunderstanding, categories, share, liberal, multiculturalist, posturing, opposed, radically, substantive, moments, unfolds, emanates, privileged, controlling, perspective, whiteness, situations, unconventional, established, contained, needs, chose, context, present, practice, itself, significance, equity, summed, suzy, review, joy, sea, faces, attracted, gritty, click, embodied, tourists, belong, associate, provide, contrast, intensify, outnumber, mainstream, symptom, deeper, almost, exclusive, apparent, imagery, majority, common, function, inducing, moment, buzziest, season, teams, ready, universally, praised, move, overturn, exactly, matter, pass, muster, disassembled, represents, continuation, famous, request, routine, embodie, viciousness, believing, hype, untouched, requires, ignore, comprise, turns, runway, five, four, represented, minimal, falling, somewhere, nyfw, outnumbered, slimmest, margins, stretch, numbers, somehow, easier, ten, massive, disparity, inordinately, disadvantages, applaud, holding, exclusions, intends, critique, jezebel, survey, diversify, sigh, sighed, organization, formed, british, bethann, hardison, naomi, campbell, iman, calling, powers, inattention, inaction, comes, notion, asians, honorary, serves, denying, enduring, advances, deep, seated, divide, conquer, approach, ignores, impacts, racialized, effectively, sets, apart, apparently, essays, criticizing, lack, size, print, argued, need, represent, torrent, permeate, different, broad, range, sizes, target, accidental, audiences, slightly, abridged, salon, update, below, program, clips, bit, recorded, panel, economies, chinese, moca, missed, limits, usual, appreciation, debate, suggest, focus, gets, left, processes, appropriate, provides, forth, discursive, cycle, hasn, gotten, atlantic, contact, blogroll, speaking, skip,
Text of the page (random words):
es to be exploitative for more on this see mark andrejevic s excellent essay estranged free labor the dancers surely enjoyed the global spotlight the free trip to paris and the free designer clothes that i imagine owens allowed them to keep as a gift and because these outfits were individually tailored for each dancer s body stepper adrianna cornish tells reporters that the experience is something she never would have dreamed of a blogger for the wall street journal notes that some guests dabbed tears during the show and that dancers themselves were wiping tears from their cheeks following the performance to draw attention to the exploitative conditions of the performance is not to deny or diminish the fact that the show was emotionally moving for some of its participants and observers but if racism is not necessarily a product of personal feelings and intentions then anti racism cannot be achieved at the level of personal feelings either so how do we know racism or exploitation when we see it hint they are usually conjoined a quick and handy litmus test is one in which the following two questions are answered positively does one party benefit not just more but disproportionately more from the multicultural event than the other participating party does this relation of benefits mirror and repeat the prevailing social relations that already structure dominant society if the answer to both questions is yes then it is a pretty good bet that the multicultural event is racially exploitative in the example of owens show the white american designer stands to reap immeasurable social cultural and financial rewards for this show already the show is securing his reputation as a cultural provocateur and a fashion rule breaker in the professional and user generated press owens is regarded as a leading force in the industry an edgy designer and an innovative showman the dancers on the other hand are merely looked at as evidence of owens creative genius as the current hot topic in fashion one that will as all hot topics do fade out and an outré spectacle new york magazine s fashion blog the cut likens them to a ufo sighting and fashion blog the gloss describes the dancers as an orange is the new black celebration referencing the new netflix original series about women inmates remember all of these dancers are college students or college graduates thanks to the deluge of reviews of instagram photos and videos and tweets owens brand is winning in the attention economy that now drives fashion in the age of social consumerism and if others felt the way a dazed digital reporter did after the show wanting to clear her savings and buy a rick owens leather jacket then this publicity will also generate sales the dancers on the other hand the women whose bodies energy and time made the show will be remembered only as owens dancers the few dancers that have been interviewed and named will be forgotten but owens bold statement his powerful message and his creative vision will be memorialized in fashion history in academic language owens will be remembered as the agent of the show while the dancers will be remembered as the people who instrumentalized his agency his vision and his mission so i repeat the global fashion industry should stop trying to be inclusive stop trying to be diverse rather than count racial bodies it should begin recalibrating its structural dynamics of race power and profit so that a statement like menkes that the imagination of the white male designer is the greatest achievement of the show a show brought to life by the talents and hard work of mostly black women dancers is simply unthinkable 8 comments filed under fashioning race fashioning the human labor and the creative economy on beauty tagged as paris fashion week rick owens stepping by minh ha t pham august 27 2013 9 14 am the techno orientalist white feminist history of harem pants from vogue may 2007 before there was jean paul gaultier s kimono bikinis and tom ford s gucci line of satin jackets with the cherry blossom embroidery there was paul poiret s jupes sultan or harem pants in an article that is now published in configurations i locate poiret s harem pants and his larger 1911 fashion line at the intersection of modern white feminism orientalism and the machine age analyzing the design and construction of key pieces in the collection i show how his harem pants mandchou tunics and hobble skirts are a kind of machine art and an early example of wearable virtual technology while the loose design of these garments freed european white women from crinolines and corsets and enabled proto feminist physical and social mobilities they were also technologies of racial virtuality vogue and other women s and fashion magazines at the time breathlessly described poiret s collection as modern magic wearing his clothes the magazines promised would transport the woman from the dull materialism of the temperate zone to warmth colour and perfume in the tropics and as you can see from the photo above from an article vogue ran a few years ago on poiret s influence poiret and his wife were all too happy to participate in virtual racial play my article includes some amazing photographs of other pieces in the collection worn by some of the poirets friends in some ways this essay is a one off for me i don t usually do this kind of historical research though it is part of my larger interest in fashion s virtual technologies but once i discovered this collection and the thousand and second night party he threw to introduce it to the fashion public i had to write about it also it was maybe the most fun research ever the full title of the essay is paul poiret s magical techno oriental fashions 1911 race clothing and virtuality in the machine age and it s in the winter 2013 issue of configurations journal of the society for literature science and the arts 21 1 configurations is an academic journal that emphasizes the relationships between the arts and science and technology very cool reading this journal 2 comments filed under ad dressing gender sexuality fashioning race fashioning the human tagged as feminism harem pants hobble skirt orientalism paul poiret thousand and second night party virtual racial play wearable technology by minh ha t pham july 25 2013 4 42 pm meet the burka avenger i m so excited to have just discovered this new animated series called burka avenger that i want to post all the episodes 13 so far i think but for now will just post the english language trailer the original series is in urdu the burka avenger is a mild mannered teacher with secret martial arts skills who uses a flowing black burka to hide her identity as she fight local thugs seeking to shut down the girls school where she works explaining the reason this superhero wears a burka creator and pakistani pop star aaron haroon rashid says it s not a sign of oppression she is using the burka to hide her identity like other superheroes since she is a woman we could have dressed her up like catwoman or wonder woman but that probably wouldn t have worked in pakistan to read more about the burka avenger go here 1 comment filed under uncategorized by minh ha t pham february 13 2013 10 08 am deja vu 2013 from the sports illustrated swimsuit issue 2001 from the donna karan spring summer ad campaign fashion photography and i m using the term very loosely to include si is sooo innovative 6 comments filed under fashioning race on beauty by minh ha t pham january 7 2013 3 34 pm what can a discussion about fashion tell us about america s culture of violence a lot like so many others i ve been thinking a lot about gun control in the wake of the mass shooting in newtown connecticut although the discourse around gun control can be sometimes mystifying if not downright mind numbing teach kids to rush at shooters rather than hide enlist a male janitor to heave a bucket at the shooter s knees i ve appreciated the many thoughtful discussions that link unthinkable violence such as that which took place at sandy hook elementary school to the many acts of violence that many americans just don t think about like the u s drone strikes in pakistan and yemen that have killed scores of civilians including children and the street shooting deaths and injuries of predominantly black and brown young people in cities like chicago oakland and jacksonville florida but what does fashion and style have to do with america s culture of violence a better question might be what can a discussion about fashion and style illuminate for us about this culture of violence a lot it seems recent reports tell us there are clear links between the aggrieved entitlement of white middle class men and mass shootings of the 62 mass shootings in the past 30 years 70 percent were carried out by white men but america s culture of violence is not limited to masculinity and as vijay prashad reminds it doesn t always take spectacular form though fashion media is replete with spectacles of violence see trigger warning here and here for a start there s another also gendered dimension of america s culture of violence in which women and girls are predominantly the perpetrators and victims the slow violence of body dysmorphia and eating disorders are a significant if often invisible part of america s culture of violence that implicates women across generational racial class and sexuality differences in uneven ways rob nixon defines slow violence as violence that occurs gradually and out of sight a violence of delayed destruction that is dispersed across time and space an attritional violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all although nixon s discussion of slow violence focuses on environmental catastrophes like industrial pollution and the aftermath of chemical warfare his concept can be extended to the particular relation of gender and violence that women and girls experience every day because girls from a very young age are conditioned to believe their identity and self worth is tied to their appearance to please others and to seek out the approval of others they are especially vulnerable to the countless verbal and nonverbal messages they receive about their never perfect bodies from family friends co workers and a wide array of media including women s magazines men s magazines fashion blogs pro ana websites diet and exercise books tv shows and websites the failure to fulfill all the requisites of ideal femininity triggers for many women and girls the slow violence of low self esteem anxiety and depression and for some others drug and alcohol abuse cutting and disordered eating behavior a 2008 study conducted by self magazine and the university of north carolina at chapel hill found that 65 percent of american women between the ages of 25 and 45 have disordered eating behaviors which includes skipping meals perpetual dieting incessant self weighing smoking to lose weight and maintaining a diet of 1000 calories per day or less an estimated eight million americans have been diagnosed with an eating disorder such as anorexia and bulimia among them 7 million are women and girls the slow violence of body shame begins at an alarmingly early age consider these statistics from the national association of anorexia nervosa and associated disorders anad 42 percent of girls between 1 st and 3 rd grade have expressed the desire to be thinner 47 percent of girls between 5 th and 12 th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures 69 percent of girls in the same age bracket reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape 81 percent of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat formal studies like these don t take into account the slow violence of body checking the everyday pinching tugging and monitoring of body fat that so many women and girls casually perform on themselves and others everyday for nonwhite women and girls gender violence is often bound up with racial violence precious few studies include the impact of racial hierarchies and norms of beauty on women of color s everyday body checking the whitewashing of eating disorders anorexia as a white girl s problem also conceals the role race plays in the diffusion and development of negative body perceptions additionally the slow violence of pro ana ideologies that view rigorous dieting exercising and starvation not as problems but positive lifestyle choices are too infrequently discussed the scope and scale of body shaming clearly indicate that the fashion industry is not solely to blame for this gendered sphere of america s culture of violence but the fashion industry isn t entirely off the hook either as a purveyor of millions of globally circulating images and words that reinforce and celebrate a body ideal that 95 percent of u s women cannot attain naturally it has enormous power to impact the culture of slow violence that leads to the physical psychological and spiritual deaths of so many women and girls more often though it normalizes impossible thinness underweight models like coco rocha a 5 10 model weighing 108 pounds are told to lose weight and already thin models are regularly photoshopped to appear even more slender although the council of fashion designers of america has come out against unhealthy modeling practices and the culture of fat shame its policies have been weak and unenforced the cfda health initiative is a set of guidelines rather than mandates bans against using models under the age of sixteen have been repeatedly broken without any real consequences as a result adult women are tacitly told to strive for a pre puberty body a goal that engenders a myriad of interlinked slow violences the fashion industry s normalization of compulsory thinness is a huge reason why we only have estimates of eating disorders and disordered eating behavior shame and guilt about not meeting the standards of beauty and thinness as well as the shame from trying to attain these standards when we should know better has made invisible this culture of femininity and violence it s not my intention to detract from the national conversation about the epidemic of school and street shootings instead my hope is to expand these discussions to include other relations of gender and violence that are no less a part of america s culture of violence 5 comments filed under uncategorized by mimi thi nguyen august 29 2012 11 15 am interview tanisha c ford haute couture intellectual tanisha ford rockin it k ellis images timed for the new academic year a few weeks ago racialicious published haute couture in the ivory tower a sharp essay by tanisha c ford about academic chic whose bodies are imagined to inhabit the so called ivory tower and the racial and gender implications of their adornment in response to a recent new york times magazine fashion spread ford argues that the specific sartorial and other fashions on display alongside the absence of bodies of color reinforced the i...
|
