Fashion and Politics

Seeing as fashion the outward expression of one's inner self, much information about a persons character and personality are perceived from appearance alone. It is vastly important among celebrities and their desire to always look stylish and on the cutting edge of fashion trends. However, it is even more important for those in the political rat race, especially during campaigning time. 

Men often do not receive the same amount of scrutiny as women running for a office because political men have a staple style to follow that they know is acceptable. This style consists of a dark colored suit (black or blue) of different cuts that are tailored to what makes the candidate look his best. For women, attire turns into a world of challenging fashion selections. Because these people are running for an office that is chosen by the people and as a representative of those people, what they wear can make all the difference in whether they become a popular candidate, so selection is crucial. This is an interesting time to witness women in politics seeing as women are gaining the support to run for more influential government positions. We are seeing the transformation and hybrid between the fashion of the first ladies of the past into the respectful, trendy political candidates of today. 

As of lately Senator Hillary Clinton, Governor Sarah Palin, and First Lady Michelle Obama have been the center of conversation in the political world when it comes fashion. Whether for Senator Clinton's transfer from dark pant suits that were comparable to a mens suit to her colorful pant and skirt suits as of recent, Governor Palin's heightened fashion sense, brought on by the $150,000+ spent on her campaign wardrobe, to Michelle Obama's enamored sense of fashion and cutting edge trends while keeping a powerful, classy look.  With all the glory of being at the center of attention comes the overwhelming response of scrutiny. And budgeting correctly for that look is also under close eye because the public sees their spending habits on the campaign trial as a representation of how they will manage the Nation's budget. These women are condemned if they have any sort of fashion mishap, while still expected to balance conservative, classic looks with cutting edge fashion. 

Fashion in film through the decades

Fashion has changed so much over the years and also has had a revolving door effect within celebrity circles.  Fashion trends as we know them, come in as quickly as they move out, but there are some revolutionary ideas that have come into play in the fashion world, especially for women, that will never go out of style. 

The 1920's was a majestic time for America and especially fashion. This was the emergence of fashion icons and the need for styles worn by the celebrities. The trend was short "bob" cut hair, a short skirt or flapper dress, and it was the onset of designer clothes like Chanel and Givenchy. Everyone who was anyone wanted to wear the finest clothes so symbolize a high status or power. And this was one of the first times in history that high class women and celebrities were seen wearing trousers. 

The 1930's were what many thought to be the return to a more lady like appearance with fashion that showed off women's busts and waistlines that were curvy, as well as the hair looking less edgy. However, women's clothing had to become more practical as they became more productive during the day. But at night women were still adorned with beautiful new fabrics  that shimmered with sequins and glass beads. This was also the time the halter neck became a popular fashion style, along with backless evening dresses and clothing that was form fitting. 

The 1940's  were very different due to the war. Fabrics were rationed, and embellished clothing was thought unpatriotic. Utility and uniformity became the fashion trend. The wedge sole shoe became popular for its sturdiness, the turban and head scarf for keeping women's hair out of factory machines, and the siren suit became popular as it was the first jumpsuit and was easy and quick to put on in an emergency situation. 

The 1950's was mainly about fashion accessories. The pre-formed conically stitched bra, beads, eyewear with large wings with rhinestones, gloves of a variety of colors, furs, handbags, stiletto healed pointed toe shoes, and hats to dress out any old outfit. Lavish material began to be used again, and bouffant net petticoats and paper nylon petticoats became popular. And pencil skirts as well as the empire dress were introduced. 

The 1960's fashion trends were led by the youth for the first time in history. Much to my surprise, the mini skirt was not popular until the mid 1960's with the fashion of the fifties still holding popularity up until then. Stockings ended, and pantyhose or tights, took flight. Women felt liberated from girdles of the fifties. Low kitten heels and flat boots became popular with the mini dresses. And for a more practical look trousers with a tunic or shirt were worn. 

The 1970's were adorned with a variety of clothing that would please women on any given day at any time. Mini skirts were still popular for day wear, maxi dresses were worn in the evening as well as empire line dresses with sequined fabric, evening trousers or halter neck catsuits. This was also the period where hot pants were popular at the discos and animal prints began to stake their claim.

The 1980's was the origination of the power suit for woman. Usually decorated with beadwork or elaborate stitching with shoulder pads. Fine jewelry was popular as well as oversized costume jewelry. Dresses became available in more bold colors and tops with batwing sleeves.  Shawls, clutches, hats, embellished tights, and wedge shoes, low pumps, as well as doc marten's were popular. 

And lastly in the 1990's people began to dress down. Glitz and glamour were put aside, people began to wear trousers and blue jeans more, pashminas were used to dress outfits up, and camouflage and animals patters became more prevalent. Also, strappy sandals and designer label shoes like Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo became of great importance. 

The fashions of the past decade have paved the path for the 21st century and the future. These fashions always seem to revolve and come back at one time or another. It is simply interesting to see where them come from and really try to understand why each style was popular at that time period. 

"Before We Part Ways"

The semester has flown by, and being my last semester ever of college has really gotten me thinking about past classes I have taken, what I have learned... and still remember, and most of all in what ways this knowledge, that I have invested the past five years of my life in, will change me and actually take form in my future. I truthfully can't tell you if what I am about to say next occurred simply because I am currently in this class and it is the most current class I could recall or what, but the first class that I could recall that has truly impacted me was race, gender and media. We spend so much time learning politics, science, mathematics, sociology, psychology, all to come to understand how. How government works, how the human body works, how nature works, how people are conditioned, how people are socialized, how businesses are ran, just a whole lot of hows. But where are the whys? They are so often left out, not accounted for, or very minimally explained. I think this class made a difference because it got down into the why. 

It is easy to go through life and not ask why people are treated differently and where this train of thought has come from. We get so wrapped up in our own small problems that we often choose not to acknowledge others problems that are grander than ours. This class has forced me to step outside of myself and at the very least hear others out about how different their situation is, and to do my best to understand what they go through and the difficulties others face. At first, this was all I was doing, listening, trying to understand, but the more and more I heard and learned about how misrepresented and ill treated other races are in the media and in the world, it was impossible for me to not be changed. Now, when I watch a show, read a magazine, watch the news, or even stop at the convenient  store, I can't help but see differently. The major change for me this semester is the simple act of becoming aware. It sounds small, but it makes all the difference. Knowledge is power in this world, and putting it into action is only the next step. So as I go out into the world, whether I get the opportunity to work in the advertising world or not I will have the knowledge to see when woman are being continually sexualized, different races being underrepresented, or ethnicities being stereotyped, and take a stance and do my part to change these problems. 

Whenever I first heard that we had to blog in this class, I was everything but excited. I had not idea why people liked blogs so much and I had no interest in doing one myself. Much to my surprise, in the middle of the first blogging assignment I began to see why. I felt so free to just write, put my thoughts and opinions down and no care in the world if others agreed or disagreed with me. It was liberating and slightly therapeutic to voice your opinions for anyone to see, and it really made me think about what we had been discussing and apply it to the world around me. It was insightful to read the opinions of others and to come to understand their thoughts on the same topics.I have come to understand why blogging is so important to some people and why so many people are doing it. I think I will continue to be one of them. So I am thankful to you Professor Flippin-Wynn for presenting this medium to me, it has certainly made an impact on my life. 

I have one last thing to wrap this up. I really enjoyed getting to know the other people in my group and I think that group work is one of the greatest ways to teach. We all have to learn to work with others well, and it is particularly useful for this class in that you don't always get grouped with people that are just like you. It teaches us to understand others, and that's one of the most important morales in life... understanding. 

I hope I have made it obvious how I feel about this class and the way it was taught. I would suggest this class to anyone because I think we are all taking more than just a few credit hours away from it. 

Fashion In The Media

Fashion has always portrayed a sense of self, consisting of one's unique personality and moreover, social status. Clothing, more and more each day is converting from being a simple way of presenting oneself in a socially acceptable manner, to using clothing to define a person and to symbolize who they are. This is particularly interesting to see in a down economy such as we see so often today. Designers as well as recognizable men and women in the media have put more influence on the necessity of making the fashion they create and wear Eco-friendly, seem more affordable, or tie certain designer labels into the positive PR (charities) they fund. This is the most noticeable with the mentioning of different people feeling guilty for spending so much money on a specific piece of fashion when so many people are hurting and the news coverage of brands that are giving back to the hurting communities around them. Fashion is the backbone of hollywood, therefore the media. 

To be accepted in Hollywood and in the media you have to look the part. This often takes on the face of a makeover, something I call being hollywoodized (an ordinary person who undergoes professional make-up and hair treatment, and finalized through being brought up to date with fashion and converted to a person with style). This shows how much fashion and looking good can change a persons life- the way they feel, act and are received. 

However, whether people in the media are sporting high fashion items or fashion pieces that are considered a bargin, it is fact that fashion will never take a back seat in the media no matter how bad the economy gets. This is so interesting to me because it directly connects the way people feel about themselves by being fashion forward and the strong connection people have to always looking their best. 

Hip-Hop Music

Hip-hop music to me is a genre of music that developed among African Americans as a form of rebellion and a way to give the oppressed a voice. This music that was once slightly political is now mainstream for not only African Americans, but for anyone. The basic rhythms and "beats" resonate the culture of African Americans, with a wide range of vocals. 

Five Hip- Hop Artists I have never listened to before are: 

1. Raekwon

2. Playaz Circle

3. Cory Gunz

4. Big Daddy Kane

5. Digital Underground

Five Hip-Hop Videos I have never seen before are: 

1. Team Blackout (Feat. Chris)-"Gotta Have Her"-- This video focuses on a man who loves this woman and takes her where ever she wants to go, buys her what she wants, all because he loves her. 

2. Memphis Bleek- "Real Nigga Shit"-- Focus on life on the streets for a group of African American men, the video focuses on a day in the life for them and is actually not over done, its pretty realistically shot. No women in booty shorts dancing on and around their cars. 

3. Jacki-O- "Hood Girl"

4. 8Ball- "America"-- The focus of this video is how hard life is on the streets for poverty stricken people. 

5. Playaz Circle (Ft. Oj Da Juiceman)- "Stupid"

Two Radio Stations that broadcast hip-hop music are:

1. Power 103.5 (Norman, OKC)

2. Hot 107.1 (Memphis, TN & Online at Hot1071.com)

Corporations that have used hip-hop to advertise and promote their products are:

1. Wrigleys Double Mint Commercial

2. Gap- Khakis Hip Hop Commercial

Hip-hop music has become intricate to all media forms in America. Aside form its tradition forms of radio and concert, mp3 players and the internet have taken it to a new level.  Hip-hop also has branched off into specific television stations where hip hop music is the foundation, it become the reason why so many dance shows have gotten so popular, and is used in a multitude of television sitcoms. 

Hip-hop music has saturated and changed the face of urban culture. Obviously, slang terminology has been an undeniable contribution to mainstream culture from the hip-hop world; however, I don't feel like that does justice to all hip-hop has done for mainstream culture. Sure its created a language of its own, but more than that, the hip-hop movement has made social and political changes beyond the surface of traditional American culture. Through hip-hop music, some of the best minds have been able to creatively make a difference in how people of this world view and treat each other, as well as continuously reinforcing that America is the melting pot of the world, and we need to start respecting that instead of wasting time and energy categorizing people into distinct groups for our own personal gains. 

I asked my father what he listened to while he was younger and the answer was a repetitive, and excited exclamation of ROCK! His favorites were ZZ Top, ACDC, and R.E.O. Speedwagon. My step-mom was big into country, like Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, and Shania Twain, as well as soft rock like Brian Adams, Air Supply, Journey, and 38 Special, Styx. It was interesting to me because I asked them about different genres, and both of the said their main this was rock music, and never was hip-hop/rap/jazz anything of that sort even mentioned...even when I explicitly asked.

I think the image of hip-hop this days is actually pretty good when you look at it as a whole. I think the because of the way some rap music is presented or through its lyrics, it gets a bad reputation. For example, due to the "values" and "morals" they portray to be of importance to them, while belittling others (especially sexualizing women.)

For some reason I cannot comment on other people's posts, so I am going to comment on here and detail who I am speaking to:

Ashriel's Poison: Is it in the Picture??

I absolutely agree. I found that in most of the magazine ads African Americans were shown in the backgrounds, blended into a crowd or were all together less prominent in the advertisement. Also, in my tracking I found the same exact situation with an Asian woman, she was one of three women portrayed, however she was on the end and only half or so of her face was actually shown...I did not understand this either...? was it for a mysterious look or were they trying to casually trying to make her less noticeable..? I found gender and racial roles in commercials to be one of the most shocking findings. The fact that over and over again so many stereotypes were being reinforced, ideas of making minorities or women sexualized, belittled, or inferior is what really disappointed me.

Adam Hinton's Blog: Race and Gender in Advertising:

Adam, I really enjoyed your insight on this issue. It's not everyday that someone gets to hear the true inner thoughts and feeling of a young black man on racial issues, and I want to assure you that I am not being sarcastic or anything. It's just that two of my best friends through high school were black guys, but they never really brought up their thought or opinions on racial issues around me...which was most likely just to keep their from ever being what they thought could be an awkward topic. But that also made me think, I never really thought about it or brought it up either, so maybe they were the same? I don't know...but anyways, I don't want to ramble so I will say a couple of things. Yes, the sassy black woman is played out and the Popeye's commercial annoys me because I feel like it is demeaning and reinforcing racial stereotypes. Secondly, I think it is good that you can see racial issues around you and that it is something that you pick up on and become an conscious consumer of the media; but likewise as you have said, even though becoming knowledgeable on the matter of race in the media can lead to people thinking that you are overplaying and overanalyzing everything. I don't know what your major is, so I can't talk explicitly towards you and your future career; however, I will say that I think you will have success with making others more conscious of these stereotypes (racial and keep analyzing gender) and have the ability to influence the media you work with as long as you pick and choose your battles. Overall, good work man!

Is it in the picture?

As far as our society has come from racial and gender discrimination 50 years ago, specific racial stereotypes and gender roles/stereotypes are found in many of todays advertisements. Here are 10 advertisements that I have reviewed over the week that had noticeable gender or racial stereotypes.

The Suave hair products TV ad shows a woman who has great hair on the upper half of the slit screen and the bottom half is her making lunch for, grocery shopping with, bathing, feeding, etc. her children and pets while looking great the whole time. This reinforces traditional female roles as a housewife who takes care of the children, cooks, makes lunches, and says that she has to still look great doing it. I think this shows how the media portrays women as having to still look appealing and sexy for men while doing all the things that a traditional man wants his wife to do. 

A GM commercial for "Rallying America" shows a diversified group of people of all ethnicities that I think is a good representation of America. It shines a light on how many people are loosing their jobs and how GM will help their customers with payment systems if they so happen to lose their jobs. The only part of the commercial I found unappealing was that in the midst of this message the only person they showed who wasn't at work was an African American who was playing the drums on a street corner for money. It simply is stating that it is common and okay for an African American to lose their job and work on the street for money. Why was this person not of any other ethnicity?

The company that surprised me the most was Gordman's and their TV spot. It shows two women at a fragrance counter of a department store, a white woman working and an African American customer. The African American lady is testing perfumes and and leans in towards the lady working the counter and says can I get this half price? This is unbelievable to me, they are reinforcing the stereotype that African Americans are less wealthy than whites and that the lady couldn't afford to pay full price for a perfume bottle. Whether the media is realizing it or not, these subtle delinquencies are unconsciously infecting the minds of viewers. 

An ad for Sephora in In Style magazine has a two page ad titled "Beauty Bill of Rights" pledging allegiance to pretty campaign. The headline for the specific product they are promoting is VETO WRINKLES. This once again shows how the media promotes women's need to look pretty, flawless, unaging. It makes it seem as if aging makes a person unattractive, which is interesting because we celebrate attractive older men "silver fox" and do not put them under the same scrutiny and pressure as women. 

In Style also had a L'OREAL paris ad that showed 3 women over a two page advertisement. Two of the women were Caucasians and the third was an Asian American. While it is noteworthy that the ad showed some diversity, the problem was in that the advertisement spotlighted the blonde Caucasian woman,  and the Asian American was in the corner of the shot. It basically was saying that the Asian American was not pretty enough or strong enough to carry an ad campaign. Reinforcing that while Asian Americans are intelligent and hard working, they will never be as attractive as caucasian women. Also, in the picture the other two women look innocent or intriguing, while the Asian American woman looks fierce and sexy (like the dragon lady or Asian sex woman stereotypes). 

I also found gender and or racial stereotypes in the following advertisements:

Louis Vuitton in Vogue (sexualizes women)

Allstate (African American spokesperson)

Luv's diaper commercial (cute, but is geared to African Americans)

Hoodia weightloss pill TV commercial (white women needing to diet and being unhappy with their bodies)

Victoria's Secret TV ad (sexualizes women, and not much diversification)

Reflection:

I think their is an unfair representation of minorities in advertisements. And when they are represented, it is frequently in stereotypical roles or ways that possibly harm their races. Also, on the aspect of gender roles, I think it misconstrues women as sexual toys and not really people, especially since most women are portrayed as being young and skinny.