Before revising essay 1, my paper’s main idea was all over the place. I wanted to talk about beauty standards, the idea of beauty, and the lack/misrepresentation of beauty all in one paper! I think I was having such a hard time organizing my paper and developing one certain conversation/topic because I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to write about. Before starting to revise my essay 1, I really thought about what direction I wanted my paper to go in and told myself to only pick one route. I decided to go with the misrepresentation of beauty in the fashion industry because its something that really interest me as well as affects me. 

I want to continue with this idea for my essay 3 but instead of the misrepresentation of beauty I want to write about the lack of diversity in the fashion industry. When I say lack of diversity I’m leaning more towards body size and race. I want to write about how the lack of diversity in fashion effects our society and culture. Ive been brainstorming different conversations/issues to implement into my paper this is what I have thought about so far:

1. for body size I was thinking how the lack of diversity in the fashion industry affects how we see ourselves as well as how we see others with different bodies then our own. Does this cause  a type of social boundary between thin people and heavier people? Bullying? Social expectations as to what you should wear if your thin/heavy?
2. Race and cultural appropriation. Designers hire mostly white models even if designs are inspired by different race/culture. Why not hire different ethnic models (in which their race has inspired different trends/designs)? Why is it that when white models/celebrities where fashion trends/designs inspired by different cultures it is seen as stylish/beautiful? Ex: Kylie Jenner and cornrows. How does race in fashion affect the types of clothes people from different races wear (economic standard)? Is their racism in the fashion industry?

Theses are just my thoughts out loud. Having struggled with essay 1, I really want to have a clear direction and say something!

This week I did a little more research (in order to have little more insight for our cultural artifact assignment) on the photo editing software named Photoshop. I came across an article that was written by a professional photographer it was titled “Is photoshop a villain?” Essentially the article was about Photoshop and the perception society has on it in our culture. After reading this article I had major thoughts and ideas. For one can artifacts actually be good or bad or does our culture/society give them the label they want to give them. Do we label artifacts good or bad depending on how they will benefit us in the long run? Do we label artifacts good or bad because they are not necessarily something that we believe in or are very fond of?

Take the example of this cultural artifact: Make-up. I am a wearer of make-up. I LOVE make-up. Do I wear it all the time? NO. Do I feel ugly without it? NO. Do I think I’m hideous and thats why I wear it? NO. Do I feel prettier with it? YES. Does it change the person that I am or what I will stand up for? NO. Do I get judged for wearing make-up? YES. I wear make up because I want to look my best. (Is there something wrong with that?) I like make- up because to me its like art. There are so many colors/shades you can choose from in relation to eyeshadows, lipsticks,eyeliners,mascara, blushes, bronzers etc. There are so many looks that one can do with make up. The greatest thing about make up is that you can choose the amount you want to wear. Sometimes I can wear very little, a little bit more or even none. It all depends on the occasion. I have been told that people who wear make up are fake or have something to hide. They consider make-up a villain in our society. They say that make-up skews reality.I don’t think this is true. When I wear make-up I don’t think I look like a completely different person. It’s not like I went to go get tons of cosmetic procedures to alter my face (and if someone actually does this who cares?)  Yet people think that wearers of make-up are fake. They say that make-up is deceiving that people are trying to portray something that they are not. I apologize if you thought that I was born with eyeliner on my eyelids and highlight on my cheeks. I’ve been called out by certain feminist that I know because I wear make-up. I thought being a feminist (correct me if I’m wrong) was suppose to be about women empowerment or is the term feminist reserved for only certain “types” of women. One more thing I cannot stand is when people assume that just because you wear make-up you can’t be intelligent. I’ve heard people say that I should focus my time on other things. I go to school full time (get excellent grades), I work part time, I do my homework, I sleep, I eat, and do other things. The time it takes for me to do my make-up does not take away the time for all of these other things. I choose to spend the time to do my make-up (if I have to wake up earlier then that is my decision that shouldn’t effect anyone else). I understand that other people will have a different priority list when it comes to dividing their time but why judge people who have different priorities/lifestyles. Maybe this has to do with age? Different priorities different age? I don’t know. What I do know is that make-up isn’t the villain here. Maybe you are. I think this is true to all cultural artifacts. I we like them they are heroes and if we don’t we consider them villains.

People complain that the media promotes unrealistic beauty standards but what I’m realizing now (due to research for my topic) is that so do we. This week I was on Instagram and I came across a post (that was posted by a female) which said that “big” girls should not wear choker necklaces because they won’t look good on them. WHAT!? WHY?! Im not sure about everyone else but I can’t stand it when people create boundaries for someone based on their appearance. We on our own create beauty standards everyday. On Instagram there are pages dedicated to people with thigh gaps or people covered in tattoos  and each page has communities of people commenting on how this particular aspect is beautiful. Then you have other people posting negative comments that say that those different aspects are not beautiful. So who is correct? I have heard that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but what does that really mean when it comes to beauty standards. To me beautiful (when it comes to a person) is when someone just owns who they are but for someone else that word beautiful can relate to something totally different. I guess i don’t have a problem with a person having a different perception of beauty then I do but rather the discrimination against people who don’t meet their beauty standards (or any standard for that matter). For example on the topic of make up and beauty. There are some that believe that wearing make up is being fake . Then you have those people that love make up and consider it art. Within these two different thoughts there is a created beauty standard. The problem arises when either side speaks negatively about the other. Who is correct? Who will really care at the end of the day? Thinking about this makes me wonder about my paper and the stakeholders section. The way I see it is that we are all stakeholders but have different stakes when it comes to this topic but how do I conceptualize this.

I have family member who take part of beauty competions and own beauty pageants. When ever I have time I help out but I can’t help but feel utterly confused and guilty. Part of me is like well this is totally wrong because these girls are being judged on looks but not only that on specific looks! Are they tall enough, thin enough, does their hair accentuate their facial features or is their walk that of a beauty queen. On the other hand I hear girls say that they do this to help other girls be confident in their own skin and just own it. But how true is that and where does it end in the beauty world???? Will beauty out of the social norm ever really be accepted. The fashion and beauty world have both recently expanded their brands to fit a more variety of peoples body shape, skin color, race, and gender. In the back of my mind i always think about if these brands do all of this to please society. Part of me thinks thats true because I’ve seen both clothes in the regular section and the plus size section and let me tell you most of the clothes in the plus size section were not cute! Why would brands do this! I feel like people who are already being outcassed to a whole other section of the store will only be made to feel worse when they see the clothing that the brand went out of their way to create for their body size. I don’t understand why clothing stores do this. When you walk  into stores like forever 21 you have sections that pertain to different styles. You have the edgy style section, work style, casual style and workout clothing section just to name few. Then with a BIG sign you see the plus size section! Why can’t the all the clothes sizes be together. I don’t get it! The beauty industry does this type of discrimination as well. Certain brands only carry a number of darker foundation colors or the colors they make for eyeliners and lipsticks are only made to accentuate people of a lighter skin tone. I was once in a make up store and heard an employee tell the darker skin tone girl that the brand of foundation make up she wanted did not have darker skintones. To me make up is art and that means every one should be able to enjoy it if they want to.