Relationship Between Fashion And Identity Cultural Studies Essay

Relationship Between Fashion And Identity Cultural Studies Essay For many years people have been putting some message in the type of clothing they wore, people started wanting to stand out from the big crowds and be different from other people, changing the way they use their clothes, giving a personal touch, trying to stand out from the common way that people were used to wear it. Fashion can be defined as a constantly changing trend, it is necessary to recognize that at the present moment fashion has a deeper influence on peoples life, is not only anymore something to cover our self, fashion nowadays show some part of peoples personality and tell to other people who they are. People can decide in which way want to be perceive, showing that fashion posses more than just frivolous reasons for its existence, is not just a way to look good, transcends social and cultural barriers. Clothing has become a part of the self-realization of every person. At the beginning Clothing was basically designed to be supply the fact of be covering as a need, a need that is dictated by the norms of social conduct. The type of clothing people use to cover depends on the person who is wearing it, taking us to the concept of personal identity. The choice of clothing and accessories is as important as the identification of the colour of hair, height, skin and gender. Clothing nowadays is a media of information about the person wearing it (Barnard, 2002) The present time offers a great variety of styles and gives people the opportunity to reveal their identity. Every cloth carries a strong message but is about every owner look. Therefore, the clothing of a person is a mean of communication with the outside world. It is the way of telling people about the state and the status of it owner (Barnes Eicher, 2008). On the book Fashion as communication by Malcolm Barnard, it is a perfect outlining of cultural roles, rules, rituals, and responsibilities that are maintained and constructed by fashion. Fashion can be compared to art. The use that people give to the clothes is like an architector that gives his creation any shape he desires and want and at the same time is the reflection of the architectors toughs, believes and also the place and the social class for who he is designing for, this works as a perfect example because, people look in one way when they are going to work and they are some other where they are just hanging out with friends. The message that clothing contains is basically a way of nonverbal communication, all of this means that in this new era, people not just wear close to follow a social condition that is to be cover, it is also a way to show people how important is for each of us to be well presented. Clothes have an immense impact on the perception of people and on the perception of the person who is wearing it, a suit can make a person feel more confident which eventually will change even the gestures and the manner of talking of the person or for inst ance wearing jeans after a suit may change the conduct of a person to a very liberal one (Hollander, 2002) The perception of people around can be very predictable in terms of their reaction on a person wearing this or that style of clothing. Fashion is one of the most powerful means of communication, which sometimes may play a vital role in the life of a person. Therefore fashion may not only carry a message. This can be simply proved by analysing the reaction of the people on the street on people wearing different types of clothing. The preference is always given to people dressed in a conventional way, with this Im not saying that been presented in the way that society expect is the right way, Im just saying that we still inside of a society that always expect that things should be in a certain way, is good that we are opening our minds and is easy to develop an style in a free way showing their personality without be scare of the reaction of the society, we dont judge the people who is next to us for what he is wearing because the believes and thought of that person can tell him that t he person who is next to him is not going according to it should be, here is where it comes the fact that that globalized world like the one we are living now, give us the opportunity to understand that not what I think is what is right, all of this show us that fashion it can be a tool of manipulation where with the right look you can be part of any society without have to expose what you truly believe. In terms of gender Clothing is a fundamental part in the image of a contemporary man or a woman (Crane, 2001). The image is constructed for various reasons and has various manifestations; Dressing has become a way to create and to reveal information. Fashion has always been considered to have more of women based orientation, Women, have a great impact on the development of fashion worldwide. Of course one of the primary messages clothes carry is the social message. Historically the social message has transformed, Nowadays clothing is not an attribute of belonging to a clan, or to a restrained social level though it still can tell a lot about the financial status of a person, women use to wore traditional dresses, which signified their cultural and social status (Guy Green Banim, 2003). Women clothing in the past had a lot to do with emphasizing femininity, Analysing the way of dressing today it is necessary to say that fashionable clothes has push extremely femininity way. Women bec ome less ladylike but more aggressive and business like. Women have accepted a lot of clothing styles that propagandize masculinity. Of course theyre still some women that still caring tenderness and femininity preserving womens sexuality in their styles but nevertheless the general tendency of feminization in todays society has done its work. Nowadays is not a secret that men are more involved on this trend of take care in a better way of the way they look. Through the history mens fashion has changed a lot. Identity has brought a lot of specific changes in the perception of a contemporary man. An open manifestation of sexual orientation has brought the image of a feminine man; fashion for men has become more flexible, letting the men express it self without been worried of what people is going to think about it, the funny thing if it can be call as funny is that before, taking that before as the time of kings and prince, they used to be really concerned about they way they look, a nd if look some of those customs some of them used to be really feminine and the fact that they were really concern about they way they look was normal, even the fact that a prince didnt care they way he looks was disrespectful with his customs. The symbolism of clothing is another part of delivering the message that a person tries to put into it. The symbolism may touch any part of peoples life For example: music, sexual orientation and some others, (Barnard, 2002). Originally, a symbol is a facility that is used to express feelings or belonging to some group of class often dealing with power and wealth. The perception of symbols is not the same as the perception of the whole clothing image of an individual, because people may interpret the same symbol differently and the understanding of the carrier of the symbol will be completely different. For Example every person has to be very careful with the symbol on a visit in a foreign country; all of this because the double meaning of the symbols that may be offending the culture the person is in, this take us to the example of someone next to us on the underground, every person belongs to a different culture and has the right to reveal into his personal identity sometimes repla cing on his own look his cultural identity. This cultural identity brings people belonging to a culture definite highlighting differences with other people. Clothing in terms of culture is the way to reveal either the historical roots of a person or the roots the group he belongs to demonstrating a belonging to a certain cultural community. Is very easy to distinguish a European from a Hindu by the style of dressing or an Indian woman from an oriental woman by the distinctive spot on the forehead of an Indian woman and a veil worn by Moslem woman. Fashion has taken the best part of the traditional costumes of every culture, giving the chance to people to show from where they came in a really respectful way, been proud of where they came from. Fashion and identity are inseparable. Fashion with all its symbolism and attributes and with it outstanding base and the Identity as a necessary process of each person personality as it is a part of self-realization. Fashion can help each person to show who is and how wants to be seen.

The film Stigmata & the Challenge of Conceptualizing Women as Spiritual Agents :: Free Essays Online

The film Stigmata & the Challenge of Conceptualizing Women as Spiritual Agents The history of Western religion has, for the most part been a history of men's religious stories, practices, and writings. It is quite rare and exceptional to find accounts of religion or practicing groups that place women's experiences at the center. Books, films, and various other cultural products bear this out by demonstrating a stubborn lack of attention to women's religious experiences. At first glance, the movie Stigmata seems like a film that defies this generalization. The movie, starring Patricia Arquette, places a female protagonist and her mystical experiences with Christ at the center of the plot. The woman is modeled after a great figure in the Catholic tradition, St. Francis, and hers is seemingly the story around which the entire movie is structured. Though this apparently unusual use of a woman's direct experience with God seems on an immediate level to be very transgressive, however, the film ends up being even more hegemonic, in a sense because of the way in which it subtly reinforces normative notions of the male-centeredness of supernatural experiences of God in the Catholic tradition. In this paper I will look at how Stigmata represents sex and gender roles in the Catholic church and in secular America and of how it uses women's sexuality and assumptions about women's lack of spiritual agency to ultimately undermine the legitimacy of authentic feminine experience with the Christian God. I will argue that the movie's emphasis on very structuralist notions of good and evil, man and woman, pure and impure, inevitably sets up a system in which a female's religious authority will be lost. A patriarchal tradition, as the Catholic church most certainly represents, must always scramble to accommodate the abnormality of a woman experiencing a direct link with God. The unwillingness to imagine a situation in which a character like that of Patricia Arquette's character, Frankie, would have a legitimate direct experience with God is a common one throughout the Western (and Western-occupied) world. The emphasis on only granting legitimacy to the written word in the Western rel igious tradition has always created an environment of hostility to women's non-discursive religious experiences. This paper will also look at how the religious conflicts between the Western patriarchal tradition and female members of a non-Western religious tradition (specifically a group of Ngarrindjeri women) have unfolded and at how such conflicts are similar to the conflict that is represented between Frankie and the priests who would control her in Stigmata.

Barriers to Changing Personal Health Behavior

The result of the real age test has come as a surprise to me. There is a difference in my real age and the age results shown by the real age test. I have also been surprised by the factors which can affect one health. According to real age study factors such as relationships including having pets and the frequency of the times you have with your friend may affect our health. Thus there is an urgent need to undertake practices and actions which improve my real age. However there are some barriers which inhibit the decision to adopting good health behavior.One of the barriers is readiness to certain changes. In order on to improve on my real age I have to change my eating habit behavior, change my relationship profile and exercise more to improve my fitness level. Some habits such as smoking are not easy to quit. Another barrier is availability of time Sparing time for exercise might be a challenge especially for a fulltime students and the working class. The exercise itself is a sacri fice and requires a lot of discipline on my side.Good health is not seen as a priority and other would rather work for extra hours instead of relaxing provided they earn an extra. Taking good health a priority will be a barrier not only to me but also to other many people. Some of the stress is caused by our working condition. Some of us work very hard and long hours. Since it is the source of our living we cannot do away with it. Thus our work can also be a barrier to personal health behavior. One of the means I intend to use to improve my real age will involve changing my attitude towards things.Taking health as a priority is one of them. Having a positive mind will reduce occurrence of stress. By changing my attitude I will spare time for exercising. I will avoid some lifestyles such as smoking and excessive drinking which negatively affect my health. In order to observe healthy living I will eat recommended amount of food avoiding food and beverages high in calories. I will also adopt an active lifestyle where by I will exercise, walk and jog to avoid gaining excessive weight.The portion distortion quiz also reveals some shocking finding about how our eating habits and the choice of food we eat affect our health. The amount of food in our body is determined by the type of food we consume. There is also a trend revealed by the quiz that as new technology and new methods of cooking food is invented the amount of calories in the food increases. The pizza of 20 years ago has fewer calories compared to today’s pizza of the same quantity. From the finding of portion distortion quiz I intend to avoid food and beverage with high quantity of calories.This will reduce chances of occurrence of lifestyle diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. From the finding it is evident that exercising burns out the excess calories in our busy. I therefore intend to live an active life whereby I will do more than just the daily chores to burn excessive calories. Traditi onal foods are healthier than the new types of food which are very famous nowadays. I intend to avoid unhealthy lifestyle even if it might be the current trend.From the finding it is very easy to increase the amount of calories in your body. However burning them is not that easy. Therefore I will concentrate more on avoiding food with high amount of calories other than exercise to burn them. References Health Canada 2010 overcome barrier retrieved 30 July, 2010 from http://www. hc-sc. gc. ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/maintain-adopt/index-eng. php Health system for home use 2010 secret to live longer retrieved 30 July, 2010 from http://www. healthreviser. com/content/secret-live-longer

Essay on Ethics in Policing - 824 Words

Ethics in Policing CJS/210 November 1, 2009 William Whitlatch, Instructor Ethics in Policing According to Webster’s Dictionary, ethics is defined â€Å"as the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation† (Merriam-Webster Online). This concept is prevalent in the world of police work since police officers are supposed to be the â€Å"good† in whatever is considered a â€Å"bad† situation. Many police departments offer training in ethics during the time in which a cadet is in the police academy and after officers are put on the streets, which is called in-service training. It is the hope that while this training is available to officers, that they hold a basic code of ethics within themselves which†¦show more content†¦While the wording of the police code of conduct may vary by jurisdiction, the end result is the same— â€Å"protect those that need protecting, perform the job with integrity, keep others information confidential unless the performance of duty or legal provision requires oth erwise, use discretion based on reasonableness, never employ use of force unless in the defense of life, and behave in a manner that does not discredit the office in which they are employed† (Ethics and Law Enforcement, 2002). Corruption Police corruption is one of the ethical issues affecting law enforcement officers. Corruption is defined as â€Å"impairment of integrity, virtue or moral principle; inducement to do wrong by improper or unlawful means† (Merriam Webster Online, 2009). While the most recognizable form of corruption involves officers taking money for favors (bribery), the actions that are considered corruption include filing false police reports, harassment of any person due to sex, race, creed, religion, national origin or sexual orientation, and failure to protect the rights of citizens. Corruption exists in all levels of law enforcement. When people think of police misconduct, they immediately think of police brutality. While police brutality is a form of police misconduct, the term is much broader. Police misconduct is any conduct that is outside the ethical code that officers are sworn to follow.Show MoreRelatedCode Of Ethics Within Policing1018 Words   |  5 Pagesow n code of ethics. But a question some might ask is, what is a code of ethics? Code of ethics set out the values that reinforce the code and will describe a company’s obligation to its stakeholders. 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