Themes for the essay:
- feminism
- body positivity
- cultural appropriation
exploitation:
within this section of the essay i plan to look in to the ways in which workers are exploited in to making clothes for brands who claim to care about women's right/brands who cash in on the 'feminist' phrase in order to sell clothes. Also look in to the exploitation of social issues and cultures as a way to profit.
In Bangladesh over three million people, 85% of whom are women, work in the garment industry
- A garment factory helper’s wage starts at just £25 a month, with sewing operators earning just £32 a month – far below a living wage
- 80% of workers work until 8pm or 10pm, after starting at 8am – in excess of the legal limit on working hours
- Three quarters of the women workers we spoke to had been verbally abused at work and half had been beaten
 'a social problem is constituted in claims by ordinary members of society' |
| constructing social problems, Malcolm Spector, John I. Kitsuse, 2000
'From actors wearing black for the awards season to the outlawing of the Formula 1 ‘grid girls’, the argument around how what a woman wears affects how she feels and how she is perceived has never seemed so vocal. Actually, it’s a historical discourse and not new at all, but presumptions are being challenged and, typical of the fashion industry, views are being expressed and so-called ‘rules’ broken. - fashion as a feminist tool, Melissa Wheeler'
(Above Quote) ideas of talking about fake feminism within the fashion industry- people want to be 'vocal' with their fashion, companies are profiting off of this
cultural appropriation:
To put it simply, cultural appropriation is the adoption of elements of one cultural group by a ‘dominant’ group. It’s the trivialisation of ideas, images and styles from other cultures, which debases their original significance in the name of vanity. With this in mind, the fashion industry has certainly had a part to play in the perpetuation of cultural and racial stereotypes.
Last year Dolce and Gabbana sparked controversy with their use of blackamoor and imperialist imagery in their Spring 2013 collection. Victoria’s Secret was another offender and was recently scrutinised for putting a scantily clad Karlie Kloss in a feathered headdress: a symbol of honour and respect in Native American culture.
An argument against the prevalence of cultural appropriation in the fashion industry is that wearing an item with cultural resonance is a sign of admiration for the culture in question. Unfortunately, the issue is far more complex than that. Those guilty of appropriating are, by and large, of white ethnicity and are representative of Western hegemony.
For the most part, people do not realise that wearing culturally significant garments inadvertently reinforces segregation and stereotypes. It’s exploiting the cultural markers of marginalised groups and, in turn, misrepresenting them. Those who use the excuse that ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ fail to acknowledge their inherent privilege or recognise the history of oppression suffered by the cultural group in question.
the difference of seventeen magazine from 1973 to 2010, image left; focus on the Navajos in what appears to be a respectful way, in contrast to a 2010 issue in which the Navajo culture is being appropriated for stylistic reasons.
The essay should also focus on cultural appropriation within the fashion industry, i want to find out whether people are aware they're appropriating cultures, who's to blame for appropriation being such a big issue within the fashion world, what needs to be in place so that the sales figures for appropriated items go down, who needs to be educated? will the fashion industry ever change?
do people need to be made aware of the cultural significance? will this make a change?
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