Saturday, January 19, 2013

The Power of Image




This talk by Cameron Russell has been making the rounds in my social media feed.  I've watched it numerous times and each time I think "This is so true".  She talks about how her life is made easier because she won a genetic lottery that plays into a legacy of "what is considered beautiful". It has very little to do with who she is,but how she looks. She expresses that she considers this unfair to many and that she is ultimately very insecure about how she looks.

I found her honesty to be not only refreshing, but it reaffirmed something I have already encountered my entire life.  Many women that fit into the model of current beauty standards are very insecure. In a way, I think this is part of that same legacy of the industry of beauty and fashion; women who are insecure in themselves are more likely to spend money on trying to make themselves "better".  Which is where I bring this back to sewing.

If you think of it in light of current social mores, sewing our own clothes is subversive. We take back  control of our own bodies by making things that fit us and fit our lifestyle. Or our fantasy world, which is the case for those of us that love cosplay and dress up.  But I digress.

When people say its not really cheaper to sew your own clothes I explain that its not exactly about the cost. I mean, it is, when you have expensive taste, but its when you think about how clothes fit and our relationship to our bodies, and in turn, ourselves, that the benefits really come to light. I believe this is why so many sewists will say "Ever since I started making my own clothes I find I'm more confident in my life and happier with my body".  We're breaking the cycle of a negative feedback loop that is advertisement, and that is a good thing.

7 comments:

  1. I think that is a really good point. The moment you start taking control of production and creation from an outside source, you depend a lot less on it and you can make your own patterns and vision.

    Also, once you have your own or an alternative distribution method--if you want to spread around your own personal artifact (which is what DIY philosophy seems to encourage)--then you subvert an external system even further: the especially monopolies that would have to change their own game to maintain themselves. Be it video games, comios, novels, stories, or clothing making your own things gives you personal and individual agency, and that is truly excellent.

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    1. You forgot music distribution too. Artists, like Amanda Palmer and Lindsey Stirling, that use social media to their advantage and get their own "brand" are becoming much more successful and that's where RIAA is really got their panties in a bunch.

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  2. It's very interesting, good points.
    Also I feel when people comment on the items I've made, it is another confidence booster.. so that's always good:)

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  3. This reminds me of a discussion I had with Simon my grandson concerning the meaning of "Advertising" versus "Propaganda" in which we agreed they were one and the same. In today's world the advertising agencies have turned from presenting "Ads of a product" to driving "Products and Images" at you, as in "Propagandizing". This "Propagandizing" includes "subliminal" messages underlying a large number of so called "ads".

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    1. I took a stylistics course this semester, where we also looked at ads... and I, who has never had a TV, was rather shocked by the Propagandizing nature of ads (though I would not have put it that way if I had not read your comment). Especially so when we looked at ads from a gender point of view. So, yes, that's there, and I think it's always good to have a way of looking at it from the outside, and that's no doubt what sewing has done for so many of us.

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  4. Great TED talk, and great topic. (Thanks for sharing!)

    I often get a bit disturbed when I realise how few different body images are shown on media. So many TV shows and movies only contain very slim, beautiful, perfectly-groomed characters - because that's pretty much all that's shown, that becomes "normal" and everything else seems to be lesser, even though what's portrayed as "normal" isn't very representative of real life. (Or not where I live, anyway!) It's not surprising so many young people these days have issues with their bodies and their confidence, which is very sad. :-(

    Personally, I feel very liberated in being able to make my own clothes. I have tried not to purchase brand-new RTW for three years now, and that's made me feel even more liberated - it's like a weight was lifted off, not being "allowed" to buy things (by my own rules) and then, when that became habit, not even feeling the desire to. Take that, mass-produced-made-in-China-unrealistic-body-shape-fitting clothing! I don't need you anymore, just like Sarah says, you have no power over me! ;-)

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