David Lynch April 15, 2014 English 1102 Professor Grant

Clothing and its effects on society Clothing has been very beneficial to society. Clothes help to prevent weather from affecting our bodies. Throughout history the culture of clothing has changed substantially. Our founding fathers wore wigs to show status and wealth in our country. It is well known that pasty white skin in the 1700s was very common. There is an increased level of status that we put on a particular style of clothing. Today name brands rule America, from food to cars to even clothing apparel. The bright side to clothing and the variety is individual expression. People now have a wide range of clothing and accessories to help make them stand out over others. Since the start of fashion and the general relation to status a common trend in America is being judgmental to others. A survey of three hundred men and women show, that after only 3 seconds of looking at models the three hundred men and women could not only see whom was the most attractive, but also who was the most confident and successful. (Psychology Today) It is becoming a society where it is far more important that you wear a specific type of clothing for separate occasions. Many times Americans feel that the work place can be a restraining. Also many companies

implement moral boosters for their employees to give them a day of the week or month to wear more comfortable clothes and express themselves. I find this information to be very condescending. Most would rather a higher rate of production, noticing a pattern in dress and effectiveness you would figure industry would change. Being comfortable is now not an option for job interviews, this results in a more anxious, stressed applicant taken out of their environment. Church can be demanding of a more conservative style. Along with churches growing to great proportions and becoming more aesthetically pleasing, the dress for church is now more of the unified look of dress attire. Clothing can build negative stereotypes of a certain group of people and social status. As society changes, you find more of the population conforming to the clothing trends for acceptance. This has had negative impacts on communities around the world. In the end we are all the same and clothes dont make the person that you are. Instead I see clothing as an opportunity to outline a persons personality. There are many ways to separate people, but many more ways to become equal in America. Clothing styles in society play a significant role in ethnic identity. For many years the wear and style of clothing in America has changed depending on demographic. One of the most profound differences in demographics is race. With minorities making up the majority of the population in America, we find race to be an issue with certain styles America is a melting pot of different nationalities, with an overwhelming mixture of cultures.(NBC) For many years negative stereotypes related to clothing have been beneficial to still lingering presence of prejudice in modern pop-culture. Racial profiling has led to the increase awareness of unconstitutional acts of discrimination in most work places. Americans conform to a suit and tie type of policy, what I mean is the

majority of white America place emphasis of a blue collar lifestyle in most jobs, usually creating appearance guidelines affecting minorities. Look at the most underpaid and hardest labored jobs, these jobs usually dont have a dress code for the everyday operations of the company. The more money you make the less you tend to work, this trend can caue you to wonder perhaps thats why they wear those nice suits? Or maybe the suit is to symbolize his success and need not to get dirty anymore? Generally speaking most ethnicities wear brands and styles that correlate with the region, background, and cultural awareness. Affirmative action has led to underqualified minorities being placed improperly into job fields. Many times jobs hire minorities to fill positions in companies do to their need for diversity. In doing this sometimes you find underqualified people performing jobs strickly on their appearance in the workplace. The appearance of the man seems to matter more than the ability to complete the job. The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions primary goal is to afford every American the opportunity of employment in America. (solidarity) The goal is to raise awareness to the ongoing unfair business practices in the employment area, and to protect everyone and insure that the workplace is equal for all. I am interested to see what they have for the future of dress in the workplace. Criminal acts from racism have been a common occurrence in many southern states in America. On the night of February 26, 2012 a 17 year old young man by the name of Trayvon Martin was killed. (Trayvon Martin) He was said to be walking in a rural area wearing a black hoodie. His apparel was reason of suspicion enough to cause a member of the local neighborhood watch to approach him. The incident left America baffled. Many people whom followed the trial found it odd that a boy could be

killed just minutes from his house, all for wearing a hoodie in the wrong neighborhood. Clothing has sometimes lead to racial profiling amongst public servants such as law enforcement officials. In 1998 a highly decorated Sergeant First Class of the Army, was pulled over while driving with his 12 year old son two times in a thirty minute time frame. The second stop lead to a 2 and a half hour time frame where the Sergeant and his son were subject to mistreatment and harassment by the officer and the k-9 unit. This treatment leads to the term driving while black across America where some public officials are known to stop minorities for dressing in styles of clothing more suspicious for crimes. (racial injustice) As an African American male I have been subject to scrutiny over the way that I dress. Many police officers have pulled me over for no reason, stating the reason they did was for the assumption of suspicious activity. Apparently driving at night is suspicious. A lot of companys view the typical farmer appearance as ignorance. The rugged look of Levi Jeans and coveralls make for a less enticing quality for corporate America to accept. The effect of 9/11 has increased the security levels in airports across America. Along with ignorance, the fear of nationalities and culture has steered a lot of Americans to target foreigners with different ethnic backgrounds. Pop culture media depict all middle easterners as potential terrorist. The clothing worn in airports can now lead to racial profiling and discrimination. Clothing should play very little role on personality, ethnicity and variety are both what this country was founded and built for. The embrace of everyone for whom they are can lead to less hatred and stereotypes. Clothing has been dominated by a hetero-sexual, white male perspective in popular culture from west coast to east coast. In early American civilization women

played a more submissive role in society. Women predominately wear clothing that of house wives and school teachers. The lack of job force, along with the lack of rights for women, led to the increase of American men dominating the work field. World War II enticed more women to take the role of the head of house. Since then the perception of womens importance in society has changed tremendously. Now with new found independence females are able to express themselves on more than one level. In doing so this has cause some negative stigma. Women are subject to a double standard when it comes to the provocativeness of the apparel. Often women are made to dress in heels and dresses In particular jobs in todays workforce while men wear more relaxed comfortable clothing. In many sports bars in America you find women being degraded, many women are forced to wear revealing clothing and are made to keep a appearance that outlines their sexuality. When applying for Hooters. (A restaurant known for demeaning women), women are asked to maintain a certain level of attractiveness. There is a better chance for many woman to earn more money the sexier their clothing in certain work places. On the other hand some females find it necessary to entice men and women with sexuality. What I mean is that woman sometimes embrace their sexuality for profitable reasons. We live in an era where what we wear can affect us on many levels. Woman often are subject to harassment for clothing styles often worn in pop-culture. If a man sees a woman walking down the street in the same type of clothes that you see a girl degrading herself wearing than you might assume she is the same type of person. Across America we observe more and more women stepping outside of the normal attire to more elusive and revealing garments. Though we live at a time of self-

expression, criticism has become a popular aspect of many of our lives. In doing so women sometimes believe that they should not wear what they want to wear for fear that they are treated the way they shouldnt be treated. There have been cases of extreme hate and sexual harassment. Women are sometimes put at fault when harassed on a sexual level. What I mean is, often times women are told that they were raped and subject to crime because they wear more provocative clothing. Research in 2005 shows that 27 percent of people believe women subject themselves to sexual assault, by wearing sexy or revealing clothing.(This is not) Due to the submissive role we placed on women in America, many woman are labeled as prey to men and women in America. Location is one of the defining ways pop culture affects clothing. Though clothing is marketed in a wide media, Regions often separate a culture, eastern states dress different from western, and the south still has its own traditional twist on modern clothes. This factor helps to bring the United States to a melting pot of cultures along with a melting pot within our own culture. Some negative things can come to play when approached with situations from mixing clothing cultures. From experience, growing up in the south with large amounts of my family still living in Northern states, many of my relatives had an image of southerners wearing farm clothes and ripped jeans. Though this can be true in various places across America, my cousins thought that southerners were slower just because the clothing they wore. I can remember going to Walmart and hearing numerous stereotypical assumption flying from the mouths of my family. Age is a defining factor in the evolution of clothing in America. For many years the youth has shaped the country that we all live in. Not all changes are seen as

positive. The change of clothing has significantly influences ages in America. In the 1960s the world was very bland with little emphasis on color and individuality. The 70s hosted a barrage of color new design and an element of self-expression. Sometimes the case an many school systems are the regulation of clothing to appeal to the older more conservative crowds.(dpsn) Over the years clothing has been seen as more offensive to the older generations. In conclusion this research has shown me a lot about myself and about others. There are truths that this country was built on. Many people follow the pattern and the history of clothing and find it as a way of equality. Growing up as a minority and the increased spotlights that have been on the minority youth caused me to do some research into the meaning of the needless killings and the hatred of our nation. This subject Is something that we find hard to deal with in America today. We like to believe that we are a country built on freedom and equality, yet we hold expectations from appearance high in our everyday decisions. It took progression on a social level to allow minorities and women to become equal. Not only negative comes from the clothing and society. Many times we familiarize clothing and uniforms with more positive and accepting situations in our culture. Police officers are symbolized with trust and protection. United States soldiers can be recognized because the types of camoflauge they are wearing. I believe we as a society need to choose what is more important to us. The Differences such as clothing that separate us on no moral level, or furthering discrimination by segregating a nation through clothing. I ask does clothing play a role on society. I would say it does but it certainly shouldnt.

Works Cited www.aclu.org/racial-injustice/driving -while-black-racial-profiling-our-nationshighways www.cbsnews.com/feature/george-zimmerman-trial-trayvon-martin-case/ psychologytoday.com/blog/do-something-different/201304/what-your-clothesmight-be-saying-about-you www.solidarity-us.org/site/node2604 www.thisisnotaninvitationtorapeme.co.uk/dress#impact_tab USNEWS.NBCNEWS.COM dpsnc.net