Final Blog

#1
In class, I believe that I have a respectful mind. I think that this type of mind suits me best because we do a lot of group work, so its almost a necesssary trait to have. My group will always do our work seperately, but then after we have all completed our work we get together and compare our answers and decided on what is best. When we do this, I always am open to what others in my group have to say. Each explains their reasoning for their answer. I listen to this closely and consider each answer as a possiblity. I do not completely rule out their answer merely because it is different from mine. Actually, when I listen to what they say I learn new types of thinking methods. By understanding and listening to what the others in my group say, I learn thinking processes and new approaches to things that I would have never known if I had not listened to what they had to say.
#2

• Exhibit curiousity- I exhibit curiousity by learning new things each day and researching things in class. In my essays, homework assignments, and projects in this class, I always go in deepth and try to really learn from everything we do. Whenever we have the chance, I will look up new words and find out the meaning of allusions I don't understand when reading a practice multiple choice. Also, in my essays I make sure to find new vocab words and go into details. In everything I do for this class, I never take the easy way out. Rather, I go above and beyond to learn no matter what.
• Exhibit respect for other viewpoints- After this class, I have become much better at listening and considering all points of views. In our class discussions, I do not argue with other people's viewpoints. Instead, I use this to maybe help me analyze something new or to support my own viewpoint. Even though I may think I am right, I can always learn new things from my classmates so I must respect what they say and think. This class has really taught me why it is so important to do.
• Experiment with new ideas- This class has made me go outside my comfort zone of thinking. I have learned new thinking processes and different ways to approach certain tasks. An example is the very in deepth multiple choice questions we do. I have to learn how to think through each one which can be a challenge. I must also write essays in forms I am not used to, but they are good because I must learn new ways to express my self. Each new way of thinking I observe in class I try to apply in my own work. Also, my classmates opinions cause me to consider each and think about what they mean. Sometimes in our group work, I learn a new tone that I didn't really see but then I must find it in the passage. This causes me to have to try something new in class that I am not exactly sure about, but I am experimenting with what others think.

#3

In my blog, I was surprised to learn how fashion can have such a huge impact in our society. I mean we always say how it doesn't matter, but in reality it is one of the most important areas of society and individual expression. This is something seen as materialistc, yet it symbolizes ideas that are very important or in deepth. It is really interesting how much we see this in history as well. It is a major component in shifts of views of certain groups, such as women, and really helps establish a new area of society. With fashion, women have been able to easily and effectively show society their role in the community and have almost forced them to view them a certain way. Without fashion, I really do not think women would have been as successful in their movements or shifts from previous ways.

In modern sociey, fashion is a driving force in our society. I believe women have used this to their advantage in countless ways during history and currently today. As I said previously, clothing today has become more risque and baring. There is not as much covering up like there used to. It is one the opposite side of the spectrum when compared to "traditional" or modest clothing. Instead of women wanting people to focus on their intelligence, they want all of society to see their body. It has become their way to success. I mean don't lie. Most people would choose someone in a revealing outfit over a person in a frumy oversized one. It just is human nature. Women use this to their advantage. I am not sure if this is necessarily good or bad. Women are degrading how society views them. At the same time, they are defying what barriers were in front of them. Either way women have proven to effectively use fashion to make a point in society. I think that women are the driving force behind the huge factor of fashion in making important points. They have given it the ability to be used as a form of individuality and use of saying who they are or how they want society to see them. They have altered how it affects society and given it its' effectiveness in society today.

While looking for more examples about how fashion gives a new view of women, i found information on hippies, and this is a great example of the effect of how fashion can alter the views of society on a group of people. The power of fashion gives people an insight on who they are and their beliefs/ideas. During this time era, fashion was a major area of rebellion amoung the younger generation. The "Flower Child" showed those elders in society that they were taking in part of this movement and constantly reminded them of the change taking place. Also, when seeing a person wearing the loose flowy clothing, flowers in their long hair, a free spirit emanated from their appearance. By having a statement from their fashion, hippies made their effect even greater. Fashion was the driving force in their rebellious movement. They were departing from the strict, traditional way of life and emersing in a free uninhibited lifestyle. People could recognize and infer who taking part in this movement merely by seeing them. This is very powerful. Just by seeing someone they could make a valid assumption about who that person is associated with and what their political and moral views were. This supports my search about the effect of fashion and women because anyone can do this! Fashion has such a huge impact that women can effectively make a statement by changing what they wear. I find this really intriguing and actually incredible that something so materialistic can symbolize such a deep and intellectual idea.

After making my poll concerning fashions' effect on the view of women, I learned that most people believe there is a connection with fashion to how people see women in society. I agree with the results of this poll. When i researched the instances in history, women really do change their fashion according to how they want to be viewed in society. Clothing is the first thing people see. Its what makes the the first impression. Most people can agree that when they see someone for the first time the appearance of them is how they base their opinions on that person before even meeting them. Even though this doesn't exactly have to do with women in society, it is relevant because this is the idea that women base it off of. They want people to see them and be able to have an idea of who they are without even knowing them personally. Women chose fashion as their way to express themselves. It is one of the most effective means of getting a point across.

Nowadays, women wear revealing clothing, such as short dresses and skirts and low cut tops. These fashions stand out to me as being one suggestion to people as how women are being viewed. Women are being seen as independent and unihibited by opinions of people in society. They can make choices on their own and by picking clothing once prohibited to them, they are making a stand proving that they do not need others deeming what is appropriate for them to wear and do. I believe that styles today also prove that women have more say in what they do. A lot of people are still in the very conservative mode, but women are breaking out of this mold. It is almost similar to the "glass ceiling effect" because they are being suppressed by the past opinions and views. By breaking these "rules", women are standing up for themselves and causing a change in how society views them. Those who are traditional may believe that it is showing women as immodest and immoral, that they are becoming almost trashy. But to others who are ready to move forward and forget these old preceptions concering clothing, it is a breakthrough for women, proving that they have just as much choice as anyone else. Since fashion is so stressed in society, what better way to make a statement.

I believe that history is proving to show that fashion does affect how women are viewed in society. The difference is the view or image being portrayed. Some people believe the fashion of women today is encouraging a image of lust and not very much self-respect. What do you think about how women are dressing today?

During the Progressive era, the image of women also changed which was caused by the new 1920s fashion. The model for women change from the Gibson girl to the Flapper. The flapper showed women having much more freedom in society. They wore short skirts, shirts without sleeves, lots of make-up, smoked, and drank. This shows how much of an effect fashion has on the way women wanted to be viewed. It was the first thing they changed. If they ever want to be viewed a certain way, women change what they wear. Look at history in the different eras and I am sure you will find this.

I believe that the change in fashion also can show a change in role and image of women in society. One example would be in World War II. During the war, the women dressed in shorter skirts as as way to be "motivation" and play their role in the war. Their role was to motivate the soldiers and give them something extra to fight for. Since most of the soldiers were young me, they obviously found the new style appealing and enjoyed it a lot. They wanted to get out of fighting and go back to the women who they found to be very attractive. Once the war ended, a new style of long skirts came in. This changed because women no longer felt the obligation to dress almost immodestly for the men. Instead, they went back to dressing what they liked. Also, their role became more business-like because they actually began to work jobs and do more outside of the home. They became more then just eye-candy and a stay at home mom/wife. They became a part of society and the business field.

Fashion has always been a major component of society, which means it is going to be subject to change. With how much it is stressed in society, I think that it is a very important topic to discuss. When looking at how much fashion has changed over the years, I think that people can agree that it has become a lot less conservative. In addition, the change of fashion has affected the way people view certain groups of society. It has impacted the views of people on the sexes, especially females. I think that it has had both negative and positive effects. I want to see how it has affected society and see how much trends really have changed over the years.