Issue 208 Power of Apparels

cathyhanyeUID: 2971665

Issue 208 中午刚刚写好，还没有改。早晨刚好在NYTIMES上面看了一篇文章，Power of Apparels，居然中午一下就看到了如此切题的题目。还没有改动，下午再说吧。

208 "The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much about a society's ideas and values by observing the appearance and behavior of its people."
13:15 - 14：07

The connection between the appearance and behavior of people and their inner interest, beliefs, and values seems perplex, as the understanding and practice of the extent to which people choose to align their internal characteristics and the external ones vary across individuals and societies. Apparently, many people prefer to convey some messages through dressing and making up nowadays; however, the relation is not always definite and unchanging. In addition, great caution should be taken when generalizing a society’s value and belief simply based on people’s appearance and behavior.

Modern people are encouraged to express themselves through establishing a certain personal style, in terms of dressing, or the way to work and communicate. It is prevalent to witness teenagers wearing baggy clothes and broken jeans to express their desire to be different from both the adults’ world – deem with formal or fitted apparels, and from children’s world, where parents decide what they can wear. Mature adults even take advantage of the power of apparel to convey their rationale and attitude to others implicitly. The present CEO of Fiat has been seen wearing oxford shirt and sweater not only on Fridays, but almost whatever places he present himself and his company, so as to inform others the change of the company from a rigid one adoring conformity to a more flexible and energetic corporate.

Meanwhile, certain limitations still exist, preventing people from choosing merely based on personal interests, but meeting the expectations of others. Uniform, as a symbol of conformity and a tag of one’s professions and/or social roles, can serve as an appropriate example. Although some uniform advocates are likely to be passionate about wearing uniforms, indicating their strong will of fulfilling one’s social responsibility, others may simply be required to dress unanimously – which probably deviates from their personal tastes. Would we consider these followers truly believe in the importance of conformity of a society? It even can be applied to whoever intends to be integrated into a social community – dressing like others, or being left out. Considering the girl called Andy in the movie The Devil Wears Prada, who initially has almost no interest in fashion, chose to become a stylish chic once realizing that it is the only path through which to be truly accepted and appreciated in a famous fashion magazine.

Given the complex relationship between appearance and one’s inner self, it becomes even more complicated if we intend to generalize a society’s values and ideas solely through observing people’s outfit and behaviors. On one hand, highly similar or even identical behaviors and appearances may be resulted from two completely different rationales in two societies, therefore blinding those who overly confident in the power of apparel. For instance, tattoo, as prevalent as it is in adolescents and young adults, is considered a signal to be able to express oneself courageously and genuinely. However, tattoo is also popular in some tribes, or underdeveloped countries, as part of their cultural legacy, which is believed to be able to deter evil souls and disease. It would be ridiculous if we conclude that the two societies are of similar values. On the other hand, appearance and behaviors of people is also determined by the climate and geographical features of their residence. The Inuit people may be as broad-minded as other people around the world in welcoming new fashion trends and ideas; nevertheless, the extreme weather in the high altitude area prevent them to do so.

One’s personal values and belief is likely to be expressed through the way they dress and behave, depending on whether they are fulfilling social roles only, or free to make independent choice. Similarly, when revealing the characteristics of a society, especially its people’s ideas and values, we need to be cautious in drawing any haste conclusions, as similar appearance may not necessarily generated by the same beliefs, and some external factors including climate, can determine people’s look, dress, and act to a great extent.

cathyhanyeUID: 2971665

已经自己改过。复数的问题一定要小心。还有不知怎么的，有些长句写的太久，居然写着写着就写丢了……

208 "The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much about a society's ideas and values by observing the appearance and behavior of its people."

The connection between the appearance and behavior of people and their inner interests, beliefs, and values seems perplex, as the extent to which people choose to align their external characteristics with the internal traits vary across individuals and societies. Apparently, many people prefer to convey some messages of themselves through dressing; however, the relation is not always definite and unchanging. In addition, great caution should be taken when generalizing a society’s values and beliefs simply based on people’s appearance and behavior.

If having the freedom of choosing clothes and accessories, even language they speak, people tend to express themselves through establishing a certain personal style, in terms of dressing, or the way to work and communicate. It is prevalent to witness teenagers wearing baggy clothes and, blurting out slang to distant themselves from both the adults’ world – teeming with fitted apparels, and from children’s world, where parents decide for children, therefore establishing and developing a unique identity as adolescents. Mature adults also take advantage of the power of apparel to convey their rationale and attitude implicitly. The present CEO of Fiat has been seen wearing oxford shirt and sweater not only on Fridays, but almost whatever places he presents himself and his company, so as to inform others the change of the company from a rigid one adoring conformity to a more flexible and energetic corporate.

Nevertheless, the reality is that people usually have to abandon their personal interests in choosing outfits and manners in order to fulfill their social roles and meet the social norms. Uniform, as a symbol of conformity and an indicator of one’s professions and/or social roles, can serve as an appropriate example. Although uniform advocates are likely to have a passionate interest in wearing uniforms, others may simply be required to dress unanimously – which probably deviates from their personal tastes. Would we consider these followers truly believe in the importance of conformity of a society? Or they merely intend to secure their job and position? It even can be applied to whoever intends to be integrated into a community – dressing like others, or being left out. Considering the assistant called Andy in the movie The Devil Wears Prada, who initially has little interest in fashion, decided to become a stylish chic once realizing that it is the only path through which to be eventually accepted and appreciated in a famous fashion magazine.

Given the complex relationship between appearance and one’s inner self, it becomes even more complicated if we intend to generalize a society’s values and ideas solely through observing people’s outfit and behaviors. On one hand, highly similar or even identical behavior and appearance may be resulted from two completely different rationales in two societies, therefore blinding those who overly confident in the power of apparel. For instance, tattoo, as prevalent as it is in modern adolescents and young adults, is considered a symbol of presenting oneself courageously and genuinely. However, tattoo is also popular in some tribes, or underdeveloped societies, as part of their cultural legacy to deter evil souls and diseases. It hence would be ridiculous if we conclude that the two societies are of similar values. On the other hand, appearance and behavior of people is also determined by the climate and geographical features of their living places. The Inuit people may be as broad-minded as others around the world in welcoming new fashion trends and ideas; nevertheless, the extreme weather in the high latitude prevents them from putting on stylish clothes and accessories that can barely keep people warm.

Whether one’s personal values and beliefs are expressed through the way they dress and behave interacts with how free one is in making independent choice to follow their interests. Similarly, when revealing the characteristics of a society, especially its people’s ideas and values, we need to be cautious in drawing any haste conclusions, as similar appearance may not necessarily generated by the same beliefs, and some external factors also determine people’s look, dress, and act.