العرف والملابس
عندما تخرجين إلى الشارع وتشاهدين امرأة شابة تسير أمامك، فإنك في تقومين خلال جزء من الثانية بتصنيفها بلا وعي – تصنّفين طبقتها، وانتماءها العرقي، ودينها، وعمرها، وانتماءها السياسي.
هل أنت على حق؟
شاهدي مقطعاً من فيلم ليز ميرمين "أكاديمية الجمال في كابول"، حيث تعرض لنا عالم الموضة عند النساء الأفغانيات – إنه عالم يتناقض تماماً مع الصورة التي يعرضها الإعلام الغربي عنهن.
كما تقدم ساندرا فالينشيا سيباستيان بيدرو، من جواتيمالا، الأزياء الجميلة لنساء قبائل المايا في سلسلة أفلامها "نساء أبيا يالا"، حيث تقوم الألوان والأشكال في هذه الأقمشة بدور الرموز والعلامات الصامتة على الهوية العرقية المحلية والإقليمية.
تأخذ إز أوستات الحجاب بعيداً عن المجادلات السياسية في تركيا، وتربطه بدلاً من ذلك بالحرية الشخصية في سلسلة أفلامها "أخوات".
هل تصنفين نفسك ضمن جماعة أو ثقافة معينة من خلال مظهرك؟
شاركينا النقاش!
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Lately I’ve been questioning the way I dress. I don’t feel the stores have the clothes that I’m looking for, the ones that will represent who I am. Nor I know exactly what I am looking for...
I don’t belong to any ethnic group that uses a traditiional costume on a daily basis, like a “sari” or a “huipil”, and since I work at home, nor do I have a “dress code” or have to wear a “uniform”.
How do you decide what to wear?
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Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 10:44 AM
Thank you Sharanya! That is just the kind of comment I needed in a day like today!
It's so amasing how these days racism can be a thing of clothes more than color of skin. The doors open or close accoring to how you are dressed. There is a story on one of these mayan women whos is a doctor in social issues and when she was standing on a street a car pulled over and a lady inside asked her while opening her car window if she needed a job, offering to take her home as a cook and cleaning person. So sad... |
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Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 10:17 AM
Sharanya, I also loved your poem. I spent a good deal of time in Sri Lanka after the tsunami (in Batticaloa) and a bit with the diaspora in Toronto. Your words are so evocative and dramatic and reminded me how the island just crept right under my skin even without my noticing it. I just wanted to thank you for your words. |
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Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 9:52 AM
Thanks, Niyati, am glad you enjoyed it. :) I'm really not a fan of what I call the Mistress of Spices (nice enough book, horrendous movie, btw!) tarbrush that many publishers/readers/writers themselves subject South Asian women's books to. But there's a real vicious cycle involved -- and fact is is that if the stuff sells (and it does), publishers AND writers become unwilling to deviate from the formula. I strongly suspect that some of the most groan-inducing book covers are due to the publisher having the final say, and some of the most cliched stories are because of editors' recommendations to "throw in a generational saga, why not?". But at the end of the day, writers who don't dare work outside the stereotypes or cliches are co-conspirators in their own mediocrity. |
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Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 9:35 AM
Sharanya, I loved your poem! And I was really glad that you didn't use a glossary> I agree that there is a lot of exoticization of South Asian writing, I mean all the books seem to NEED to feature women with henna hands, sari borders, mangoes...and all those food metaphors! Frankly its getting rather stale. I wonder what your take on this is.... |
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Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 8:08 AM
Andrea Aragón, your photos are absolutely stunning! |
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Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2007 4:14 PM
I certainly hope I am not defined by the clothes I wear. I'm lucky if I can find an ensemble of clothing each morning that is clean, let alone one that defines my mood or inner-psyche. But I won’t deny the power of identification clothes have. Since I am not a part of a specific group or culture, I, like many young women my age, must turn to the predetermined, overly-manufactured, cookie-cutter fashion available in major stores. What is considered “in” is often a formula to be had, and those who do can be picked out of a very long, very repetitive lineup.
So what’s a girl to do? As a classless misfit / cultural mutt, how do I define myself along a continuum with my old, dirty laundry on one end and designer “skinny jeans” on the other? I suppose my style is an aggregate of many subtle layers. Today I am wearing a sweater vest I’ve had at least 8 years, designer jeans my ex-boyfriend’s mother gave me, a collared shirt from a thrift store, and loafers that once belonged to my Irish grandmother, and a necklace I bought in Peru. That makes me…a big nobody I guess! :)
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