By JP
Malig
In a
society, people surround themselves with things that they feel would reflect the
type of person they are. One medium that they use to express their individuality
and sometimes-suppressed personalities, is that of the clothes they wear.
Within short, tight, figure
hugging and provocative clothing, the female gender attempts to live up to the
expectations of the male gender as well as the harsh requirements of their
fellow women. They must bare
as
much as skin as they can in order to conform to the media-ruled, commercialised,
image-orientated world in which we live.
The unfortunate fact is that
the whole world revolves around style, and how we are perceived through our
projected images. Through these influences, we now believe that perceived
beauty, elegance, and charm is
a
must to achieve anything in the culture of today.
The two stereotypical moulds
which govern who gets what are; The tall, dark and handsome; and the blonde
hair, blue eyes, long legs, and busty.
A huge group that relies
heavily on image and attitude is that of the teen generation. This herd, in
which looks are key, is horrifically unremorseful towards individuals who do not
satisfy the criteria.
They are split into general
groups in terms of their interests and attitudes, and then through stereotypes
they wear fitting attire. Examples of these are: Skaters who wear extremely low,
big, baggy pants, beanies, and hoodies; Metros wear nothing but labels, Adidas,
Nike shoes, button up pants, tight shirts, and jackets; Homies wear huge
pants,
caps, jackets, and the occasional bandana. A Surfie would be found clad in
boardies, topless, or a rip-curl/quicksilver T-Shirt, no shoes, and sunnies. The
Grungie types sit around in ripped up pants/long
skirts
from the op-shop, cardigans pulled out of the salvo bins, and they have
dreadlocks and noses rings.
The way "image" has an
immense bearing on our lives is discriminatory, with these stereotypes being a
terrible human invention. However, if the media continues to hold the ironclad
grasp it has on society there will be no escaping these
prejudices.
Many clothing organisations
take part in this control of society. Through the media, advertisement campaigns
all follow a similar line. To increase the demand for their merchandise, firms
do not actually promote their products in the physical sense. Alternatively they
promote the “attitude” or “image” that one will achieve if an individual
purchases
and wears the particular item of clothing, whether it be shoes, boxers or
sunglasses.
This exemplifies that media
propaganda, and the power of persuasion fuels the clothing engine. It will be
some time until the brainwashed masses catch on to the suspect methods of the
clothing industry. The sad fact may be that most people will never realize this
fact. Without a way to outrun the advertising onslaught, susceptible minds of
young people will continue to be used.
The media, coupled with our
low immunity to advertising will continue the tradition of our lives been
controlled by our unlimited needs and wants.