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Am I What I Wear Or What I Fight For?
Photograph: Guardian
http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/rawanews.php?id=718
There are women whose lives revolve around what they wear. There are women in Afghanistan whose lives revolve around saving themselves and their families from gunfire, friendly or otherwise.
Hadley Freeman addresses this issue of body image with the western woman in the Guardian, I quite, " It is not that the magazines are snobby, but that they don't know the answers. Because there are none. And that's because these things are, as originally suspected, part of a person's normal physicality, and you can no more disguise them than you can your left arm. Sure, you can tuck your arm inside your coat all day, but there will be a suspicious lump on your left side and, more-over, you will feel uncomfortable."
I liked this question and answer as it also deals with our need to stereotype others based on what country they come from.
"Is it ever acceptable to inform a shop assistant that the item of clothing they are trying to sell you is "trashy"?" Natasha, by email
"It depends on what country you're in, Natasha. If you're in America, of course, they're all about blunt honesty. If you're in Paris, the sales assistant will look at you as if you're crazy as she certainly wasn't talking to you, let alone helping you. If you are in Italy, they will be delighted, as "trashy" is a compliment of the highest order there. And if you live in the UK, the shop assistant will have a heart attack in shock that you didn't just smile and nod in embarrassment at the attention and then feel obliged to buy the damn thing out of awkward politeness. National stereotypes: as Homer Simpson says, they're funny because they're true."
I will confess that I love the shoes even though I have no idea where I would wear them. I might carry one around as a weapon. It is the truth that in LA the police thought a man had been shot in the forehead and killed until the coroner discovered that the man was killed with a spike -shoe.
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9 November 2009
at 5:54 p.m.
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RoeDapple (Anonymous) says…
I have heard, and you probably have too,”You are what you eat”. I would say that makes you a colorful character, Irish!
http://greensandbeans.files.wordpress…
As far as what you wear, it is a costume. Not an insult, just a statement to describe the attire where you live and what is accepted as normal clothing in the local culture. Just as a cowboy in chaps and spurs is of the norm in say Montana, or a three piece pin striped suit in downtown Chicago, we “costume up” for how we live where we live. In some parts of the world the locals wear little or nothing, in other places you might see little more than the fingertips and eyes of those you meet. To us their clothing may seem costume like and to them our jeans and t-shirts are just as odd.
I say, just wear what you like, be it for comfort or show! It is you you have to please, no one else!
http://www.coolest-party-ideas.com/im…
9 November 2009
at 6:28 p.m.
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Irish (Irish Swearingen) says…
I do love your pictures.
I think I wrote this blog wrong because I wanted people to think about the difference between those who live in war in Afghanistan and those who buy Jimmy Choo shoes.
Also I like the comment about what trashy is and stereotyping.
Too much in one blog?
9 November 2009
at 6:30 p.m.
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Irish (Irish Swearingen) says…
But, I do love those shoes? Can you imagine saying , don't take a shoe to a gun fight?
9 November 2009
at 7:17 p.m.
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Irish (Irish Swearingen) says…
Changed the blog. I would appreciate it Roe if you could tell me if it is better and what changes need to be made.
9 November 2009
at 8:04 p.m.
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RoeDapple (Anonymous) says…
Before 9-11 the truck line I worked for had an independent trucking company deliver the empty railroad truck-trailers we would use. The trucking company was owned by a middle eastern family who all drove the trucks and also wore brown wraps on their heads. Some of my coworkers referred to them as “Raghead truckers” which made me very uncomfortable. After being around them for a while I found myself resenting them coming onto the property where I worked, apparently influenced by the attitude of my coworkers and the fact they looked and dressed differently from the rest of us. One night I was having trouble with a loaded trailer I had taken to the Burlington Sante Fe rail yard when one of the “Ragheads” came over to help me. He was pleasant, articulate and fun to visit with while we solved the problem with my trailer. I went away knowing I had allowed his differences and my coworkers prejudices to influence me without knowing anything about them. It isn't easy, but before I pass judgment on others I try to first determine my need to do so. Not sure if this is what you were looking for…
On a lighter note, here are some fun facts about high heels!
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/J…
10 November 2009
at 8:19 a.m.
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honeychild (Mel Briscoe) says…
i have noticed that about my distant relatives in the U.K.(i am mostly english on my mother's side so i'm sure there are still some people related to me over there)… they seem to be polite w/ every damn thing. to the point of where its ridiculous. at first its a little charming, simply because it is so different from most of america, but then it gets kind of off-putting because you wish they'd just be forthcoming and express how they really feel… then it just becomes ridiculous. i saw an english chick on ghost hunters international and she was being super polite and cordial w/ the ghost she was talking to. and then when the ghost made a thumping sound, like she had politely asked it to, she screamed like a little b*tch and ran out of the room! i'm sure the ghost was scratching his otherworldly head at the same time i was scratching my own and thinking “huh??”
anyway, cute article, irish. (thanks for letting me go off on a tagent about the english. lol)
10 November 2009
at 8:46 a.m.
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Liberty_One (Anonymous) says…
It is sad about how women are treated around the world, but it is neither our responsibility nor our right to interfere in other peoples' countries to tell them how they “ought” to behave. If we are going to anyway, however, I suggest going from village to village and rounding up the women and giving them training and a free weapon with plenty of ammo. They say God made man, but Sam Colt made them equal.
10 November 2009
at 10:58 a.m.
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Irish (Irish Swearingen) says…
Roe, that is what I was hoping for. I was also trying to say that most women in the “west” are rather spoiled compared to women in the rest of the world.
I like your story. Thanks for sharing it.
Mel, you are right on. If you have time check out the online Brit paper, the Guardian. It has a great blog from a woman standup comic who is tired of people being offended by every little thing.
When my granddaughter was in London she actually congratulated them for finally getting rid of all the poop in the Thames.
Not one to mince words, that one.
Liberty_one, who is my sister?
10 November 2009
at 12:06 p.m.
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Liberty_One (Anonymous) says…
Irish, what would you think about someone from another country telling you how to dress and behave? That you shouldn't leave your house unescorted by a man and that you had to cover your ankles etc. You'd probably tell them that's their opinion but you'll do as you think is right. Now imagine they used violence to force it upon you.
As someone raised in Western culture I share our beliefs in freedom for women and women's rights. But forcing our beliefs on others is wrong, even if in the name of “helping” people.
10 November 2009
at 2:58 p.m.
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Irish (Irish Swearingen) says…
It is my understanding that the women of Afghanistan had life style changes forced on them by the Taliban. They were happen when they left.
There are very liberal Muslims and very conservative ones and they are all living their faith as they perceive it to be.
Am I my sisters keeper? That's what I meant.
10 November 2009
at 3:07 p.m.
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autie (Anonymous) says…
If you wear shoes like the ones up top in that picture you certainly would not have to worry about me or my cousins asking you to dance. We'd probably just feel left out because nobody told us it was a costume party.
10 November 2009
at 3:51 p.m.
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Liberty_One (Anonymous) says…
Two wrongs don't make a right.
10 November 2009
at 5:07 p.m.
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Irish (Irish Swearingen) says…
autie, those are Jimmy Choo, shoes which cost about $1,000 and are in great demand.
You can find more here:
http://www.jimmychoo.com/Shoes/New-Ar…
10 November 2009
at 5:46 p.m.
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wordgenie8 (Anonymous) says…
It would be a wonderful world or at least a better one if we all defined ourselves and each other by the social justice issues for which we fight and stand up for and not by superficial appearances.
11 November 2009
at 8:43 a.m.
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autie (Anonymous) says…
I'm just sayin IMHO anyone that would pay that much for those is freakin insane.
11 November 2009
at 10:27 a.m.
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Irish (Irish Swearingen) says…
autie, my entire wardrobe from Walmart did not cost a third of that, including shoes and purse.
But, I do really love the way those shoes look.
I would hope that if I had money to throw away, so to speak, that I would give it to someone who needs it a lot more than Jimmy Choo does.
Think what it would be like in this country if girls didn't go to school and couldn't work. That would greatly affect every aspect of our lives.
The women in Afghanistan are risking acid thrown in their face or being stoned to death to get an education.