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Fashion as Political Action |
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Abstract:
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Can fashion, defined broadly as personal appearance, including clothes, hairstyles, and accessories, promote meaningful change, or is style always an ineffectual substitute for politics? Admittedly, fashion is vulnerable as a form of action because the dominant culture is able to incorporate, and thereby defuse, most critical styles. Alternative styles that begin as forms of protest usually become empty trends. In this paper, I will argue that fashion can serve as a mode of resistance in two ways: 1) Fashion can be a form of protest, either explicitly, by wearing a political button, or implicitly, by expressing dissent from dominant styles that themselves symbolize mainstream ideas. 2) Fashion can unite members of alternative political movements. While many cultural critics are interested in the political implications of the styles worn by non-political groups such as punks, I am also concerned with the dress and style of those who have conscious political aims, even if they are largely unconscious of how they incorporate dress into their actions. In fact, distinctive dress may be a consistent element in democratic movements. Fashion is a way of connecting with others, and therefore can inspire the political cohesion necessary for action. Fashion has been too often identified with the type of individualism that is corrosive to collective action. I am persuaded by Anne Hollander in Seeing Through Clothes that we always dress with reference to some group (e.g., hippie, academics, arty, jocks, Wasps), even if we do not live among that group. In short, fashion’s connection to democratic action—explicit statements through appearance, by symbolic resistance to norms, and by encouraging group cohesion--is stronger than is usually acknowledged. |
Most Common Document Word Stems:
polit (123), fashion (95), dress (50), protest (39), cloth (39), group (34), kelley (31), symbol (29), new (28), peopl (27), one (27), see (25), cultur (25), action (24), form (22), ident (22), appear (21), might (21), hebdig (21), chang (20), style (19), |
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Association:
Name: American Political Science Association
URL: http://www.apsanet.org
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Citation:
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MLA Citation:
| Miller, Joshua. "Fashion as Political Action" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Marriott Wardman Park, Omni Shoreham, Washington Hilton, Washington, DC, Sep 01, 2005 <Not Available>. 2011-03-14 <http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p39896_index.html> |
APA Citation:
| Miller, J. I. , 2005-09-01 "Fashion as Political Action" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Marriott Wardman Park, Omni Shoreham, Washington Hilton, Washington, DC Online <PDF>. 2011-03-14 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p39896_index.html |
Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Can fashion, defined broadly as personal appearance, including clothes, hairstyles, and accessories, promote meaningful change, or is style always an ineffectual substitute for politics? Admittedly, fashion is vulnerable as a form of action because the dominant culture is able to incorporate, and thereby defuse, most critical styles. Alternative styles that begin as forms of protest usually become empty trends. In this paper, I will argue that fashion can serve as a mode of resistance in two ways: 1) Fashion can be a form of protest, either explicitly, by wearing a political button, or implicitly, by expressing dissent from dominant styles that themselves symbolize mainstream ideas. 2) Fashion can unite members of alternative political movements. While many cultural critics are interested in the political implications of the styles worn by non-political groups such as punks, I am also concerned with the dress and style of those who have conscious political aims, even if they are largely unconscious of how they incorporate dress into their actions. In fact, distinctive dress may be a consistent element in democratic movements. Fashion is a way of connecting with others, and therefore can inspire the political cohesion necessary for action. Fashion has been too often identified with the type of individualism that is corrosive to collective action. I am persuaded by Anne Hollander in Seeing Through Clothes that we always dress with reference to some group (e.g., hippie, academics, arty, jocks, Wasps), even if we do not live among that group. In short, fashion’s connection to democratic action—explicit statements through appearance, by symbolic resistance to norms, and by encouraging group cohesion--is stronger than is usually acknowledged. |
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| Document Type: |
PDF |
| Page count: |
34 |
| Word count: |
6452 |
| Text sample: |
| Dressed for Revolution: Fashion as Political Protest Joshua I. Miller Lafayette College Prepared for delivery at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association September 1 - September 4 2005 Copyright by the American Political Science Association I. Introduction and Central Arguments In this paper I want to explore the relationship of fashion and political protest. That there is a relationship is not obvious. At most demonstrations no one mentions dress. How demonstrators dress is not a |
| Hebdige Subculture 101 103. 47 This spirit is captured in the song “Kansas City” in “Oklahoma” by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Coming back from a trip to Kansas City Missouri the character Will dazzles the farmers and ranchers by describing the miracles of tall buildings telephones indoor plumbing and burlesque shows. “They gone about as fur as they could go ” he sings. 48 See new edition of Politics and Vision ch. on Nietzsche. 49 Tocqueville Democracy |
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