Sidney Siu
Nation and Dress
Clothing, social empathy and the power of stepping into someone else's shoes, by Michael Hurt, was particularly interesting to me as he emphasized the positive aspects to "mirroring" another culture, rather than focusing on the drawbacks. In Hurt's photography and interests, he tries to showcase non-Korean folks wearing the Korean Hanbok as a reflection of non-Koreans experiencing fashion(ed) gaze. Since this matter is actually encouraged in Korea, I could agree with Hurt in that it's with good intentions and acceptable for a non-Korean to wear a Hanbok. Furthermore, even though every culture holds different traditions and cultural opinions, I do believe that it can be okay to wear clothing from other cultures as long as it is with pure intentions and as a tribute rather than to just look cute. With that, I can agree with Hurt's said concept of mirroring and the effect that comes with it, but I can also see it as being a problem under certain circumstances. Just because one might feel the "urge to mirror or respond to" the fashions of another nation does not give them to 'go-ahead' to do however they please.
My final note is that while I see the good in the research and its aim to express social empathy through 'stepping into someone else's shoes,' I also believe that not every person has the characteristic of having empathy, therefore, not actually being able to produce the good intentions that we so want to see in the world. As Hurt mentions, there is power in stepping into someone else's shoes, but we must do so without stepping on their toes. So, my question is: how can we continue trends like this without encouraging more tourists to only see the outer beauty of the traditional attire (the inner beauty lies within the culture)?
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