ASA 141
Rhegille Baltazar
I particularly chose this week's reading to present because I was interested in the idea of the nation and dress. I draw upon recent knowledge and recent classes on the idea of the nation and its imagined boundaries, referring to Benedict Anderson. Also, the creation of the nation-state and its borders are imagined and enacted through performance. This relates to the discourse around fashion being a performance in itself where people take upon a certain image or appearance and present it to the world.
How do we perform the nation and its boundaries? How do we perform through fashion? Also, who gets to perform? Who determines who performs?
Going back to the Roces reading, one sees how the tradition is seen through dress and how it is often gendered. Many questions arise in this reading in regards to who determines who wears what. Women are often seen as the bearers of tradition and the bearers of culture whereas men do not have this responsibility. Yet, in modern times, men wear traditional wear in political settings to be seen as upholders of culture, yet women are not taken as seriously because of the gendered notions of tradition. Western wear for women is taken more seriously. Now, there is not only a debate of gender but also Orientalism and the dichotomy between the East and West, tradition vs. modernization.
 |
| Imelda Marcos, wife of president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos, in Filipiniana |
No comments:
Post a Comment