Week 5- Narayan

Pryanka Narayan

ASA 141

Week 5

            The article National Colors: Ethnic Minorities in Vietnamese Public Imagery is a highly intriguing article as it discusses the vital importance clothing has. For instance, the article states dress can be used as a vessel for representation. Throughout time, society has found ways to use clothing to distinguish one from their gender, age, and status. Commonly in contemporary Western cultures, dress is seen as a template to express individuality, but in cultures where collectivistic is encouraged, dress is seen as a common ground of community. Such as in Vietnam, where clothing is seen for various purposes. At the minimal, clothing is seen to differentiate men from women and children from adults. Though at the larger sense, clothing is seen to preserve culture, such as through textiles. For instance, textiles that are commonly used in traditional Vietnamese clothing expresses traditional, historical, and cultural identities through the patterns chosen. Though the concept of clothing should be seen through a deeper lens, than just distinction and preserving culture, clothing has been a way to identify ethnic essence. This has been highly prevalent through rule and colonialism. For instance, when there were various rulers over Vietnam, many would use their power to establish a dress code amongst their subjects, to display their power. Then during the colonial period, clothing became a way to identify uniformity and political statement. Personally, after reading this article, I was truly reminded of how important clothing can be. Often living in an individualist culture, we forget how important clothing can be. We become lost in this melting pot and the concept of colonialism, and forget the roots of our ancestors, and the statements traditional clothing can hold. Despite the ways of the current world, we should hold value to traditional forms of clothing.