Week 2: Social Empathy - Shang Her

Shang Her
ASA 141
Week 2: Michael Hurt - Social Empathy

In Michael Hurt's article, “Clothing, social empathy and the power of stepping into someone else’s shoes”, he talks about the idea of wearing someone else's shoes. He talks about using photography as a way to capture these moments of when different objects and people are at a different place and culture. In Hurt's article, he used this picture of a model wearing the Vietnamese ao sai dress in Seoul, Korea.    

 


"A remix of the Korean hanbok with non-Korean". In Hurt's article, he talked about photographing non-Korean bodies in the traditional hanbok.
While there are many tourists that come to South Korea, many of these tourists wear the hanbok without knowing the meaning and culture behind it. What do tourists get when they wear the hanbok in South Korea? Other than having a nice picture to post on Instagram or Facebook, how can tourists gain from wearing national clothing?



"It bothers me that this unknown white person is applauded for “appreciating” Hmong attire. I’m sure she has never heard of Hmong people. It’s just “tribal” to her" (Vang). How can someone wear another's shoe and see their experience without knowing what that experience was like? How does one go about feeling someone's experience? I think that it is difficult to wear someone's shoe and know their experience without having gone through something familiar. I feel that it is unfair that someone can come in and wear someone's national clothing and be praised for it while those who these clothing belong to are told to fit in and not look so strange. 




Koreatimes. “Clothing, Social Empathy and the Power of Stepping into Someone Else's Shoes.” Koreatimes, 6 Apr. 2019, www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2019/04/722_266652.html.
“HANBOK.” Sidiaz Photography, www.sidiazphotography.com/hanbok. 
Vang, Seng Alex. “Home.” Hmong American Experience, hmongamerican.org/2018/05/20/its-hmong-not-tribal/.