Week 11 | Reflection

Rida Riaz
ASA 141
June 8th, 2019
Reflection of the Class

As this quarter has come to an end, I am almost in awe as to how much content we covered in this class. From fashion to sustainability to ethical shopping to culture, we have covered immense amount of information one can associate fashion with. Asian American fashion symbolizes the agency of an Asian American and connects the immigrant roots to their identity in Western nations. In Western nations, what's fascinating is the diversity present here and seeing people come from all different cultural and religious backgrounds allows one to let their self-identity be known in the crowds. Whether it's wearing an emblem of your country's flag on a t-shirt or wearing a full on cultural dress in the public sphere, Asian American fashion interprets the ability to be in touch with one's roots and not get completely consumed by Western culture. Seeing, understanding and interpreting the concepts that make us connected to our culture allows us to not feel entrapped in a homogenous nation and no matter how far we get in life, one should always hold on to and appreciate their roots.

One thing I enjoyed particularly in this class was the ability to critical think on various different concepts discussed and just pour our thoughts and expressions to the readings onto blogposts. Sometimes, things aren't well laid out and interpreted through speech; therefore, writing allows for the complexity of the words read be put into critical analysis and be able to pour our thoughts down in an eloquent form. Asian American fashion isn't as straight forward of a term as it analyzes every layer embedded in Asia from the cultural diversity to the representation of those practices. Fashion has so many layers to it as well since it includes the production, fabric/textile, the representation, meaning and emotions behind how a simple form of fabric was structured to embody someone. One thing out of many I will take with me from this class is to incorporate more sustainable fashion and ethical clothing brands in my closet. After reading various texts and seeing movies on the behind the scenes of fast fashion has made me feel incredibly guilty as well as angry. And as sad as it may be, I probably won't be able to go 100% sustainable; however, whatever I can do, even a small fraction of it is something I will practice. The world is our place and will end up a certain way according to our actions; therefore, being able to help the environment and its people, I aim to continue working on making it a better place for its present and future inhabitants.