Centre for Communication, Media & Society :UKZN

Fashion and human rights

2011-04-01T10:53:00.001+02:00

A report from Amnesty International’s WIRE : Volume 41 issue 001- Feb/March 2011 talks about human rights and clothing.

‘WHAT TO WEAR?’

The wrong choice of clothes, for many women, can end in arrest, imprisonment and flogging. The way they dress is controlled and policed by governments and armed groups – sometimes in the name of religion or culture, sometimes as a way of asserting power and terrorizing communities. For these women, the struggle to wear what they want is a struggle for personal liberty and human rights.

In 2009, Sudanese journalist Lubna Hussein was arrested in a restaurant in Khartoum. She and the other women arrested with her were accused of indecent or immoral dress”. In other words, Lubna was wearing trousers. Most of the women arrested that day, like many other women who are arrested in Khartoum every day on similar charges, pleaded guilty before a special court and were sentenced and flogged within hours.

The freedom to wear what we want; the freedom to not wear what we do not want: these freedoms matter because they are part of our right to express ourselves, our beliefs, our cultural and personal identities – without discrimination, coercion or violence. Our liberty to choose how we dress is a human rights issue. People in many parts of the world are forced to dress in a certain way, either by law or because of social norms which are imposed through coercion or violence by those who hold (and abuse) power. When, like Lubna Hussein, they defy these restrictions, they pay a high price. They are excluded from their communities, discriminated against, harassed, imprisoned or flogged.

To read the report click here

Fashion Styles

2011-03-26T21:16:00.000+02:00

UKZN March 2011

Fashion and Social Media

2011-03-04T21:09:00.000+02:00

CCMS Fashion Project
The role of social media and fashion shows

Social Media’s Evolving Role In Fashion Week

This year, however, the most interesting developments to come out of this 7 day celebration (New York Fashion Week) of all- things- style pertained to the growing influence of social media on the week’s events. From being last year’s niche applications, to this year’s key discussion topics, there’s no denying the elephant in the room: the fashion world and its players must learn to embrace social media, along with the bloggers who are pioneering it, or face irrelevancy.

So just what does this mean for the future of fashion week and social media’s tenuous alliance? What will come of this rapid digital evolution in the fashion world? And as many in the field may be wondering: is blogging just a fad that’ll pass?

Those on the inside say no. At the recent Evolving Influence conference held by Independent Fashion Bloggers, major figures in the world of blogging discussed candidly how they’ve been both wooed by brands and dissed by major editors, two things which are not entirely unrelated as the collective power of bloggers (and their ever growing audiences) are becoming a major point of anxiety, debate, and even perhaps envy for the media establishment. While periodicals like Vogue and Glamour may hold the prestige, with every reader a site gets, their collective power and advertising allure grows stronger.

For more click here

Read a UK Research Report on Fashion and Social Media

A new social media study from leading market research specialists, eDigitalResearch, reveals that fashion brands have a significantly stronger social media presence than other UK retailers, by actively embracing various platforms for the benefit of both the customer and the business.

Having measured the fundamental rise of ecommerce over the past decade with its eRetail Benchmark study, eDigitalResearch is now monitoring retailer’s social media as part of its benchmark activity, assessing brand’s presence over several different sites and their efforts to engage in two-way dialogue.

Assessing some 72 UK retail sites by looking at volume of followers alongside active interaction between the brand and consumer, the research found that fashion retailers are encouraging a larger degree of cross-communication through well-established Twitter accounts and Facebook pages.

To read the entire report click here

CCMS Photos

2011-03-01T20:38:00.001+02:00

Suvanie Chetty in traditional dress to celebrate Sri Maha Shivaratri:Sri Maha Shivaratri

(2 March 2011)

The ceremonies take place chiefly at night. This is a festival observed in honor of Lord Shiva. Shiva was married to Parvati on this day. This is the night when Shiva is said to have performed the Tandava or the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction. People repeat the Panchakshara Mantra as it is said he who utters the Names of Shiva during Shivaratri, with perfect devotion and concentration, is freed from all sins. He reaches the abode of Shiva and lives there happily. He is liberated from the wheel of births and deaths. Many pilgrims flock to the places where there are Shiva temples.

CCMS students Lungelo Dlamini and Musara Lumbombo talk to a reporter about the CCMS Fashion Project at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

CCMS student Wandila Sibisi reflects on Global Media Research

CCMS Students discuss power of media

2011-02-26T22:28:00.000+02:00

Date: 25 Feb 2011

CCMS students discuss the influence that fashion magazines, the media and globalization have on their image, cultural perceptions and identity.

“The influence of fashion magazines on the body image satisfaction of college women: an exploratory analysis”

The emergence of the slender body type as a beauty standard for women is especially salient in the mass media, and several researchers have demonstrated how the female body depicted in the media has become increasingly thin.

Taken together, the findings of Garner and colleagues and of Silverstein and colleagues show that from the turn of the century throughout the 1970s, the standard of physical attractiveness for women presented in the mass media became much thinner and less curvaceous. These findings were replicated in a recent update of the Garner et al. (1980) research. Using the same procedures employed in the Garner study, Wiseman et al. (1992) found that during the period from 1979 to 1988, Miss America contestants continued to decrease in body size and Playboy models maintained their already low body sizes. As did previous researchers, Wiseman et al. (1992) found that curvaceousness (i.e., hip measurements) continued to decline among Miss America contestants.

One question raised by these studies concerns the nature of the relationship between media depictions of females and women's perception of their own bodies. An implicit assumption underlying previous research is that the portrayal of the thin body ideal and the focus on dieting and exercise cause women to become dissatisfied with their own bodies and to prefer the thin body type.

To read the entire article click here

Do mannequins portray stereotype images? Note the difference of the three mannequins shown as well as the “African” mannequin that counters some of the arguments CCMS students discuss in the video.

CCMS Fun Fashion and Food Seminar: 11 March 2011

2011-02-25T17:18:00.003+02:00

CCMS Fun, Fashion and Food seminar
Next Seminar:
Date: 11 March 2011
Time: 12h30
Venue: CCMS TB Davis Office, Foyer and Honours Room.

We will discuss the following:
Should South African politicians wear the talk when it comes to local fashion?

Read the following two articles

Should South African politicians be wearing designed and made in South Africa clothing?

Instead of cheap rhetoric from South Africa’s president, who said the ruling party "needed to become more involved in the economy … [and] look for ways of saving and growing jobs in the clothing and textile sector," he should be wearing designed and made in South African clothing.

To read the entire article click here.

“What do our politicians wear? A lesson from Mrs. Obama

Fashion-watchers the world over were more concerned about what Mrs. Obama was wearing on the historical night when her husband took the US elections by storm. The most important point from the ongoing debate around Mrs O's choice of clothing is she wore a design made by an American designer.

To read the entire article click here.

Public Comments on Fashion

2011-02-24T13:37:00.000+02:00

An ex CCMS Students comments – Do SA youth try to emulate American style?

Two years back I read an interesting article on the effect of media on "fashion wearing". The article was written by a certain American who visited South Africa. According to the author (I am sorry I forgot his name) the American celebrities do not represent the American society. The author lamented the harsh reality that a lot of South African youngsters try to dress, talk and even walk like the American celebrities.

According to the author, the way the South Africans try to imitate the American celebrities is far more than the way the American youngsters do and I think it is a cause for concern.

Personally I wonder why the South African women have to wear a very short top and yet struggle in trying to pull down "the bottom part of their top" the whole day!!!

Especially when they jump from the Khumbi's.

As to the South African youngsters, I wonder what kind of satisfaction they can get if they can exhibit their 'under wear'. There is a reason why under wear is called "under wear", I think it is because you put pants on top and they were supposed to remain "in private" but now that they are showing us a big part of their under wear I think it is time that we must call those 'under wear' "over wear", after all 'culture [as well as language] is dynamic.

All the best for the fashion lovers.

TB Tesfu

MA (CCMS - 2004)

(Currently teaching in the Humanities Access Programme - Howard College Campus/UKZN)

Responses welcome.

CCMS Fashion Project: Introduction

2011-02-21T09:36:00.001+02:00

CCMS - The Centre for Communication, Media & Society

CCMS Fashion Project

One of our first projects undertaken by CCMS students on the CCMS Blog is fashion. Fashion plays an important role in the lives of students and we have a captured audience at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. We encourage CCMS students to engage in this subject both on campus and in their social environments.

What can you do?

Interview your fellow students – explore the message, interpretation and reason they wear what they do.
Explore Durban’s street fashion.
Use written, video and photo techniques.
Try and link these activities to your CCMS readings.

Note the submission terms.

Video: CCMS Students discuss their interpretation of fashion and how fashion plays an important role in the social structures at University.

Society, Media, Symbolism and Economics - Thoughts on fashion

Young consumers have the "courage and interest to try new [fashion] innovations" that enter the market at a rapid space due to "planned obsolesce," which is, orchestrated by fashion marketers (Ka Ming Law et al, 2004).

Fashion can be seen as the "quintessential post-modern practice," where the individual wishes to identify oneself through fashion as belonging to a particular social group, whilst paradoxically wanting to distinguish one's own individualism through appearance (Dolfsma, 2004).

Fashion continues to appropriate and entrenches iconographic material as "creativity" to ether shock, distinguish or brand a fashion line. Italian designer, Francesco Barbaro, argued that he used the Swastika to draw attention to the "pretentious side of fashion and the fashion victim who was willing to wear such symbols." Vivienne Westwood's collection for fashion label Gucci was adorned with Nazi eagles and the Iron Cross, said, the usage of such symbols was intended to "subvert and erase their negative power" (Palmi, 2009).

We may think we are individuals or judicious, but when it comes to fashion most of us become "prisoners of fashion dictates", where we are "construed as a collective commodity travelling in a continuum of design renovation dictated by a few but embraced by the masses" resulting in our identity being effaced by "homigenised" clothing (Palmi, 2008).

Reference:

Dolfsma,W.,2004. Paradoxes of Modernist Consumption-Reading Fashions. Erasmus Research Institute of Management, The Netherlands

Ka Ming Law, Zhi-Ming Zhang and Chung-Sun Leung, 2004. “Fashion change and fashion consumption: the chaotic perspective” Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 8 (4), pp. 362-374

Palmi, R., 2008., Fitting in – slavish, sensible or sensational? www.redressconsultancy.com

[Accessed 13 February 2011].

Palmi, R., 2009. Nazi Fashion-Nazi Symbolism in dontemporary clothing design, Jewish Report.

Mike Maxwell talks about Social Media

2011-02-19T08:05:00.001+02:00

Social media plays an important role in globalisation.

While some people think of globalization as primarily a synonym for global business and trade, it is much more than that. The same forces that allow businesses to operate as if national borders did not exist also allow social activists, labour organisers, journalists, academics, and many others to work on a global stage.

CCMS Blog Terms and Conditions

2011-02-18T17:10:00.001+02:00

Terms and Conditions

By consulting The Centre for Communication, Media and Society (CCMS) Blog http://www.ccmsukzn.blogspot.com/ the user is deemed to have read, understood and accepted the terms and conditions hereunder.

Users of the CCMS Blog its content and services, agree to indemnify and hold harmless the site owner, its officers, employees, ISPs, partners and affiliates from any demand, action or other proceedings including lawyers’ fees and related costs made by third parties arising out of or in connection with the usage of this Blog or services offered through the Blog.

The Blog contains information, advertising, text and photos that are either created by CCMS, supplied by clients or uploaded from third party sites and is therefore protected by copyright, trademarks, service marks, trade dress and other intellectual property rights. Any usage of such information must by these laws recognise and cite the rightful owners.

CCMS makes every effort to ensure that the information supplied on its Blog is accurate; however, because information is supplied by third parties for promotional, business and networking CCMS does not guarantee the accuracy or legality of such information.

CCMS makes no representation regarding the availability or performance of the Blog. Users hereby acknowledge that any use of the Blog and reliance upon any material contained within it shall be at their sole risk and that CCMS shall not be liable for any loss of data, lost profits or any other damage or losses resulting from the usage of this Blog and its services. Furthermore, CCMS and the Blog editorial management team and or Blog Master reserve the right to revise material and/or modify any features, specifications, or material without notice. These conditions relate to any linked or affiliated website, Blog and services featured on the CCMS Blog.

The Centre for Communication, Media and Society (CCMS) @ February 2011

CCMS Blog Management

2011-02-18T15:00:00.002+02:00

This blog (http://www.ccmsukzn.blogspot.com/) is created to provide space for CCMS students to engage with various social media platforms and to develop a portfolio of independent and collaborative research.

SUBMITTING MATERIAL

Material for consideration to be posted on the blog must be submitted to the Blog Master – Renato Palmi at (palmi@ukzn.ac.za)

· All submissions must include student’s full name, contact details and what they are currently studying at CCMS.

· Text must be submitted in word format and proper references to be used. All submissions must be dated.

· Photos in jpg. Photos must be accompanied with the following information: Name of photographer, place, and caption (including any names of persons appearing in photos). It is imperative that the photographer informs the subjects of the photo that it will appear on the CCMS Blog.

· Videos must not be longer than 10 minutes. Videos will be uploaded onto a CCMS Utube account and linked to the CCMS Blog. A short description of the interview in word must accompany submission of any videos.

· Students who belong to Civil Society Organisations may submit links, jpeg images of the logo for inclusion on the CCMS Blog.

Updated: February 2011