︎︎︎ home.

who am I ?

Every day I wake up and think to myself who would I like to be today? Whether that be laying a particular style on my body or figuring out what parts of my personality I want to express, I am constantly changing the way the world sees me... constantly reinventing myself. For whom? For my own pleasures? Or the quick interlocking of eye contact that I make with a girl that looks just like me? There are times when there are multiple versions of myself, projected onto whoever my audience is. I am trying to be perceived in a particular kind of way and I have collected external objects that I find reflect me.

Fashion is the utility of perception and in this day in age, the individual can split into two living online and in reality. Our experiences are contorted yet connected. The digital world can reflect and impact reality by its ability to allow our identities to be altered. People who have access to you online develop a perception of you based on images you compile. If we desire to be perceived by others by using clothing or media to express what kind of person we are, where do we get the idea that we enjoy these tools that help us feel more like ourselves? Why do we need to consume products to prove who we are to ourselves and others?

Fashion Theory.

To understand ourselves better, we must analyze our place in the consumer world. In “Toward formalizing fashion theory” by Christopher M. Miller, Shelby H. McIntyre, and Murali K. Mantrala, the fashion process is theorized based on the individual desires that change fashion. Throughout history, society has viewed fashion as a costume for the body, and we use these functions to display who we are to the world. We play roles in society and use products to promote self-image. Style has immense power to reflect a society's values, which typically changes by small increments over time, but more recently style has begun to overturn rapidly as it has found itself to be lucrative.

Throughout history, society has viewed fashion as a costume for the body, and we use these functions to display who we are to the world. Trends have the power to make the body seem more captivating in its most popular silhouette while also making a statement larger than perception. For example, over time in the United States, the length of a skirt rose from the floor to the high upper thigh showing how the style changed based on ideology, from the advancement of feminism and liberation [1]. We can look at trends as having two main functions, extremes & classics. People will grow to like trends that are extreme in one direction or the opposite. These extremities live until the style is deemed functionally incapable of progressing. Classic styles are described as a stable silhouette that is timeless, like the little black dress or a white t-shirt. In both cases, consumers need to be convinced to like a product. Many consumers are willing to adopt these fashion trends, yet some individuals can behave randomly towards a new trend by totally rejecting it.

There is an underlying precedent in fashion communication in which individuality that contains originality, non-conforming characteristics, is celebrated and gawked after. We become upset and in disbelief when other people enjoy the objects that we decided made us “special.” Trying to understand where the connection between objects and the body intersects for one to call themselves a niche individual, can strip us down into the possibilities of who we are without our objects.

Bad Faith.

Existentialism is a philosophical theory that displays the existence of a person as a free & responsible agent that determines their transcendence through acts of will. Jean-Paul Sartre is a prominent existentialist thinker from the 20th Century, who perpetuates a notion that man believes that they need firm rules and government, yet everyone has their own projects* [4]. Today, technology has advanced, and our ideologies have become slightly more diverse, allowing us to have what feels like, inescapable distractions from our existence. We now have platforms outside of the bounds of our grounded reality, like social media to control and project identities and products. The individual can multiply inside of systems that are designed to become addictive and manipulate our decisions, just as we are exploited in consumerism. These developments raise the question, as an individual is our mind free, and is the self truly singular? In Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Being and Nothingness,” he articulates the state of a conscious being. I will specifically refer to the section on “Bad Faith.”

{*“Project” is a term in Sartre's ontology, for in its separation from in-itself being, the for-itself is at once thrown into the world and engaged in a free project. The free project, in his description, is “the impulse [élan] by which the for-itself thrusts itself toward its end.” [10]

I will specifically refer to the section on “Bad Faith.”Bad Faith is the idea that individuals will lie to themselves. Why would we want to lie to ourselves? Usually, a lie is a statement that is false that you tell others, yet you know the truth. So, when we lie to ourselves, it is a complex relationship in the ambiguity of knowing the truth. Sartre believes that individuals can transcend their appearance but when we have bad faith, we are playing a game with the facticity of actions [3]. For example, Sartre explains that when a person plays the role of a waiter, the individual is in their waiting position, and they negate external factors of their life like family, love, and other problems to exert the fact that they are only a waiter for their customers [3]. The customers sees the waiter exactly the way they want to be perceived, hiding their life behind a fact (that they are a waiter) and negating their transcendence when playing this role. [3] This would be described as Bad Faith for the being itself- which means your actions and projects appear to other people in the world as a fact of their situation: whatever I am doing my acts appear for others.[3]

The idea of Bad Faith is a crucial factor as to why existence itself is so nauseating. Individuals ignore their freedom. We think we make our own choices, but things have been placed for us to feel this way, for us to think we have freedom. We only make choices that we are aware of. For example, let us say that I am ready to leave the mall which I have driven to, and I pull out my car keys and begin to drive home. That would be an easy conclusion, it is what I know I should do, yet I could have done multiple other actions like walking home, taking an Uber, or public transportation. Individuals want to be free but not “that free” we still want something to guide our choices instead of indulging in our radicalism which is inherent in existing. [3]

Individuals ignore their freedom.

How has Bad Faith transformed over the years? The internet is a place where an individual being can live on, through multiple platforms. We use the internet to share details of our life, have Parasocial relationships, retain inspiration from others, and more. Though these functions of the internet and social media can be entertaining to most, there is an existential dread that hangs on our shoulders. We are constantly being perceived by others in a virtual cavity that allows us to have more agency in our identity. Sartre states that “every truth and every action imply an environment and a human subjectivity” [4], meaning that our decisions deﬁne our being on earth. The connection between the internet and existential thinking is that the internet is a new virtual environment where the being can be subjective and therefore it can be studied [7].

Concerning Fashion, our bad faith does not escape us. social media is designed to become addictive, and we are constantly consuming media that influences the way we act in real life. For example, Generation-z's most used social media of 2021 is Tik-Tok [12]. This application curates a “For You Page” that is an algorithm of content based on the individuals’ preferences. It is also a video-sharing content machine for “self- expression.” The app has produced fashion trends that have come and gone rapidly while some have stayed for now to a point where people are defining TikTok as an overall appearance. How are we expressing our style if it moves at the same time as trends and replicating these silhouettes appealed by all? Of course, we have some basic form of freedom of choice when getting dressed every day, but our bad faith can allow us to believe that these trends are part of our identity.

In “Externalism on Instagram” by, Andrew Housianx, a teacher at the Philips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, Andrew took his student's phones away for 72 hours (about 3 days) and wanted them to reﬂect on how the absence of their virtual world affected them [2]. One student stated that she would adjust her presentation for those who would be viewing her online posts.

Social media platforms expose users to “Bad Faith and “self-deception” by creating environments favorable to adopting roles, identities, and attitudes other than the users’ real ones [7]. Whether it is for the audience or the self, the internet derails the objective of living a free and authentic life. Social media guides us to perfectly curate a cumulation of content that we believe represents ourselves for the validation of others. When Twitter uses their phrase, “what's happening” before you tweet, this function question's human identity and freedom of choice, the prompt is subtlety guiding you to do exactly what it wants [7]. Tristan Harris, a former product manager at Google and the founder of the Center for Humane Technology, argues that this technology is “not designed to help us. It is designed to keep us hooked” (Vox Media, 2018). With this addiction, many use social media as a break from reality.

We engage in bad faith yet, crave authenticity, the implication of being “real,” to reassure our existence. Yet, our authenticity must be approved by the public audience because human beings intrinsically want to “belong” to something. The opinion of others hinders individual existences and will misguide the self to seek their individuality through the acceptance of others and therefore conform [7]. Individuals can experience authenticity through the internet by the fact that there are no limitations in this virtual space and could reveal their true beings anonymously online. Individuals can separate their identities from reality and online and can transcend through a virtual space that can also affect real life. As we discussed in the section of bad faith for the being itself, the individual will take actions that are choices and perform for others. In these choices we are inﬂuenced by the inﬁnite content we consume unknowingly or knowing. The system has festered into the self and not only are we beings, but we are also brands. The internet adds to the complexity and agony of human existence because we desire to ﬁnd our true self in a world that is being designed to tell us what we believe we enjoy, and we kneel to our freedom.

Consumption

There is a hole in the long-twisted cycle of the individual and consumption, where the self can consume nothing and therefore feel nothing. In Edward Bernay’s, considered the father of modern Public Relations, Manipulating Public Opinion: The Why the How, he describes that understanding the subjectivity of public opinion can display human motives, and the importance of a collective voice can influence all levels of society [9]. Public opinion is always in motion so much so, that the choice of living in a state of inertia can feel inescapable to individuals who contain their own longings and ambition [9]. Historically, public opinion was controlled by kings, tribal chiefs, and religious leaders, in a rigid form. Today democracy allows public opinion to be controlled by anyone who may try to convince others of their own thesis, as I am trying to achieve even in the action of writing this. The Internet, television, and other forms of media are in complete opposition to the state of inertia, as our minds are inside the physical organs of platforms such as the news, social media, etc. That is why it is so invigorating when our ideas on the internet are accepted to live in a community that can reach further to others and not just in your environment that is at arm's length. Bernays states that public opinion is slow and reactionary but today its speed has increased, and our reactions are performative [9].

Consumerisms.

Subjects who engage in the process of changing public opinion can be seen as good or bad people. We can describe Princess Diana as a good person who wanted to change the public opinion on how society views the aids crisis. We can describe America as a bad subject by instilling capitalism into its structure; convincing us to buy products, to produce wealth, to sell ourselves as individual brands. Corporations in this type of society are the builder of our bodies/emotions/desires/ exploiting our wants to a point where we seek anything that reflects us even if it is cheap and become walking advertisements for ourselves and the company.

In Adam Curtis’s Century of Self, a documentary about the history of American consumerism, he shows how Edward Bernays took his theories on public opinion to fruition. [8] Before the 1930’s it was taboo for women to smoke cigarettes because it was deemed “un-lady like”. While women who did smoke were called whores and believed to be connected to prostitution. The cigarette industry used women in their advertises as a sexual allurement for men. Soon, the industry realized that they are neglecting an entire consumer population that they could capitalize on. Edward Bernays wanted to end the stigma between women and cigarettes when he created the campaign “Torches of Freedom” for Lucky Strike. In 1929, Bernays had beautiful debutants to march down fifth avenue in New York city, lighting cigarettes during the easter parade to protest gender inequality [11]. This campaign transformed the way women view cigarettes by connecting it to their own freedom where women were allowed to confidently smoke in public. The women began to see themselves as individuals fighting for their own” freedom.”

This instance of connecting individuals to products for a company's own purpose is a practice that has stayed connected to American consumerism. In 1960, there was a rise in political activism like the civil rights act, the Equal Rights act, and Protests for queer identities [8]. These actions changed public opinion while at the same time opening a world of individuals with the freedom they deserved, and with that, they wanted to express themselves more. Minorities were given the opportunity to be beyond their race, gender, or sexuality, and therefore they could be seen as individuals. Teenagers began being capitalism's number one target, as they began to attach to subcultural movements like punk, disco, hip-hop, etc. With the change in policies that gave more freedom to Americans other than white men, corporations realized they needed variety in products as people began to see their transcendence as separate from a collective group. For example, in Jay-z's Album, 444, he is critiquing the Black male existence in American capitalism while also participating in capitalism( therefore lying to himself). One line from his song, “The story of OJ” quotes OJ Simpson a Famous American Football player who gained celebrity status, stating, “I am not Black, I am OJ” [13]. He Is celebrating his achievements as a higher power, neglecting his blackness which could be seen as a disadvantage to society. He is stating that he is beyond his race, and his existence has transcended the bounds of oppression due to his fame and wealth; neglecting the unchangeable appearance for something that you can control, style.

Today, the fashion industry has kept up with the speed at which individuals would like to change their appearance in unethical practice. The industry is a leader in mass production and is causing extreme pollution to our planet. We know this already; fast fashion companies are producing fashions that reflect the trend at the time and we give into purchasing continuously. Even though many individuals are engaging in secondhand shopping, we are still consuming more than we need.

Conclusion

Why do we need to consume products that we think reflect ourselves? Is individuality at its peak, where nothing can be seen as original? IT’S not foreign anymore that I know about Fall/ Winter 1997 Margiela, nor am I finding it to be really that important. That could also mean I am just a contrarian who hates everything that has become popular. Yet, within that, I find that I have lost myself. I feel detached from myself and I wonder who I would be if I was locked away with nothing around me. I am in a constant limbo of questioning who I am because I see others that could be clones of me. I try to express myself as an individual but the things that I enjoy could be laughing at me. I am not sure where to finish this because I am in a dreaded pool of data, images, sound, that has flooded my mind. I find my reality just as fake as the person I am online.

References

[1] Miller, Christopher M., et al. “Toward Formalizing Fashion Theory.” Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 30, no. 2, American Marketing Association, 1993, pp. 142–57,https://doi.org/10.2307/3172824.

[2] Housiaux, Andrew. “Existentialism and INSTAGRAM.” The Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 101, no. 4, [Phi Delta Kappa International, Sage Publications, Inc.], 2019, pp. 48–51, https://www.-jstor.org/stable/26861455.

[3] Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness: An Essay in Phenomenological Ontology. Cita-del Press, 1964.

[4] Jaspers, Karl. Existentialism and Humanism. R.F. Moore Co, 1952.

[5] Mozaffaripour,Roohollah . The Concept of Authenticity in Philosophy of Sartre and Implica-tions for Using Internet as Educational Technology. July,21 2015. https:// oaji.net/arti-cles/2016/2698-1453113476.pdf

[6] Saoudi, Karima. “Are the Activities of ‘Inﬂuencing’ and ‘Following’ on Social-Media Driving Users into an Existential Crisis? – Aleph.” Are the Activities of “Inﬂuencing” and “Follow-ing” on Social-Media Driving Users into an Existential Crisis? aleph- alger2.edi-

[7]num.org/4138#tocto2n3. Accessed 8 Mar. 2022.

[8]Curtis, Adam. “Century of the Self.” 2002. BBC

[9]Bernays, Edward L. “Manipulating Public Opinion: The Why and The How.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 33, no. 6, University of Chicago Press, 1928, pp. 958–71, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2765989.

[10]Crittenden, Paul. “The Fundamental Project.” Jean-Paul Sartre: Key Concepts, edited by Steven Churchill and Jack Reynolds, Acumen Publishing, 2013, pp. 152–162.

[11]“Torches of Freedom Campaign · American Women in Tobacco Advertisements 1929-1939 · Digital History - Histoire Numérique.” Uottawa.ca, 2012, biblio.uottawa.ca/omeka2/jmccutcheon/exhibits/show/american-women-in-tobacco- adve/torches-of-freedom-campaign.

[12] Measure Protocol. "Leading Social Media Apps Based on Average Weekly Hours Spent per Gen Z User in The United States as of September 2021." Statista, Statista Inc., 18 Feb 2022, https://www-statista-com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/ statistics/1245513/us-social-app-average-hours-spent/

[13] Jay- z “444”

Nakhyia Abrams

Email : nakhyiaabrams11@gmail.com