HW 31- Exploring Methods of M,M,C,A & Aggrandizing the Self

Part A

For part A of this assignment, I decided to ask my brother about why he likes to dress "cool". The following contains both the answer he gave me, and my interpretation & analysis of his answer.













Part B

For part B, I looked at aspects of my own social act, and named, labeled and dug to the core of my "personality". I specifically looked at three parts, and things that I do. They are; how I wear my clothing, how I consciously use situational dialect, and how I decide what to buy.

First, lets take a look into how I wear (or "rock") my clothing. I would say that a common style in New York City right now is to wear your pants slightly below your waist. This shows a sense of style, but also gives off the impression that you don't actually think about how you dress, you just "wake up that way". I think that I try to emulate this style a little bit, but I don't think I can pull it off. I would say that I am a pretty thin kid, and I don't really have the ability to keep my pants up if they aren't being held up tightly by a belt. I noticed that when I bought my belt a year ago, it fit perfectly, but after a year of wearing my pants low, the belt stretched out, and now I need a new belt. I want to be able to emulate this "don't give a fuck" style, but I don't think I'm physically cool enough just yet.

Next, I want to address how I talk. When I am at school, I have a lexicon of slang and terms specific to SOF which I know how to use in the right context and for the most part, the right tone. Outside of school, or when talking with teachers and adults, I talk like an educated individual and try to avoid my slang vocabulary completely. I think that I feel it is necessary to talk differently to different people, but I don't believe that it is. I think that talking in an educated way inside of school would be accepted, but I just want to put in a little extra effort to improve my social image. I think that I have my real way of talking, which is one large lexicon comprised of both proper english and some slang thrown in for "character". New York dialect I think gives me a sense of individuality and distinctly represents where I'm from. I connect with New York and am proud of the New York variation on the english language that I am so comfortable with using daily.

I think that my choice of what to buy is very much about a desire to emulate lesser known people. I feel like I don't want to dress exactly like my friends, but at the same time, I want to be similar, and fit in. I try to incorporate multiple styles, combining the street-wear of New York (SoHo brands and stores), with designer brands and well made clothing. I think that I do feel better about myself when I wear more expensive clothing, but I would never buy anything which didn't appeal to me. This brings up the question of where my sense of style comes from. I think it comes from a mix of my friends who have "New York Style", my brother (also NY style), my father (dresses in very timeless styles like aviator sunglasses, desert boots and Levi jeans), and movie stars/ musicians.

I don't really think my style is influenced by commercials, or advertisements that I see, but what I buy, in terms of non-clothing products, is totally influenced by them. I don't think what you own is reflected that much on who you are, because it doesn't go onto your body, and can be used, replaced, and upgraded on a whim. An ipod for example, is......just an ipod. You don't look at a person differently because they have an older ipod, you just think it's not as good as the new one. I don't really care all that much about what type of object I have for other people, but because I like having a higher quality item. Not having a macbook, does not make me sad I don't have the macbook pro, because I honestly don't care as long as it works well and meets my needs for a computer.