entry 4

Alright, I am not proud to admit this but, I did in fact slipped last week and bought something that I did not need. I did not even realize I had bought something until it was too late. I bought blue mascara and I'm pretty sure I bought it because I saw an advertisement for it in a magazine and that somehow sent a subliminal message to me. After I bought it and realized that we were doing this project, I felt like the epitome of consumerism buying stuff that is advertised. However, while I was looking for the mascara I had time to look at advertisements for different make up brands and I noticed the one that of the brands had a collection that was suppose to be "colors of the East" or something similar to it and my first immediate thought was Appropriation. The funny thing is after I walked out of the store I saw a Caucasian girl wearing a bindi and I just wanted to go up and rip it off of her head despite the fact that I was not Indian. I felt frustrated because I wondered if she knew the significance behind wearing it or was she doing it for fashion? I also thought about how I did mehendi when I was younger and how I did not know the significance of it but did it because I thought it looked "cool." After taking this class I have noticed how ignorant I have been. I am glad that I can recognize the theories that we've learned in class and apply it to real life. By applying these theories to real life I am able to understand how I contribute to consumerism and it also makes me socially conscious when I buy things.