Each day gets harder!

I don't know about everyone else, but this project is getting increasingly harder. I am a make-up brush collector (weird - I know, but whatever!). At the end of each month, I head over to Sephora and buy myself a make-up brush. I call it a treat to myself for working so hard this month. However, this project is breaking my tradition! So Friday came and I headed over to Sephora, but all I could do was look but not buy! Same goes for Memorial Weekend Sale shopping. As my girlfriends shop, all I could do was try and watch. The good part is that I am saving my credit card and my checkbook from the end of the month pains, but it breaks my heart to leave my favorite store without a BRUSH! Enough of venting...

I hope everyone knows by know what happen in Sichuan - an earthquake that left millions of people homeless and thousands of people killed. As I was reading up on news about it, I stumbled on an articled by the Associated Press, "Quake brings rare freedom for journalists in China". This article is saying that the earthquake is providing journalists with freedom to report about China (namely the earthquake) and to publish photos of the destruction and pain residents of Sichuan are facing right now. If freedom of press is being expressed in Sichuan right now, what other types of freedom will come with it? Especially with the Beijing Olympics coming up in a few months, will China relax its grips? We can definitely see that China has relaxed its fashion constrains in the last 10-15 years by allowing for "fashion" to take the place of the Communist jackets. Will Western influences play a bigger role like in the Japanese fashion industry after the Earthquake in 1923 (Kondo)? How will Western influences change China's policy in the next couple of years because of the aid given to China at the moment to combat the devastation of the Earthquake?

However, Western influences tend to take over once it claims victory over the country. As seen in the Indonesia dress style (from blue to red and the wearing of suits and pants), Western style has co-existed with traditional attire (Niessen). Yet, is it really co-exist when the traditional attire is worn less or plays a smaller part? It's shouldn't be called co-existing, but struggling to survive and be past on to future generations. If that is true, then won't China see Western influences as an enemy to the years of "communist foundation" and "stability" leaders in China had fought, and worked to achieve. So, if the leaders see it as an evil, would they refuse any foreign aid?

Regardless, the government will never be the real sufferer. Since we can't spend our money on clothes, shoes, etc., I encourage everyone to make a small donation to help people in Sichuan. You can do it on the red cross website. Just think about what you want others to do if you were in that situation....

As I am sitting in my apartment, packing for the wonderful long weekend away from Davis, I remembered our wonderful ASA final project. I wonder, how many people took part in the production of my jeans? It said "made in China" in bright yellow letters, but what were the conditions of the workers there? Sitting there, I realized how disgusted I was at my jeans. If felt like a contributor to the poor conditions that people in developing countries/third world country had to live with. Oh - my poor new, made in China jeans!

However, I do agree with the idea bought up by the article, "Santa's sweatshop", about " today's Third World nation can be tomorrow's developmental success" (Palmer et al 1996). As cruel and inhuman as the idea may sound, this is a cycle. It is true that the workers in these countries are not given what they rightfully deserve. By talking orders at a lower price than others, the the county will get the order. By getting the order, the country will have income. Over time, the country will establish itself in the garment industry, leading to more orders flowing into that country. The country will be able to use that money (if they don't have a corrupted government) to improve the roads, provide health care and free education, etc. Yes, it is true that developed countries have and will continue to exploit the developing country because of lower wages and poor or lack of labor laws, but if this exploitation could provide a country with financial stability and finance to develop, is exploitation a bad thing? Note: I do not believe countries should pay developing countries lower wages and have poor working conditions - the above is only stated to give an alternative viewpoint.

Who is the true contributer to exploitation? I propose it is the consumers. Consumers who aspire to be of a higher class or follow the trends set by the elite or celebrities are the worst contributers to exploitation. These consumers follow the top down theory in which they try to imitate the people of a higher class (Kawamura 78). However, their socioeconomic status may not be able to afford this form of imitation; the results: buying imitation products. This is where Forever 21 comes in and the reason why it has grown to be so big. Humans like to aspire and dream of becoming better people and people of a better class. If we can't achieve it realistically, we try to satisfy ourselves by wearing or carrying something like that. It's a way to comfort ourselves and not feel so bad. "Hey, at least I can afford Forever 21!"