Fast fashion can be defined as “cheap, trendy clothing that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity cultured turns them into garments in high street stores at breakneck speed to meet consumer demand.” Many people do not realize the impacts that this so-called fast fashion has on our environment considering pollution and excessive waste. Well known companies such as Shein, Topshop, Zara, and H&M are the front-facing objectives of this ongoing fast fashion issue. As over production tends to get more and more popular, the abundance of waste heightens. […………………………………….adding more sentences/information…………………………………………………………………..] While tackling the issue on over production and pollution, the well known companies H&M and Adidas use their media to promote the commonplaces of “Save the Earth” and “Stop Fast Fashion” by creating clothing that contains recycled items in every piece they create. Though, the ideas of these companies can seem to be controversial as people view both of these companies as fast fashion retail.
Month: September 2021
Cardio for Beginners
During quarantine I really started to get into working out on a daily basis especially because I had so much free time on my hands. At first I started out very out of shape, I was always a swimmer but working out at a gym and running is very different. I was very new to equipment at the gym and especially new to long distance running. Running was always something Ive wanted to start and quarantine was the perfect time to do so. Since I couldn’t get help from any of my friends in person I started to research online about how I could begin to run without straining or hurting myself. I was surprised to find so many resources to use and that made me super excited about starting. I was looking to be able to run a 5k with my mom because she was a runner in high school and college. I knew I would never get to her level but I definitely wanted to start running with her whenever she would go. After enough research I found an app on the App Store called “5k Runner” with 4.9 stars for its reviews. It was an 8 week plan to start from the very bottom and slowly work your way up to running a 5k at your own pace.
5k Runner consisted of alternating run/walk intervals that was guided by a human coach through the use of headphones. My favorite part was that you could still play music and the coach would just blend into the music while you are running. It was a perfect way to get trained while also staying safe because of covid. It almost felt like I had an actual coach physically there pushing me to keep going and that I was almost at my goal for the day. I had such motivation from this app because I got to log how far I have come from from the first day that I started. I made this a part of my daily routine from the first day I started. I was so determined to run a 5K, it became so much fun. The best part was that I got to run on the beach and watch the ocean as I ran. Even though running on the sand was a lot harder than the boardwalk, it was so beautiful.
There are so many incredible benefits of running like improving cardiovascular fitness, strengthen muscles, and even maintaining a healthy weight. Being a beginner when it comes to running can be a little scary and stressful, especially if you have never ran before. I suggest either asking a friend to help you or do what I did and download an app. It is a great way to get in exercise and it also reduces a ton of stress. Personally, during quarantine I was very stressed so running was my go to and let me release all the stress I had. It will be scary at first but once you start you will be so happy that you did.
The Benefits of Journaling
When I was younger I used to have a little journal that I kept on the side of my bed for when I wanted to express my words when no one else would listen. Then, as I got older into my early teenage years I thought holding a journal was weird and thought it was “uncool” to keep a journal full of your thoughts. Journaling has been such a huge part of my life especially now knowing the many benefits that it has. I went through a lot of phases of journaling from thinking it was so weird to thinking it was the best, easiest hobby ever. You might be thinking, okay, a journal, what in the world do I write in it. People say they have “nothing to write about”. The fun aspect of journaling is that you don’t have to know what you want to write about, just start writing and it will take you somewhere! There are so many journal drafts you can choose from whether it is just about a day in your life, a goal you have, or even recording your dreams from the night before. When I was younger I had the basic journal prompts like who my 4th grade crush was or who I wanted to slow dance with at the school dance. Typical tween journaling, I know. Now, I feel like I have so many ideas about different journal prompts since there is so much newness in our lives at the moment.
Journaling not only is a good hobby but it also has several health benefits that go along with it. Many people are in a love-hate relationship with journaling but I am trying to change that stigma that you might have about writing your thoughts down. One of the health benefits that really struck me by surprise was that it reduces stress and that was even scientifically proven. A study was shown that writing for about 15-20 minutes daily over a four month period can lower your blood sugar and can even increase liver functionality. It is considered a “meditation habit” to help you destress and calm your nerves. An obvious benefit of journaling is that it betters your writing overall as a whole. Yes, you might think “but I’m just writing informally about nonsense in my life.” Although that could be true even though you are writing in informal sentences, it can still help train the way you write.
My favorite benefit of journaling is that it is so easy to track your goals and keep tabs on everything that you accomplish. Whether you are logging your days at the gym or how well you are doing in your classes, you are still keeping a tab on yourself. This is a great way to stay organized and even feel like you are accomplishing something on the daily. I hope after reading this you at least consider starting to journal. Even thought it is not for everyone it is worth a try and you might wind up with a brand new hobby!!
A Speech That Struck My Attention…
I was very intrigued by Elizabeth’s approach on The Commonplace of Beauty and how she used the mascara bottle as a prop to really hook us in in the beginning. She explained the idea of the stereotype of what beauty in a women really is. The stereotype that Elizabeth referred to was how in order to be so-called “beautiful” you need to be blonde, tan, skinny, have perfect teeth, etc. It was very interesting how she analyzed the idea that Maybelline only secludes to the idea that beauty is witnessed solely on the outside. This makes young girls feel that they need to be beautiful on the outside to fit societies standards on the “perfect” type of girl.
I never really thought about this commonplace in the way that Elizabeth did and that is the reason why I was so interested because of how she perceived Maybelline’s “maybe she’s born with it, maybe its Maybelline.” It is interesting to analyze the ideas behind makeup companies slogans and how they believe they will increase sale within their products. I think it would be very interesting if Elizabeth incorporated other makeup brands in her analysis to further back up her analysis and commonplace. Another interesting makeup brand slogan that she could consider is L’oreal’s “Because You’re Worth It.” Is the reason we are worth it and beautiful because we purchase L’oreal’s makeup products? It is interesting how these makeup brands come up with slogans like this and not realize the impact can have on woman’s self esteem. It is almost as if you have to wear makeup to be considered beautiful. Elizabeth did an amazing job explaining this. Great Job!!!
Yoga: Self-Help
Hot Yoga
About 2 years ago I tried hot yoga for the first time at a local practice called “Bask Hot Yoga”. Hot yoga is different than regular yoga, the room is set to about 96 degrees and gradually rises as the class continues. I’m not going to lie, I was so nervous walking in there by myself. It was very intimidating knowing I have never done a yoga class before. “Hot Vinyasa Flow” is defined as a class of variable sequence of motions and so-called “flow”. These movements are designed to flow together and one movement leads to the next. In this Vinyasa Flow you are meant to constantly keep moving creating body heat. Basically, you are going to be VERY sweaty after this class is over. This is the greatest way to release stress and leave your mind completely at peace. It goes hand and hand with meditation which is also a big part of Vinyasa Flow.
Vinyasa in 3 Movements
Vinyasa is a flow movement consisted of three poses including Plank, Chaturanga, and Upward Facing Dog. These movements are meant to go at your own pace and not to be rushed. This sequence requires a strong core and upper body strength to be consistent within the movement. When your teacher says “take a vinyasa”, they encourage you to focus your mind and deepen your awareness. These are pictures of the three poses that your will go through in your Vinyasa:
Here are the motions in a flowing sequence
There is no official founder of Vinyasa Hot yoga, it is essentially a modern yoga practice that derived from the Ashtanga Yoga tradition. Sri Krishnamacharya is the grandfather of modern yoga. He learned yoga in 1916 and traveled to the Himalayas, making it clear that this type of yoga is to “deeper concentration and body consciousness throughout the entire practice”. Vinyasa yoga is fairly new and was founded in the 19th century but, still arises from the postures taught in ashtanga yoga.
A way to de-stress
Yoga was a way to help me to de-stress in times where I found myself anxious about school or events coming up. Although it is slow moving and peaceful, it is an incredible workout for the body and the mind especially. These are some of the major benefits of Vinyasa that I have experienced:
- Improves sleep
- Boosts mood
- Calms the mind and reduces stress
- Enhances core stability
- Stabilizes and regulates emotions
- Increased energy levels
- Improves your focus
These are only some of the factors that benefit you from Vinyasa. If you are looking for a way to live a happier life and need self-improvement, yoga is a great way to start this process. If hot yoga is not your thing, there is also regular yoga where the heat is a lot less intense. It just depends on what your prefer but, both are great for the benefit of your health with some pros and cons of each.
Elevator Pitch Draft
- Intro, show commercial: CLICK HERE
- Artifact: H&M Conscious Collection: Fashion made from recycled PET bottles.
- Hook: Have you ever thought about how much plastic goes to waste every year across the globe?
- Artifact: H&M Conscious Collection: Fashion made from recycled PET bottles.
- Answer: Close to 300 million tons of plastic goes to waste. This is equivalent to the weight of the entire human population combined.
- Many companies try to incorporate saving the earth into the many products they produce. H&M for example is one of the many companies to do so.
- Trust plays a huge role in this commercial and places a huge responsibility on the company to follow through in using at least 50% of recycled polyester for each item they produce.
- Civic artifact: This is a huge civic issue across the globe
- Logos: This commercial creates a lot of pieces that are left unsaid and up to the audience to ponder about. It creates suspense between the audience and the civic issue. We understand that plastic waste is a huge issue but this commercial doesn’t deliberately say that. It makes it clear that we need to take action and reuse like the company is doing.
- Ethos: The voice of a strong passionate women is taking action in speaking about the motives of H&M manufacturing for clothing. It draws the audiences attention with strong emotion to make the commercial seem serious to promote the severity of the problem.
- Pathos: The clips in this commercial seem very attention seeking and eye-catching. The audience will be moved by strong action that is being promoted throughout the video. It shows women in nice clothing to show the fact that just because it is recycled it can still be high fashion. This will draw the audience in and make them emotional. It will cause them to really rethink the way they try to help the earths waste pollution.
Passion Blog Ideas
I was thinking about the different ideas for the theme of my passion blog posts and I feel as if I have many ideas that I would like to write about but they all wouldn’t fit into the same category. Here are some ideas that strike me:
- The first idea I had was a blog about self improvement/Lifestyle/Hobby. I could compile a list of things and activities that help me distress so I could help other people out. This would include workout routines, how to organize your life, activities to get your mind off of something, and much more.
- Another idea that came to mind was music. I am a big music person and very interested in analyzing the artists lyrics. I love to find the hidden messages in between each lyric and find it incredible how artists can do this.
I honestly am leaning more towards the first idea I had. I think it is a more broad subject and I would be able to talk about more ideas while helping people at the same time.
Commonplace in Ads: #LikeAGirl
“Always” is a feminine hygiene brand that focuses on what the true meaning is behind being a girl. This brand produced a worldwide spread campaign named “#LikeAGirl” which promoted woman positivity and continued to stop the derogatory slander for doing things like a girl. This topic resonated universally and had a big impact on breaking the stereotype for woman and young girls across the entire world. The commonplace of this ad was a huge building block for the big issue in the world which is woman equality and women empowerment. It promotes a good base so that not only woman can be educated on this topic, but men as well. The advertisement serves as an educating, interesting video that should get people thinking about all the different stereotypes against women and how we can promote the upcoming change for women equality.
Initially, “always” did not expect for this advertisement to grow the way that it did. What was interesting about this campaign was that the audience not only attracted women, but also intrigued men as well. It made the opposite gender really think about how we perceive women to be. The main goal for this brand was just that, change the way everyone thinks about being, playing, and acting like a girl. There was a study that was done that said 70% of women and 60% of men claimed that “the video changed my perception of the phrase “like a girl.” This ad is very wide known and the certainty that about 7 years later people still talk about this campaign shows it impacted the lives of so many people. This shows we are one step closer to creating the equality between women and men. As more campaigns and ads try to deliver the message considering stereotypes about women, the closer we will get to full unity as a community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs