So the final day of this experiment is finally over - I'm excited to be back to my normal self. I went to church last night looking like this, which spark a perfect set of reactions.
As soon as I walked in I was greeted with a chorus of "You look so pretty!"s, and "Oh my gosh!"s. My friends from church don't know me, or nonconformity, as well as my school and other various location friends, so they were a perfect tester group for reactions, because they could judge my appearance without linking it to my character.
1) A well-meaning generic-aged woman told me "You look glamorous tonight!" and when I began explaining it was for art and that it wasn't permanent she nodded enthusiastically and drowned my words with a few "Lovely! You look lovely!"s.
2) A friend of mine said that although I was wearing a lot of make-up, it looked very pretty, and that I should do it more often.
3) Someone else said they prefer this girly look on me that my usual look, and definitely preferred it to my look last week.
4) When asked what my person thought about my look, he replied, "It's not that I don't like the girly-girl, but I'd rather have the Courtney girl". Which is nice, but also irrelevant.
Now it's time to kick back and get this documentary done. This won't be my last post, though, so stay tuned (that sounded terribly cliche, didn't it?).
Hey Courtney, I really loved the experiment you did, I've never really heard of anything like it. It was very creative, but I think I would have loved some more reflection. I know that sounds like a dumb teacherish comment...but I don't know if I really understood everything. Maybe video format will help. Also, 'beauty and conformity' is not something I've thought too much about so I loved stumbling upon these! Thanks so much for sharing! Obviously it affects everyone, so I'll be interested to learn more.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the interest, unknown Kate, I think what I'll do just now is post a conclusion on the project, I'm sure that would clear up any confusion. Which Kate are you, by the way?
DeleteWhy do you find that looking mainstream was painful , sure you get the glares and the opinions
ReplyDeleteBut if you had to go down an alternative method I'm sure that people would be even more judgmental .
Why take such an approach such a thing like this seems to be bamboozling to me , why do you find one method
Painful and not the other when in essence they are the same , this dumfounds me . Do you find pleasure in rebelling ?
Anon
I don't think dressing alternative would really count as "rebelling", and I could see why a lot of people would maybe not understand or be insulted by my attitude to the mainstream but I guess it's just my personal character. I care more about the opinions of alternative groups than the mainstream ones, and, personally, I don't enjoy dressing mainstream just as much as someone else might not enjoy dressing alternative.
DeleteCourtney, I have to say that i was incredibly inspired by your art project, this being said, it made me realise how much i actually judge people on what they do, wear,look like etc. It was a real eye opener for me, and i get it, i really do. Not everyone is the same. We are all different in some sort of unique way that defines us. Thank you for helping me open my eyes to this - Greatly appreciated :)
ReplyDelete