I wrote a script for this informational vlog, then couldn't follow it because I got too nervous and distracted. Here it is in polished form, and the vlog below it if you want a good laugh at me LOL.
Hi everyone! My name is Thu Nguyen, and I'm the editor of 6100 Main, the fashion blog of Rice. First of all, I would like to thank each and every one of our blog's readers, yall, for all of the support and love yall give us! And a personal thank you to the blogging team for supporting me and one another as well. Yall are amazing.
So, I usually don't make vlogs, but I'm doing a special edition blog post series and felt like it needed a more in depth, personalized introduction and explanation. This series will be in collaboration with APASA, which is the Asian Pacific American Student Alliance on campus. For those of you who don't know, APASA is a club that provides a safe and thought provoking space to discuss and learn about Asian-American issues.
Like the title of this vlog, the theme of the blog posts will be Asian-American Body Image. Let's break this down.
Body image is an extremely important issue in the fashion industry, something that we have been struggling with since the industry's humble beginnings. Fashion's ideal 5'10", 34-24-34, 115lb body results two important things: a toxic environment for models, who go through mental and physical struggles to constantly fit this image, and a highly advertised but false standard for young girls growing up. These stats are for American female models, but are similar in extremity for males and for models in other countries. There can never be enough discussion about the negative consequences of the "ideal" body size, as long as the only models and celebrities we see in media and on runways all wear the same size, and anyone above a size 8 is considered plus sized. And then we need to ask, what does "ideal" even mean? What kind of standard can be ideal for an entire human race, which is naturally diverse?
Which brings us to the first half of the title, Asian-American. When it comes to dealing with body image as an Asian-American, we then face TWO "ideal" standards. Putting aside the fashion ideals, there is the average American ideal, and the average East Asian ideal that tends to be stereotyped and put upon all Asians, even South and Southeast. What these ideals are, I will leave for you to realize and understand on your own, hopefully aided by the blog posts. But on top of the various ideals, we also face the difficulty of having to fit into the American society, one that is physically diverse but somewhat mentally homogeneous... And, I don't know about you, but I also deal with the expectations of my size from my own family.
The blog posts will consist of your story, told through an interview or narrative that you share with me, about your personal experiences and opinions about Asian-American body image, or just body image in general, and a mini photoshoot of a couple of your favorite outfits. I would like to invite you, Asian-American or an ally, male or female, to be a part of this project. If you're interested, please contact me, I'll link my info below in the description box, or shoot me a message on facebook!
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