Introducing myself and my journal: I.F.

About Me:
Finishing up my masters degree at the University of California Davis, I find my thirst for learning and gaining insight about the world only getting stronger. I crave a community of like-minded individuals who believe in the importance of equality in all aspects of life from gender to race to sexual orientation and beyond. I believe that inequalities and other social phenomena can be studied through clothing and fashion, which often discredits me in the eyes of many feminists as they believe fashion and feminism (the two most loaded f-words of today) to be in complete opposition. My goals are to expose the importance of clothing and fashions in understanding otherwise uncommunicable inequalities and social beliefs about ways of being in the world. My thesis looked at the use of the fashion and style in the gay male community. I discovered how fashioning appearances causes a rift within the community members and anxieties about \"representation\". \"Masculinity\", it seems, gets redefined and appropriated into a trend (termed 'straight-acting'), which exposes the importance larger society puts on masculinity over femininity and the oppression of those who chose to fashion their appearances outside of prescribed gender norms.

It is in this realm that I would like to continue doing work. I am so excited to be a part of this community to share my thoughts and ideas!

My Passions:
Human Equality, Fashion, Feminism, Learning, Sustainability

My Challenges:
An overactive mind

My Vision for the Future:
Progress

My Areas of Expertise:
Textiles, Clothing, and Fashion, Cultural Studies, Queer History