This week, we completed three interviews. They were extremely interesting and all very different. Prior to the interviews, I typed up an interview protocol with an introduction, questions, and probes. We messaged our respondents the questions before the interview. Our questions are fairly specific to our project. We chose to not ask much about participant background, and hope that what is relevant will come up through our questions about race, class, and gender. We have found that we have an abundance of useful information. Our three participants had extremely thought-out and complex answers to our questions. At this point, Kayli and I are a little overwhelmed because they provided so much content that will be relevant to our research, and it will be difficult to decide which quotes to include. I had the idea of casually filming our analysis. We are trying to make this film as visually appealing and fluid as possible. We also want to be transparent about our interpretation of the interviews. We have been having such long and fruitful conversations about the project, before and after filming. We are going to start filming those conversations so that viewers can see our process.
Something interesting that emerged from the interviews is that those that we interviewed, do not necessarily view how they dress, or millennial trends, as a form of resistance. This goes against the findings of some of our research on millennial fashion. One of our respondents, a Black male, talked about how millennial “resistance” even feels like a trend to him. He thinks that millennials are embracing different styles in the name of resistance, when in reality it has become so trendy, that it is no longer resistance. So far, we have interviewed two Black men and an Asian woman. Both men expressed feeling a need to conform, and look a certain way, based on the stereotypes they might encounter as Black men. The woman said that her fashion has become more confined in an effort to be perceived as “serious,” because she is a female entering the workforce. It is unsurprising that intersectional identities contribute to how and when millennials are able to resist the norm through fashion. So far, this has been a salient finding. I regret not including sexuality as a factor in our research. I think this could have yielded interesting results.
Next week, we have three more interviews scheduled. After that, we will probably complete one more and then conclude our research process and begin analysis. We have set up an interview with Professor Devgan. Her knowledge will hopefully supplement our literature review. We are also experimenting by interviewing a fashionable couple. This would be difficult to do in written sociological research, but I think will be powerful in a film. I think we are going to take Professor Greene’s advice, and stick to interviewing our peers. We have enough information to fill the film, and this will narrow our scope. The editing process is looming as a difficult endeavor. We both have extremely high hopes for this film, in addition to a great deal of footage. Hopefully we have not bitten off more than we can chew.
Holly,
It sounds from your discussion of Log 2 and Log 3 that you elicited some rich data from your interviews, both from other students and from Professor Devgan. The most interesting aspect of your discussion comes from this questions of fashion as “resistance.” I cannot help thinking about the ways clothing can map different bodies. As I was reminded last weekend, dressing in preppy attire can make be vulnerable to critiques of “not being black enough,” which wearing distinctly urban attire can brand me differently than it would for a white person. The question of authenticity is valuable to this question, as much as the questions of what it means that we often seek out community through fashion. As one of your interlocutors express with some seeming frustration, it can be very difficult to distinguish yourself in terms of fashion when fashion is (and perhaps must be) copied and emulated.
I also think about this in terms of the Bowdoin context, as many people of color may wear luxury items as a means of gaining legitimacy as Bowdoin students. White students often play down their fashions in many contexts (except perhaps for winter coats and when they go out into the town) because they fear being branded as elite snobs; however, for students of color, that style is necessary to disavow their connection to the “iconic ghetto.” I’d be curious as your thoughts to this, as I think the ways that Millennials fashion themselves can speak to how we conceptualize and advance discourses on race, class, gender, and sexuality.
You are engaging in some sophisticated thinking, and I love it. Keep up the great work!