September 3rd

This week in class, Professor Cummings introduced us to the concept of modernism and post-modernism. Both of these concepts represent a certain time period, even though we can never say exactly when modernism and post-modernism began and ended. We can however, think about events that caused cultural change of thought about the world, including the Atomic Bomb, Civil Rights movement, and recently, 9/11. Media has had a major influence on these events and how people view them. For example, when feminists were protesting and burnt their bras the media made it out to be a much bigger deal than it actually was, but everyone watching believed that it was this huge riot because that is what they were seeing in newspapers, hearing on TV, and listening to on the radio. Another example that is more recent, is the war and how much information we actually know about it. They barely show any pictures from the war because of reasons such as it is too graphic, but in a way we are being lied to, because the government makes sure that the media does not leak too much information that could cause the American people to view the war in a negative way.

We read three readings, but the one I found most interesting was “The Painter of Modern Life” by Charles Baudelaire. Baudelaire talks about fashion when discussing modernism. He says, “But if one wants to appreciate them properly, fashions should never be considered as dead things; you might as well admire the tattered old rags hung up, as slack and lifeless as the skin of St. Bartholomew, in an old-clothes dealers’ cupboard. Rather they should be thought of as vitalized and animated by the beautiful women who wore them. Only in this way can their sense and meaning be understood” (Baudelaire 33). Fashion should never be considered outdated because it’s part of an aura, when things reoccur and the feelings people get when things reoccur. Fashion is always reoccurring-trends from 20 and 30 years ago are just starting to come back now and that will always happen with fashion. I agree with Baudelaire when he says that if you want to understand the full meaning of fashion you have to imagine the women who wore them and what they were going through at the time, because you will appreciate the items of clothing more. Fashion is just one example of an aura, but there are many other things that reoccur over time. I enjoyed reading Baudelaire’s essay because it was very interesting to get an idea of what society was like during that time period.

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