The topic of the interview is the current state of fashion and what it is influenced by. I started the interview that showing Paulina my blog on fashion, and then linked her to some of the articles that I had used for my background information on the topic....
1. Interviewee Name: Paulina Zayko, a patron at the cafe that I have seen on numerous occasions, often overhearing her strong opinions on international topics.
2. Place and Date of interview: Sunday May 20th 2007 at the Cafe on the Ave during the University District Street Fair.
3. Demographics: Gender: Female; Age: 20; Education: Junior at the University of Washington majoring in Microbiology and Psychology; Ethnicity: White; Place of Residence: Seattle; Place of Birth: Russia
4. Religion/Politics: "Not a religion, but more of a relationship/lifestyle with God"; Moderately Liberal
Here are the questions that I asked her:
1. What made you decide to dress today the way you have? Is today different from any other day? How long does it take to you to decide what to wear?
2. How religious do you classify yourself to be? Is there anything on your body that you think says something about your religious or political position? Does your religion play a role in your fashion choices?
3. Please tell me what you think of when your hear this quote, "It is as though religious attire is often worn as a fashion statement, or an assertion of difference, as much as a sign of devotion" (Buruma, 123).
4. What is your opinion of the current debate in Europe over the right for Muslim women to wear their headscarves in public places?
5. Anything else you want to tell me relating to the topic of fashion?
Here are her answers:1. "Today specifically, I was actually running extremely late for church and knew that I was going to be studying all day so my decision was based on what I could throw on the fastest that would also be very comfortable later on in the day to study in. Most days it takes about 1 minute to maybe 1 ½ minutes (today was probably more like 10 seconds). On days I go out to special events, maybe up to 10 minutes max."
2. "I don’t believe in the word “religion” simply because of how it is generally applied in Western nations in this generation. I would consider a faith or belief system to be a lifestyle, a commitment to and relationship with God. I have a wonderful relationship with God (the Christian God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and live a lifestyle that my friends would say is consistent with my faith. So in that sense, I consider myself strong in my faith and would most likely be viewed as very “religious” by others.
No, there isn’t anything “on” my body that necessarily says anything about my religious or political views. I would say it isn’t what is “on” your body that is important, but what you do with it. As previously mentioned, I view my faith as a relationship, so in that sense there isn’t anything set in stone about what my attire should be. That being said, as far as my personal convictions and decisions go, I would probably be viewed as slightly conservative in how I dress but this isn’t directly controlled by my christian “religion” and is more my personal decision and choice."
3. "I completely disagree with that statement. As far as the Islamic religion is concerned, I don’t see their outward expression of faith in any shape or form an arrogant attempt to stand out. That being said, I can understand that theirs is the only religion that requires such an intense commitment in their attire and can also see why people would wonder why they should be an exception. However, I think if there going to be a freedom of religion, there also needs to be an open-minded population to all components of all religions. As far as what I think of the quote in terms of how it relates to my faith, I would say my attire is definitely not a distinguishing factor. I personally think that God is more concerned with a devoted heart, not a devoted dress style."
4. "Quite frankly, I don’t understand that debate. Even though in my faith attire isn’t what is important, I couldn’t imagine having that freedom taken away if it was. I have seen plenty of attire donned in public that I would personally think to be a far bigger problem than a headscarf, or sometimes “lack of” attire seen in public places or even the magazines over in Europe that should be by far more troubling. Where would it stop? Would it stop at trying to control the attire of one type of minority? Why isn’t this considered discrimination? Would it move on? Is the final goal going to be a high school list of proper attire in public? Again, I don’t understand a debate on the “right” of anyone to his or her attire. This is most likely stemmed from the wonderful freedom that I am used to in America, so I am probably biased in this view.
5. Yes. I feel the Western nations have finally reached an era where fashion is the sovereign right of every human and isn’t something that can or should be controlled for any reason, especially in nations claiming to have a freedom of human rights."
