{"id":54894,"date":"2013-04-29T11:30:46","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T16:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=54894"},"modified":"2017-09-17T08:51:47","modified_gmt":"2017-09-17T13:51:47","slug":"hurricane-sandy-and-high-fashion-a-portrayal-of-class-hierarchy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2013\/04\/29\/hurricane-sandy-and-high-fashion-a-portrayal-of-class-hierarchy\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurricane Sandy and High Fashion: A Portrayal of Class Hierarchy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vogue<\/i>\u2019s<\/i> photo-shoot<\/a> titled \u201cStorm Troopers: Celebrating Hurricane Sandy First Responders\u201d features various images of models with workers of different organizations who combated the damage of Hurricane Sandy. Vogue<\/i> praises the attributes of these workers in the caption: \u201cwhen Hurricane Sandy hit, the city\u2019s bravest and brightest punched back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the title and caption suggest that the photos are meant celebrate the hard work of the men and women who responded to the hurricane, they also serve as a foil against which the models stand out. In other words, this photo spread is at least as concerned with celebrating a look and lifestyle associated with money and beauty, as it is with celebrating the working class.\u00a0 This is obvious for at least two reasons.<\/p>\n

First \u2013 the weaker argument — the majority of the workers are dressed in baggy, loosely fitting uniforms; they are not wearing the make-up or striking the poses so cherished by magazines like Vogue<\/i>.\u00a0 The models, in literal contrast, embody high fashion.\u00a0 Their expressionless faces and leisurely poses are the province of the elite.<\/p>\n

The next image is particularly striking in this regard.\u00a0 The glamorous model not only contrasts with the gritty workers, she is elevated above them; the eye is drawn to her ephemeral presence, not to the men and women below.\u00a0 Their presence serves to make her allure all the more impressive.So, the class contrast elevates the models, figuratively and sometimes literally in these images.\u00a0 We see race contrast used to do the same thing when Black men and women are<\/a> used as props in fashion shoots<\/a> as well as East Indian<\/a> and Asian<\/a> people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Second \u2013 the stronger argument \u2013 if Vogue<\/i> wanted to celebrate the men and women in working class occupations that helped after Hurricane Sandy, they could have left the models out altogether.\u00a0 As it is, the implication is that the workers aren\u2019t valuable in themselves, they\u2019re only valuable as a setting<\/i> for high fashion.<\/p>\n

The photo shoot, then, instead of honoring the workers, affirms the class hierarchy in which they are embedded.\u00a0 The photographs fall in line with the magazine\u2019s message \u2013 a celebration of an elite lifestyle \u2013 one that is well out of the reach of blue collar men and women.<\/p>\n

Eliza Connors is a first year student at Occidental College. \u00a0She hopes to pursue a degree in sociology. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vogue\u2019s photo-shoot titled \u201cStorm Troopers: Celebrating Hurricane Sandy First Responders\u201d features various images of models with workers of different organizations who combated the damage of Hurricane Sandy. Vogue praises the attributes of these workers in the caption: \u201cwhen Hurricane Sandy hit, the city\u2019s bravest and brightest punched back.\u201d Although the title and caption suggest that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[29,225,76],"class_list":["post-54894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-class","tag-clothesfashion","tag-work"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54894"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71365,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54894\/revisions\/71365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}