It's relatively hard for a person like me to think about what I can read about culture from an object as I am much more like a number guy, not having too much chance to think liberally. But I got a chance to look at some amazingly beautiful shoes as I am very into them as a general interest.
Air Force Ones have been symbolized as the logo of American pop culture. They signify a great deal of pursuit of freedom and freestyle. It's a symbol of self-expression. A businessman would probably not wear Air Force Ones, as they can catch a lot of attention due to their shining color and its expressive design. However, these are exactly what freestyle people want, they want to be seen and heard. They have a crave for attention. Air Force Ones' designers put a tremendous amount of efforts on color design to catch people attention as this is what hip-hopers want.
As the concept of freedom has widely spread throughout the world, air force ones have been sending out the information and concept of self-expressiveness and self-awareness to fans of hip-hop around the globe.
Language is truly socially constructed when you can say "hip hop shoes" (sounds like gibberish) and I can immediately think of something like what you showed us.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, we have learned through our culture that if you want to be seen and show off to others the kind of style and personality you have you wear a certain type of clothing. Something as simple as a pair of shoes can allow others to read the person wearing them. I know personally that when I want to be read a certain way I carefully choose the shoes and outfits I wear. So i think this is a good product to use to point out a simple symbol of something larger, like who we are.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the song "Air Force Ones," by Nelly, and that definitely reflects the hip-hop culture you talked about in your post. I agree with you and think that shoes can say a lot about someone's personality. Lots of people that influence hip-hop music and culture wear Air Force Ones and that's probably how they're socially constructed to be a symbol of hip-hop.
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