Hi class–I updated the syllabus, check it out. (You have to click the link, which will open a pdf in a new tab. An embedded doc is coming soon)
Also, I am going to be presenting a paper on “normcore” at the Eastern Sociological Society meeting in February. I’ll be drafting my ideas HERE! You’ll get to see sociology in action. If you come across any images, articles, or have any thoughts about norm core, please share here, in class, or on twitter. Don’t worry, I will definitely be discussing my ideas in class.
Do you know what normcore is or refers to? Well, it seems to have a Wikipedia entry, found here. I think the wikipedia entry is a start but I see normcore as way more fashionable than described there. Yes, it is bland clothing but it is not worn in earnest. That is to say, it’s worn to make a statement–not just because people have given up. Well, maybe they have given up but they are trying to express that feeling through fashion–normcore does not refer to people who just don’t think about fashion and wear the same thing all the time.
Some of the academic thinking on normcore sees it as a response to mass surveillance via digital technologies. NSA, Facebook etc. My spring semester students and I thought about this too and it does make sense. Dressing bland to fit in, to blend in because of the awareness that we are always able to be seen by our digital footprint…Here is an article that discusses normcore in such terms.
I have another idea though, that I will share in class and here. For now, here are some pictures that I think capture normcore in fashion.
Fashioning Sociology 