Final Blog Post

The exigence that my PSA and one dress protest is attempting to combat is explained accurately in the about section of Kristy Powell's blog, she says the meaning behind her protest is to "challenge the ways identity is constructed through clothing, what sustainability means for consumption, how our perception of others is so often based on external presentation, and what “fashion” ultimately means for me going forward.“One Dress Protest was began as a blog coming from your average woman who began to be fed up with what the fashion industry has become. Her blog has sparked some small attention and it is originated from similar other movements like the uniform project, project 333, and six items or less.All of these small movements are fueled with unhappiness with the state of how we consume and dress ourselves today. I am sticking myself within her blog and creating a PSA to enforce her ideals portrayed through her daily blog post throughout her year of not buying any clothes and wearing only one dress for 365 days. My public service announcement for the One Dress Protest uses these persuasive functions: prescribing courses of action and transforming perceptions of social reality. The PSA attempts to prescribe the what by explains what must be done to prevent a world of environment chaos and a society of women never feeling adequate tot he standards placed upon them by the fashion industry.Prescribing the what is defining the ideologies of the movement, which are clearly presented by showing the two main problems the one dress protest is combating: self-image and fast fashion's detrimental effect to the environment. The PSA is attempting this by saying "why is this important?" Prescribing the who is about ordinary people joining together to make a change. The PSA addresses this when asking the viewer to join the movement, follow Kristy Powell's journey and by asking "are you up for the challenge?" Prescribing the how involves the strategy the movement with do to accomplish their goals. The strategy is protesting in a unusual form, instead of picketing with signs, the movement wants you to follow her journey and create one of your own by also wearing one dress for a year and not purchasing any new clothes for the duration of the year. If done correctly this will eventually gain attention through online media like blogs and articles and if everyone joined in and protested the fashion industry by doing this, they would be forced to change the way their models look, their airbrushing, and their environment destruction and waste to eventually create a new fashion industry full of sustainability and an instill self-confidence in society. Transforming perceptions of social reality is the whole premise of that surrounds the exigence of this movement. Its exactly what needs to be altered by the fashion industry. To attempt to change perceptions of the present, the PSA addresses the look that is so plastered over all the magazines and runaways, a look unattainable for most average women. Shots of models looking scary skinny, a stick drawing with a woman looking the same, and a frame of a extremely photo edited model all bring to attention the fact that the fashion industry has a unrealistic view of what women should look like. A statistic of how much one person contributes to textile waste a year attempts to change the perceptions, many people may not realize that this new "fast fashion" is harmful for our environment if it continues. Fast fashion is the trend that is cheaper clothes that are usually discarded season to season from retailers like forever 21 and Zara. The strategies I used were identification and storytelling.The PSA is basically directed at women. Women identify well with other women, especially an average and realistic woman. Most women have felt insecure about models once in their lives, so they understand. I used the "we" language tactic to establish common ground as it scrolls across the photo of the girl seeing something that is not really in her reflection. I used storytelling when I showed pictures of the daily photos Kristy Powell posted on her blog of her one dress journey. Her blog is a huge storytelling tactic in itself. Shes documenting her daily struggles and discoveries. It gives a face to the movement. The book describes storytelling as "a social process in the search for meaning, purpose, value, efficacy and self-worth," which fits her goals on point. The genre I chose was a public service announcement, while these movements are not on a large scale now, it could be circulated through online forums until it reaches enough momentum to be shown to larger audiences. The conventions are length which I go outside of, A minute an a half is long for a PSA but for circulating online through blogs and other mediums it would work and be short enough to make a impact but not too long to lose attention. The genre helps carry out my goals because I want to make people take notice to these issues and that is what PSA's do. It is a serious problem which needs a serious medium, unlike commercials which can be very comical. I choose this genre because music, photos, and powerful words make the right statement, while a pamphlet would not have the drama aspect or the attention I wanted to achieve. People seem to respect PSA's.