Just came across a screenshot of an InShorts piece on how Ivanka Trump is being hailed for "her nod towards sustainable fashion" because, drumroll please, she repeated a dress she'd already worn in public last year. Gasp.
This piece troubled me on so many levels:
1. Icebergs are melting, bushfires are raging, climate change is making itself felt every other day with unseasonal rains, more and more oil spills are coming to light - this is the reality of our world. The clothing industry is one of the biggest contributors of pollution in terms of wastage of copious amounts of water and fast fashion being the flavour of the moment. Meanwhile, the champion of the cause is the daughter of a callous, uber-rich capitalist only because she decided to reuse one outfit. Is the bar really that low when you're rich / powerful / famous? Shouldn't there be an additional responsibility on public figures to lead by example? That too the seemingly progressive daughter the POTUS!
2. Why is there a constant pressure on women in the public eye to always be seen in new outfits, and why repeating even one dress is so rare that it qualifies as national news? Men in equivalent professions do not seem to live by this compulsion. Living in the age of social media, I'm personally guilty too, of not making full use of the clothes and accessories I have before buying new ones. We need to break out of this vicious cycle and the media really can help the common masses change this outlook, which brings me to my last point...
3. Being an extremely easy format to consume news, InShorts acts as a quick access to current affairs for a large majority of the Indian society who are too busy or too lazy to read the long-form newspaper. With the position of power it has assumed rather swiftly since its inception, InShorts should also realise that it has the ability to focus its readers' attention on the crux of the story (however it may choose to define it), and thereby mould their opinions in a certain direction. And half-baked information in this world of post-truth can be disastrous. This bit is actually more applicable to the media in its entirety, but that's a rant for another day
This piece troubled me on so many levels:
1. Icebergs are melting, bushfires are raging, climate change is making itself felt every other day with unseasonal rains, more and more oil spills are coming to light - this is the reality of our world. The clothing industry is one of the biggest contributors of pollution in terms of wastage of copious amounts of water and fast fashion being the flavour of the moment. Meanwhile, the champion of the cause is the daughter of a callous, uber-rich capitalist only because she decided to reuse one outfit. Is the bar really that low when you're rich / powerful / famous? Shouldn't there be an additional responsibility on public figures to lead by example? That too the seemingly progressive daughter the POTUS!
2. Why is there a constant pressure on women in the public eye to always be seen in new outfits, and why repeating even one dress is so rare that it qualifies as national news? Men in equivalent professions do not seem to live by this compulsion. Living in the age of social media, I'm personally guilty too, of not making full use of the clothes and accessories I have before buying new ones. We need to break out of this vicious cycle and the media really can help the common masses change this outlook, which brings me to my last point...
3. Being an extremely easy format to consume news, InShorts acts as a quick access to current affairs for a large majority of the Indian society who are too busy or too lazy to read the long-form newspaper. With the position of power it has assumed rather swiftly since its inception, InShorts should also realise that it has the ability to focus its readers' attention on the crux of the story (however it may choose to define it), and thereby mould their opinions in a certain direction. And half-baked information in this world of post-truth can be disastrous. This bit is actually more applicable to the media in its entirety, but that's a rant for another day
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