Lesson 3 — Activity 2: Clothing and Individual Identity

The importance of wearing clothes is as much a statement about who you are as it is a function to protect the body against the elements of nature. Clothing can send social messages to others that include social status, occupation, ethnic and religious beliefs, and marital status.

In this activity, you will think about the importance of clothing to your individual identity.

People use clothing to show their personality or individual identity. Some may choose to wear very expensive clothes to reflect their social status. This tells people that they spend their money to be fashionable. Others wear their favourite colours in their clothing to show that they have their own special taste in clothes.

  Teenagers may wear clothes to show they reject the values and rules that their family stands for. Teenagers may also use clothes to develop a sense of self-awareness.

So clothing can be used to show both a person's collective identity and individual identity.

Self-check!

Digging deeper!