An Analysis on Fast Fashion & It’s Damage to the Environment

Rikki Rosenthal January 27, 2020

Rebecca Onion’s Article “How Depression-Era Women Made Dresses Out of Chicken Feed” depicts the struggles of women during the depression-era and how they had to rely on unusual sources to create clothing. In this piece, Onion tells the story of why and how these women decided to use flour sacks and other household item vessels to create clothing for themselves and their families. To portray her research, Onion utilizes photos from the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History to show the reader what kind of fabrics and instructions came with flour sacks for alternative use. It is evident throughout the piece that Onion takes a different approach to conducting research and using them in her pieces. It is clear she is a trained historian and only uses resources that have provenance in a major historical context.

At the end of the piece, there is a link to another article by Karen Strike called “Feed Sack Fashions And Patterns of Depression Era America”. This article shows color photos of the garments women and children were wearing as well as advertisements geared toward the housewife on “How to Make Precious Cotton Cloth”. This method of reusing materials was deemed shameful to society because it showed that a family couldn’t afford new clothes. However, this recycling of fabric is extremely sustainable and should be encouraged even to this day. If everyone was making their clothes out of recycled materials then our capitalistic tendencies and our environmental footprint would be greatly reduced.

In Stuff Mom Never Told You’s Episode on Fast Fashion, the hosts take a different approach to sharing their research. They start off the episode by disclaiming that their practice’s in consuming fast fashion are not perfect and although the episode has the capacity to make the consumer feel guilty for excessively consuming clothing, they don’t make you feel bad about it. In fact, their introduction is comforting because they try to relate to their audience before educating them on why fast fashion is bad.

Throughout the episode, they discuss historical events like the 1912 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, and the inception of fast fashion brands like H&M and Forever21. They also reference many statistics about the environmental price we pay for consuming fast fashion brands, the figures these brands make and the overall impact of mass producing products. This contrast with Onion’s article because it shows the different sides of consumerism in low income areas. Onion’s article portrays life in the early 1900’s during the depression era, whereas the podcast portrays modern consumerism and it’s effect on the environment as well as the economy.

An Analysis on Adam Ruins Everything S2E10 “Adam Ruins the Suburbs”

Rikki Rosenthal January 17, 2020

It is recognized throughout the majority of American society that the suburbs are the quintessential place to live. Settling down with your family and having that picture perfect house with the white picket fence are what most Americans consider to be the “American Dream”. In season 2 episode 10 of Adam Conover’s Show, “Adam Ruins Everything”, he debunks the several myths that the suburbs are the ideal place for American upbringing.

While Conover tackles many myths about suburban life, the concept of suburban living isn’t actually as perfect as it seems. It is widely accepted that the suburbs are safer, cleaner, more independent, easily accessible, and have good schools. However, Conover tackles each one of these misconceptions with a plethora of research.

This form of research that focuses on undercutting commonly held misconceptions is highly effective. Conover makes a point to bring in experts to explain why these misconceptions are present and allows them to debunk the myth in their own words. While it is evident that each correction to the assumptions are backed up by research, Conover finds a way to make the information accessible through the use of humor. Similarly to the way that David Dunning used the Jimmy Kimmel example to reach a wider audience, Conover uses humor to make these common misconceptions relatable to the viewer.

Throughout the episode I was surprised as to how much I fell victim to believing common myths about suburban live. However, the most perplexing of these issues was the concept of “redlining” suburban neighborhoods and how this phenomenon still effects society today. It is a common misconception that segregation is no longer an issue in the 21st century. However, Nikole Hannah-Jones, a New York Times staff writer, corrects these misconceptions by stating segregation is actually more prominent today than ever before. This is do to redlining, a phenomenon introduced by FDR’s New Deal, in which neighborhoods would be marked red or green. If you lived in a “red” neighborhood, where many racial minorities lived, it was very difficult to get a homeowner’s loan from the bank, thus making it extremely difficult to build wealth, leaving many of these neighborhoods in poverty. What was the most perplexing was that this is still an issue today.

“Banks still regularly charge black home buyers higher rates on loans than they do white home buyers, even when they have the same credit”

Nikole Hannah-Jones. “How the Supreme Court Could Scuttle Critical Fair Housing Rule.” Guernica Magazine, 11 Feb 2013.

The research speaks for itself. It’s appalling how uninformed our society is on issues that aren’t primarily focused on white people.

“Worst of all, black and Latino home seekers still experience 4 million instances of illegal housing discrimination every year.”

Nikole Hannah-Jones. “Have You Experienced Housing Discrimination?” ProPublica, 28 Oct 2012.

One aspect of the episode I appreciated was the conclusion of the episode, where Ellen Dunham-Jones, professor of Architecture and Urban Design at Georgia Institute of Technology, was introduced explaining how just because the suburbs have systematic issues within its confines, doesn’t mean one can’t live there. In fact, more suburban residents should be encouraged to participate in the implementation of solutions to fix these pressing issues. I appreciated how Cononver concluded the episode on a positive note to encourage the viewer to go out an make a difference in their community.

An Analysis on David Dunning’s “We Are All Confident Idiots”

Rikki Rosenthal January 15, 2020

In David Dunning’s informative, yet accessible, piece on high levels of confidence in humans who are mostly ignorant, he explores the ideology and purpose behind where human ignorance is born. At 70 years old, Dunning is able to explain his research, as well as similar studies, in an all encompassing piece on “human wrongness”. He earned his PhD. in Psychology from Stanford University in 1986. Since then, he has conducted many social psychological studies, is a retired professor from Cornell University and is currently teaching psychology at the University of Michigan. In his 2014 article published in the Pacific Standard and later updated in 2017, Dunning showcases his observations, studies and overall thoughts on human ignorance.

In “We Are All Confident Idiots”, Dunning drives home the point that human ignorance often leads to excessive confidence. However, he also notes that those who are ignorant, and we are all ignorant, aren’t even aware of it. This he describes at the Dunning-Kruger Effect, in which incompetent people cannot recognize just how incompetent they really are. In fact, we are so oblivious that we confuse it for expertise. But Dunning makes a point to acknowledge that ignorance is not a lack of information or education. 

“Don’t think of an ignorant mind as uninformed but misinformed”.

David Dunning

This is quite interesting because it is understood almost everywhere in the world that ignorance is just a lack of knowledge. However it would be remiss to not acknowledge our own ignorance of the concept of ignorance itself.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Dunning’s piece is the idea that ignorance stems from many places throughout one’s life. It isn’t just one’s upbringing but also education, and personal belief systems, the philosophies that define us, that play the most important role in human ignorance.

Throughout this article, Dunning cites many studies from a plethora of different sources. From pranks on the Jimmy Kimmel show, to psychological studies at Cornell University to studies conducted alongside the U.S. Treasury, Dunning does not leave anything out. Yet in including these studies, he is providing the reader with access to the idea that even though this is his field of study in social psychology, many other types of studies still apply to his hypothesis. In fact, every study he included, and he did include a lot, only proved his hypothesis even more. It was almost redundant, how many studies were included in proving that human ignorance exudes undeserved confidence.

Here you will find a collection of my portfolio in writing and photography. I hope you enjoy!

Hey there, I’m Rikki. I’m a writer pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Journalism at Arcadia University. I’m from Brick, New Jersey. I have an interest in photography, travel, and exercise.