For my final project, I created a website that analyzes an episode of “Queer Eye: We’re in Japan” along with several other sources in order to look at the lens of Travel and Orientalism more closely. The name of the website, One Petal At A Time, is aimed at the purpose of showing people how they can begin to move away from the concept of Orientalism and stereotypical mindsets by developing a cultural understanding and becoming a respectful and conscientious traveler. My goal for this website is for it to be a place where people can not only learn more about this crucial topic, but also be able to realize if they have been viewing a destination merely on stereotypes and allow them the resources they need to change their mindset. One Petal At A Time shows how when you begin to travel with a purpose, your experience will not only be immersive and have an impact on your life, but also the lives of the culture around you.
Here is a look at some of the revisions I did. I am so pleased with how the website turned out the first time around, but I wanted to make it that much stronger. These revisions I believe really tie everything on the site together and I am very proud of the overall turnout. Enjoy!
https://forrester7.wixsite.com/website
Revision #1: Queer Eye and Orientalism:
In my first revision, I went back to my main blogpost on the website that is titled “How ‘Queer Eye Japan’ made human connections and not exploitation.” In this post, I talk about my main analysis of one episode of this miniseries and how they did an impressive job of not incorporating any Orientalist ideas but focused on making connections with the culture and truly finding an interest in each and every Japanese local. The episode I watched talked about how being a part of the LGBTQ community in Japan can be a struggle because it is not completely accepted throughout the whole country. I wanted to further that discussion by adding statistics and research that I did showing what it is like being queer in Japan. I devoted a lengthy paragraph in the blogpost that shows the discrimination they receive and how there is a growing demand for equal rights among people of any gender identity or sexual orientation. Next, I also added a bit that discussed even though there are English subtitles whenever Japanese is spoken, which shows you the kind of audience the show is aimed at, it is still overall a way for Westerners to hear the language but also understand with the subtitles that Easterners are just like us.
Revision #2: Fashion and Orientalism:
My next revision was focused on one of my other blogposts titled “How the fashion industry enters the Orientalism conversation and its affect on travelers.” In this post, I talk about how many large fashion houses and fashion events are incorporating Orientalism and stereotyping many cultures in order to appear exotic, when in reality they have no understanding of the destination they are recreating. One revision I did in this post is to talk about some examples in the 2015 Met Gala that did in fact incorporate Orientalism by stereotyping Chinese fashion and wearing a gown designed by a Western designer. Since I talk about two positive ways fashion is moving in the right direction (Rhianna wearing a gown made by a Chinese designer and the Nigerian Arise Fashion Week), I wanted to include some negative ways when Orientalism is showed. I wrote about negative examples at the Met Gala as well as including a slideshow of photos that showcase these stereotypical Chinese outfits, just so my audience can see the problematic trends happening today. I also added a paragraph talking about an example of when Orientalism has an impact on a fashion house–specifically the example of Dolce & Gabbana. I discuss how they interpreted the culture of China in a very inappropriate campaign that could have been avoided if they had an actual understanding of the people.
Revision #3: Traveling and Flowers:
The last revision I did on the website is under one of my tabs at the top of the website titled “Traveling and Flowers?.” I added a paragraph in the middle of the section in order to give the audience an understanding of the concept of Orientalism. Yes, I do define Orientalism in my main blogpost of Queer Eye and Oreintalism, but I wanted to include it in this tab as well. It would be very likely for the audience to look at this tab, defining the metaphor of the whole site, before they read the specific blogposts. So, I included a definition and description of Orientalism here on this tab, which is one of the more important tabs on the site because it is discussing not only the metaphor of the flowers, but also my goal with the website.
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