Globalization's Impact on Fashion

Hard to believe in times past fashion confined itself to separate French, Italian, and US markets rather than to today's cross-cultural global industry. Even when Vogue magazine has separate international editions in Arabic and for Latin America, Poland, and the Czech Republic, Vogue's original edition features a global array of designers and models, such as Somali-American Halima Aden, the Tanzanian-Norwegian twins Martine and Gunnhild Chioko, and Grace Bol from South Sudan.

     Although global e-commerce, references to no borders or boundaries, diversity, and presentations in exotic locations seem to be the mode, a former culture minister in Italy observed, "a globalized world puts greater value on the distinctions and sense of identity...." Brands with strong national identities, like Chanel and Burberry, do not shy away from projecting their heritage and point-of-view in the global marketplace. At Chanel, Hamburg's Karl Lagerfeld insured the future of the Lesage embroidery house. Japanese designer, Jun Takahashi, admits his inspiration from the British punk rock youth culture.

     Fashion will always search for what is new and different. Flappers cast off their constrictive undergarments to Charleston in short shifts that could move. Dior fashioned voluminous skirts to signal the end of fabric rationing in World War II. The man who put on a Lumumba University
 T-shirt to work out in CIA's gym wanted the attention he received.

     Today, creating an individual identity is easy. Simply incorporate a touch of another country's culture. I treasure an African "gold" necklace of straw and wax a friend brought me from Mali. On my coffee table, guests can pick up and examine the carved wooden sling shot I found at a bazaar sponsored by West African missionaries. Add stuffed dates and rice wrapped in grape leaves to your dinner menu. And when you browse through mail order magazines from a museum (store.metmuseum.org) or a nonprofit (unicefmarket.org/catalog), look for foreign items for yourself and for holiday gifts that might introduce children and older friends to a new culture and distinctive identity. 

     

Babies Helped with Unused Vojta Therapy

Using the Vojta (YOY-tuh) method, developed by the Czech neurologist, Vaclav Vojta, in the early 1950s, pressure applied to nine zones of a baby's body can activate muscles, mental activity, and proper breathing in those born with the motor disabilities associated with cerebral palsy and Down's syndrome.

     One medical book describes Down's syndrome as a birth defect of Mongoloid children who have "stubby fingers and hands, a flat face, slanted eyes and a sweet disposition." The book goes on to say, "Mongolism can usually be detected by sampling the amniotic fluid so that an abortion can be performed if the fetus is affected."

     Why would doctors skip to an abortion, when the development of a baby with a sweet disposition could be helped by the Vojta method, used, not only in the Czech Republic, but also in Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, India, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Syria?

     A Vojta therapist at the Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute in Thrissur, India,
suggests the therapy is not widely used, because there is no profit payoff. Once parents are trained, they perform the pressure therapy regularly at home with no equipment or drugs. Perhaps, there also is another answer. As in the case of blue light phototherapy found to destroy the superbugs that resist the antibiotics used to kill staph infections, Western doctors discounted research on the Vojta method conducted in a country behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War (See the earlier post, "Medical Profession Suffers from International Conflict.")

     Since the successful reduction of motor problems depends on how early the Vojta treatment begins and how efficiently it is applied, there should be no delay in trying this therapy in every country. After undergoing treatment before a baby turns 1 year old, although there is no cure for the underlying medical defects, speech problems and a delay in crawling and walking can be overcome. Most Vojta-treated children can learn to speak and walk.

   

Climate Control

One of the most surprising things I learned about Thomas Jefferson, when I visited his historic home near Charlottesville, Virginia, was his interest in weather. He kept a daily diary of weather conditions, a practice every student could imitate. By keeping such an annual diary, for example, students could check the dates when they see the first robin. Are northern migrations getting earlier each year? Could this be an indication of global warming?

     Although an individual's record of temperature changes over a lifetime cannot predict a long-term climate trend, an interest in weather has a wide variety of global applications. Young people already are interested in weather and its many facets according to the number of children's books on sun; clouds, storms, lightning, and hurricanes; wind and tornadoes; winter and snow; global warming and climate change; how to dress for the weather; and weather experiments. When my granddaughter was younger, she put snow in a jar, measured it, let it melt, and compared how much "rain" made how much snow. Children also can monitor the direction of wind using weather vanes, windsocks, and flags and record how the temperature changes or a storm develops after wind strengthens. In a trivia contest, I learned that the official measure of wind velocity is taken 33 feet above ground and that a flag flies straight out when wind is blowing at least 25 miles per hour.

     Of course, most students already know how Benjamin Franklin demonstrated that lightning was electricity. Lightning occurs when air can no longer prevent the attraction between oppositely charged drops of moisture in a cloud and the earth. Flying a kite tipped with a metal point into a thundercloud, Franklin watched a door key attract lightning's electric charge travel down the kite string. During a storm, since the static electricity discharge from a cloud seeks out the nearest points on earth, lightning strikes tall trees and buildings. As a practical application, Franklin suggested mounting a pointed metal rod, a lightning rod, on tall buildings to neutralize lightning's electrical charge and therefore prevent buildings from catching on fire.

     Weather has long played an important role in military maneuvers. Armies have attacked with the daily sunrise behind them in order to blind their enemies. Russia's winter defeated Napoleon, just as fog prevented him from knowing British Admiral Lord Nelson's navy had slipped between his fleet and his planned attack on Egypt.

     According to the Bible, even God has worked His will with weather. In the story of Noah and the Ark, God showed His displeasure with man's evil deeds by causing a flood that destroyed everything on earth. After the waters subsided, God said that a rainbow would be a sign that He would never again use a flood to destroy the earth. Some Czech citizens still honor Our Lady of Hostyn and the Christ Child in gratitude for the fierce lightning sent in response to prayers for prevention from a Mongol attack in 1241.

     In her book, Weather of the Future, Heidi Cullen tells how an ambulance driver named Lewis Fry Richardson set out to forecast battlefield weather conditions in World War I. He used values for the atmosphere's pressure, temperature, density, water content, and east, north, and up wind in 12,000 columns (3 degrees east-west and 125 miles north-south) in Central Europe. Without a computer, however, his calculations required too much time to be of any use for generals, and the data he used were too incomplete. Nonetheless, his book, Weather Prediction by Numerical Process, made a groundbreaking contribution to meteorology. Students like Richardson, who develop an interest in predicting the weather, might get a start on a career by reading Instant Weather Forecasting by Alan Watts. Using pictures of various skies, he explains his technique for relying on cloud studies that are more accurate for countries in the temperate latitudes than in the interior of Africa and the Caribbean.

     Research by the U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is raising major concerns about the effects of rising earth surface temperatures, higher sea levels, and decreasing glacier melt and snow cover. Methods for attacking these problems, which are attributed to the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, are suggested in the earlier blog post, "A Healthy Environment."

A Salute to Flags

Flags are a ready reminder that the world is divided into countries. In front of teams marching during the opening and closing ceremonies at the Olympics, athletes are honored by being chosen to carry the flags of their countries.

     Just as families often keep track of the state license plates they see, flag authority William G. Crampton suggests noting the date they see various country flags in person or on TV at school, post offices, hotels, parades, and sporting events. In Usborne's spotter guide to Flags of the World, Crampton includes an alphabetical list of 201 flags. Like a field guide to birds and wild flowers, this pocket-sized book helps spotters by illustrating flags in full color and by providing short descriptions of what colors and flag emblems represent. Another good source of the world's flags in full color is the website, printableworldflags.com.

    Vexillology is the study of the symbolism, history, and usage of flags. Countries assign meanings to the colors on their flags. Surrounded as they are by water, islands often choose blue. White is used to symbolize Buddhism and peace. Haiti and some African countries include black to represent their citizens. Yellow can mean mineral wealth, a royal color, or the sun. Green, the color of Mohammed, also has been used to represent jungle vegetation. Red may stand for bravery, courage, or a bloody struggle for independence.

     The three-colored flags, known as tricolors, that represent independence throughout the world have their origin in the 16th century orange, white, and blue Dutch flag that is considered the first republican tricolor. In turn, the Dutch flag inspired the blue, white, and red tricolor associated with France's 1789 revolution and, ultimately, flags flown throughout the world from Armenia to Yemen. When mass production began in the 18th century, flag manufacturers welcomed this type of         three-color design simplification.

     Just as many flags are associated with the struggle for independence, others express dedication to a religion the way Christian crosses do on the flags of Greece, Malta, Switzerland, and Tonga. Throughout the Muslim world, the crescent and star symbols of Islam and/or the green color of the Prophet Mohammed appear on numerous flags in the Middle East and Africa. South Korea and Mongolia fly flags with the yin and yang symbols of opposites associated with Buddhism, while symbols of the Jewish faith, the prayer shawl and Star of David, appear on Israel's flag. Of special interest are flags of countries that recognize that their citizens practice more than one religion. The white stripe on Pakistan's flag represents Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and other religious minorities in this mostly Muslim country, while Sri Lanka's flag includes an orange stripe for Hindus and a green one for Muslims.

     Stars representing mankind's heavenly goal have been a popular flag motif for centuries. In fact, stars also communicate a number of modern day messages. As in the case of flags representing the U.S. and Brazil, stars denote the states in each country. The Philippines, the Comoros, Cape Verde, and Tuvalu use stars to number their principal islands. Malaysia's flag, on the other hand, represents its 13 member states and its capital's territory with 14 points on one star.

     Countries also use their flags to recognize features that make them unique. Cambodia's flag pictures its famed 12th century temple, Ankor Wat. The coat of arms on Slovenia's flag includes the country's Triglav Mountain, and Lebanon places a cedar tree that grows in its mountains in the center of its flag. Granada touts its nutmeg production and Belize its lumber industry; while Kenya, Lesotho, and Swaziland display traditional tribal war shields and spears on their flags. Iran's flag repeats the inscription, "God is Great," 22 times to mark the date of its victorious 1979 revolution. Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa note their position in the Southern Hemisphere by including the Southern Cross constellation on their flags. To symbolize the Equator, Nauru draws a yellow stripe on its flag and then uses a star to indicate its position south of the Equator.

     Various activities can involve children with flags. At the pbskids.org website, they can play a "Bingo" game with countries and flags by going to the Arthur icon, then clicking on the picture of the bunny, Buster, and "Connect the World." Staging a parade of nations is a fun party or rainy day activity, especially when children wear hats or other pieces of clothing from foreign lands. United Nations Day on October 24 is a great time to organize such a parade. In addition to marching behind the Stars and Stripes, children can use construction paper to make less complicated parade flags for: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Indonesia, Japan, Chad, Gabon, or Mali. Tape these flags to straws, play a John Philip Sousa march, and a parade begins.

Flags change

Like children, flags change. From 10,000 public suggestions for a new flag, New Zealand has selected 40 designs that will be reduced to four for a public vote later in 2015. In 2016, there will be a referendum to decide between the current flag and the new design.

    After Columbus's voyages, Spain changed the motto on its flag from "There is nothing more beyond (Gibraltar)" to "There is more beyond." Once the U.S.S.R., Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia broke apart, their flags disappeared and countries that were part of these nations, such as Azerbaijan, Slovakia, and Croatia, created new flags. Likewise, when countries become independent from former colonizers, they create new flags. South Africa no longer flies the orange, white, and blue tricolor based on the Dutch flag that was raised when colonists arrived in 1652.

     When other countries achieved independence, they, like Kenya, Mozambique, and East Timor, often adopted flags similar, if not identical, to those of the nationalist groups that led the struggle for sovereignty. Antigua and Barbuda, although they elected to remain in the British Commonwealth after achieving independence, use their flag to proudly announce victory over colonialism by showing the sun of a new era rising out of a "V."

     At the beginning of the American Revolution, George Washington's troops fought under what is known as the Grand Union flag which displayed England's St. George and Scotland's St. Andrew crosses in the upper left hand corner where the stars are today. On June 14, 1777, however, to represent the original states, a circle of 13 stars, suggesting a new constellation, joined the 13 alternating red and white stripes already on the Grand Union flag. As new states joined the Union, both stars and stripes were added to the U.S. flag until 1818, when Congress decided too many stripes would make the flag's design unwieldy. Since then, stars have represented the current number of states and stripes represent the original thirteen. Between 1776 and 1801, England's flag changed as well. Today the flag of the United Kingdom combines the 13th century red cross of St. George, patron saint of England, with the Scottish cross of patron, St. Andrew, which was added in 1606 and the modified Irish cross of St. Patrick added in 1801.

     One way to demonstrate the notion that a flag represents a country's changing history is to create new flags for children as they get older. At first, a little white bunny might be pasted on light blue or pink felt that is looped over a dowel and hung on a string. By helping children design their own flags as their personalities develop, they will get a feel for the decisions a country made when creating its flag. What colors will they choose and why? Will they use a symbol to represent their favorite subject, hobby, or pet? Finally, they might include a motivational saying or slogan, such as "Throw strikes" for a baseball player or "Break a leg" for a budding actor.