You’ve seen it a million times; Papers flying around in a dimly lit cubicle, blocky computers crashing, people storming around trying to crunch in their deadlines, and right in the middle of the scene, there’s a malnourished woman in a grey power suit and sheer nylons. Her hair is usually dyed black, to give a mysterious connoisseur, and she wears thin rectangular glasses, to exude seriousness. She sits there, legs over one another, staring at the commotion behind her. She bites on a pencil, but not in a dorky way, more in a seductive way. Many people have coined a term for this very popular look; Office Siren.
When you really delve into it, ancient Greek lore considers a siren to be a seductive creature who would lure pirates into the ocean. These succubi would make them dive off-board, crash their ships, and sometimes even sink the ship. To put this narrative into an office setting, where there is very little leniency for such inappropriate behaviour and clothing, is not only unrealistic, but also a portrayal of the times.
It can be agreed upon that America is experiencing an economic and patriotic downfall. North Korea and Russia have made an official statement that the United States of America has become unsafe to travel to, and Germany has gone as far as to say we are undergoing something close to Nazi Germany within our government. As people, we find ways to cope with such matters. Some rebel, some make their voices heard, and others sit on their phone and dress up to try and make themselves feel better. Contrary to popular belief, fashion is entirely political. Many times, without even realizing it, we are pushing propaganda down our own throats.
The office siren is an amazing example of this idea. Americans are struggling to the point where they need at LEAST two to three jobs to be able to so much as survive in this economy. The office is a representation of survival. People go there not only to consume their time, but also ensuring their livelihood. When you see these people running about, losing their minds in an office setting, it’s a troubling sight. Meanwhile, this very anorexic woman (due to a lack of money for groceries, many people are starving. By picturing a thinner woman, we see the romanticization of this ideal), just sitting there, calmly and beautifully. It shows a sense of not caring. As if the environment around her means nothing.
Okay, what comes to mind when you hear this?: There’s a blonde woman with blue eyes getting ready in her mirror. She has old-fashioned rollers in her hair, a cigarette in hand, barely lit, but just enough to present a dirty look. She’s wearing cowboy boots, has an American flag hung up somewhere, and she has a gingham red-print top on. We see her step outside her trailer with a Coke can and, suspiciously clean ashtray. If you guessed “Cowboy’s girlfriend” or “Trailer Park Trash,” you would be correct.
This look, believe it or not, is deeply rooted in American nationalism.
These women being portrayed almost never become the “Cowgirl.” They are put in the place of the girlfriend, or sometimes the daughter of a cowboy. To put a woman in authority would be threatening to the ideal America and our leader in the white house has promoted for so very long. Not to mention, these women are never brunette or of a darker skin tone. They are white, but tanned from the blazing heat in the wild west. Their hair is a perfect yellowish blonde and never darker, and eyes blue as the sky. We are actively being spoonfed white supremacy propaganda within our government. It’s just being wrapped up in a pretty bow this time.
This same ideal is promoting the idea that living within temporary property is a cool “look.” However what many of the people organizing these shoots, movies, and music videos don’t realize is that it’s so much deeper than a look for some people. It’s the harsh reality, matter of fact. “You know how during World War 2, we had Rosie the Riveter, and it was like, ‘we can do it.’ We were going through a very trying time and in a way, nit was kind of nationalism propaganda. It was selling the idea that we were the greatest country in the world and it also ahd some subtle purity culture ideals in it,” says sophomore, Ellie Karam. What they consider smoking to be a rough and edgy aesthetic, is an active and murderous addiction for many. What curling your hair with sponge rollers looks like as old-fashioned and a cute alternative, is actually a lack of money to be able to afford a real curling iron. What others consider a trailer a neat way to live life, is the reality that many Americans cannot afford living in an actual home anymore. The average cost for a house is within $100,000 at least. The media likes pushing ideas of poverty to show relatability without ever being able to say that they truly lived that life. What people also don’t realize is that it’s America’s way of telling the lower class to stay in their place. By showing that their reality can be romanticized, it makes people want to push themselves into that box, rather than strive to become bigger than that. By climbing up the ladder, the lower and middle class become threats to the elites.
In the youth, there’s another trend going about that does by the name indie-sleeze.” This is another one you’ve probably seen a million times before, but are only now finding a name for it. This look is usually rugged and moderately inspired by the nightlife scene. Picture this: there’s a girl in a sewer, smoking a drab cigarette, pupils fuly dilated (clearly intoxicated), wearing a white, t-shirt with bold letters on it, conveying some stupid message, and expensive jewelry of some kind. Her jewelry is the depiction that although she is depicted in a impoverished scene, she can still afford certain luxuries that most cannot.
With the economic downfall being studied in America, this scene is a clear romanticization of drug abuse and homeless culture. “I think that Rather than show the side effects of this lifestyle, it is being shown in a positive and “cool light.” Many of these images are a showing of classism in America, homelessness is seen as “cool” and “different” when the woman shown is pretty and wearing expensive items. “Indie-sleeze”, which might seem like symbolism for freedom and letting go, is another way in which America is trying ot keep the lower and middle class in their place. “I think that so many people are striving to be different and unique, but throug that strife, they are forgetting themselves. Everyone wants to be different, but in that process they become all the same,” said James, a senior at Liberty High School.
James went on to say that the biggest impact this movement has had on the youth is convincing them that drugs, an unhealthy lifestyle, and mismatched clothing is considered cool. However, very few people truly know what that lifestyle feels like. ‘In a way, it’s kind of like…appropriating someone’s life. There are people out there who are genuine drug addicts and can’t afford to buy sets of clothes, so they have to get pairs that make no sense. But these idiots are seeing this and going, ‘Oh I can make that cool.’” Adding on to this idea, Eleanor Karam mentioned how the youth, partially due to brainwashing and lack of identity on social media, tend to swarm towards new ideas. “My favorite example is, like, Lil’ Uzi Vert. Do you know him? Yeah, he’s, in a way, a road paver for our generation. He brings a sort of reactive liberty to all of his work, and especially his fashion. In the beginning of his career, everyone called him demonic and a satanist for being creative and putting himself out there. But now, years later, everyone is trying to be him because they see that he is authentic. Authenticity is sort of rare in, like, our generation. SO when they see someone who is just being themselves and doing things that they truly find joy in, they run to go and copy it. Another example is Dennis Rodman, He was super cool because he was just being him. Now, every guy wants to say they’re like Dennis Roman or a copy of him, and it’s like, ‘no you’re not.’”