Making a fashion statement
Women of many different ethnicities and origins gathered Wednesday in the Utah State University Taggart Students Center Sunburst Lounge to unite their differences and commonalties by celebrating their womanhood.
“We chose ‘Springing Forward’ as our theme because it is colorful, bright and optimistic – just like we want every woman’s future to be,” said Cultural Vice President of the International Student Council Neha Dagley, who was largely responsible for organizing the event.
International Women’s Day consisted of speakers from Costa Rica, Bangladesh, Turkey and China as well as performances from China and India. It was followed by a fashion show featuring the native dress of women from all over the world.
Dagley told participators and spectators the purpose of the fashion show was to “celebrate the success of women here as well as everywhere else” and to appreciate cultural differences.
Keynote speaker Lucy Delgadillo of Costa Rica said although no two people are alike and no two countries are alike, there is a universal bond binding every culture together. It is “the language of love and friendship,” she said.
“We want to show how a fashion show helps us overcome cultural barriers,” Delgadillo said.
She told observers to look at the native dress of the women as a way of communicating. She said to see it as a language that helps express who people are and where they come from.
“We are not alike,” Delgadillo said, “but we are not better than each other.”
Fahima Afroze, from Bangladesh, said there is a “thin line between maintaining femininity and being strong” in today’s society.
She said the role of a woman is difficult because she must try to balance that line.
People should not constantly separate men and women, Afroze said. Rather they should combine the two genders under one term: Human beings.
“Women are subordinated to men in a lot of cultures,” Dagley said. “We need to strive for more equality between men and women.” Dagley said she hopes some international students will take this equalized view home to their culture and begin to take a stronger stand for women’s rights.
Vani Gaddam, who participated in the talent show, said she loved doing it.
“It’s our day. We are asking for equal rights for women. [In India, women] are highly oppressed,” she said.
It’s harder for women to get a higher education, Gaddam said, and for “most jobs, only men are preferred. They don’t respect women bosses as much as male bosses.”
Saritha Kalyanam, who is also from India, disagreed. “Women are pretty equal to men,” she said.
Kalyanam said the fashion show was a great opportunity for people to become aware of different countries and to learn about the women in countries throughout the world.
Those in attendance spoke highly of the fashion show.
“It’s great. I’m so glad that I came,” said Associated Students of USU Activities Vice President Angie Domichel. “It’s great that USU students are exposed to this. I’m so impressed with how put together it is.”
Domichel said she liked the speakers and the fashion show, but especially the dancers.
“It’s good to hear and see the different aspects of culture,” she said.
“It’s interesting,” said student Marie Sorenson. “It’s great to see so many different diversities of people here at Utah State.”
Sorenson said she enjoyed all the colors and the native dresses of the participants.
“I thought it was nice to learn more about [other cultures’] views,” student Demetrio Cabanilla said.
“It was very feministic in a way, but very understandable. It was well organized,” student Art Burgg said.
“We’re international students, so we found it interesting,” said Joe Chung in referral to himself, Cabanilla and Burgg. “We’re interested in things that open our minds and help us learn more about each other.”
Overall, Dagley said she was pleased with the turnout and felt the fashion show was a success.
“I’m hoping people admired and appreciated the culture they saw on stage,” she said. “And I think we achieved our goal.”