ap seminar

OVERVIEW

From 2000-2015, people are buying more clothes but wearing them less. This shows that fast fashion is promoting overconsumption to increase their gdp.

PSYCHOLOGICALLY

Branching off of the idea of gen z’s values not connecting with their shopping habita, Neeru Paharia is a professor of marketing at the W.P. carey school of business who claims that “shoppers are driven by the thrill of getting something new now instead of waiting or considering sustainability later.” Not only is it the lack of empathy and accountability of their actions, but the selfishness within gen z’s desires that overpowers their own values. The instant happiness that people gain from buying cheap and trendy clothes is something that can easily become addicting.

ETHICALLY

The ethical issue is how people’s constant demand to buy more clothes negatively affects working conditions. A SHEIN worker is interviewed by Iman Amrani, who is a journalist for channel 4 known for global labor, reports “After an 18 hour day, this woman made [~25], roughly equivalent to three of Fern’s underwear set as sold.” This undermines her dignity and shows how little respect is given to workers compared to how easily money is spent on clothing. Society prioritizes mass consumption instead of human rights.

Argument

Overconsumption and materialism hurts society by causing waste, damaging the environment, and promoting values based on looks and money instead of sustainability and well-being, but there are solutions to fix this.

CONCLUSION

fast fashion is harmful because it encourages people to buy cheap, low-quality clothes that are quickly thrown away, which creates pollution. It also relies on the underpaid labor in unsafe working conditions to keep prices low.