POETRY: The Devil’s Game

Now, everyone “needs” a new outfit to post online, and with so many trends created yearly, the demand for new clothes at cheap prices has grown.

Chances are, you have often seen clothes on sale for under $15. While it may seem like snagging a great deal, the true cost is much darker.

We first need to understand fast fashion, which is when big brand names create copies of popular designs at breakneck speeds, selling styles at a fraction of the cost.1

The price you pay for clothes directly correlates to the low wages paid to those who make the clothing. 1 in 6 people work in the fashion industry, mostly in developing countries, and are underpaid for their work and stuck in poverty.2 Of the final selling price of many articles of clothing made in foreign factories, only 1-3% is given to the person who made the piece.3

There are over 8,000 garment factories in Bangladesh, and the country is the second-largest clothing producer in the world, bringing in billions of dollars a year due to the industry alone.4 Four million Bengali citizens work in these factories.5 Employees often work long hours in terrible working conditions. Workers also have very high quotas to fill daily, and if they are not filled, their jobs are at risk.6

Why are so many clothes needed at such a fast pace? Enter social media. The reason fast fashion has become so popular is because of wider media influence. Now, everyone “needs”a new outfit to post online, and with so many trends created yearly, the demand for new clothes at cheap prices has grown.7 On social media, you just need an outfit to look good in a picture. Then you can throw it away, right?

Wrong. The environmental impact of fast fashion is devastating. Globally, 4 billion pounds of textile waste goes into landfills each year. The fashion industry is also responsible for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions.8 Clothes are shipped multiple times in pursuit of cheaper labour and material. Freshwater is also used to dye clothing, and chemicals are dumped back into water, typically near factories in poor areas.

So what are the solutions? While most fast fashion is not made to last, we can try to get more wear out of our outfits. We should also buy clothes on a needs instead of wants basis, be more intentional shoppers, and invest in long-lasting, quality pieces that we will wear regularly.9 We can also try to thrift clothing, and give our own excess clothing to people in our circles as hand-me-downs. Many things sent to thrift stores end up in landfills or back in the developing countries they were made in as waste. To truly extend clothing lifespans, we can keep them in closets longer. Become in control of your fashion, don’t let fashion trends control you.

1. Minhaj, H. (Director). (2019, November 25). The Ugly Truth Of Fast Fashion | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. Netflix. 2. Teen Vogue (Director). (2018, September 21). The Problem with Fast Fashion. 3. 8. Fast Fashion’s Effect on People, The Planet, and You TEDx University of Mississippi [Video file]. (2017, March 08). 4. 6. Barrientos, M. (2021, May 24). The impact of fast fashion in Bangladesh. The Borgen Project. 5. Thomas, D. (2018, April 24). Why won’t we learn from the survivors of the rana plaza disaster? 7. Tan, Z. (2016, April 10). What happens when fashion becomes fast, disposable and cheap? 9. Rauturier, S. (2021, July 26). What is fast fashion?

THE TRUE COST OFFAST FASHION Firdose Khan, 14 FAST FASHION

Zaina Khan, 16 THE ADVERSE OPPRESSION EFFECTS OF OPPRESSION ON HEALTH

Though it is nothing new that illnesses, and even viral outbreaks like the COVID-19 pandemic, disproportionately affect racialized communities, this fact should not be dismissed as ‘normal.’

While the sociopolitical

repercussions of racism and discrimination are often covered in the media, the detrimental impacts they have on mental and physical health are rarely discussed. Not only do news channels and social media activists ignore the adverse health implications these injustices can have on racialized communities, but they almost perpetuate them. People of colour are constantly bombarded with harmful depictions of members of their own community being brutally attacked online, which can take a significant toll on their mental health. This may result in psychological trauma and cause problems within one’s personal life and relationships, but it can also lead to mental disorders like chronic anxiety and depression.1 Moreover, substance abuse and addiction are often linked to the psychological manifestations of racial discrimination.2 A decline in mental health can serve as a segue into issues concerning physical health as well. Victims of racial discrimination often experience an increase in blood pressure and can even contract cardiovascular disease.3 Racialized and typically impoverished communities lack adequate healthcare services as well, putting them at a further disadvantage.

Not only do socioeconomic barriers create disparities in healthcare, but so do educational institutes that produce future health practitioners. Students in medical school are not sufficiently taught to recognize certain medical conditions on darker skin tones, making it difficult, if not impossible, for them to diagnose an illness on a person of colour.4 This may allow otherwise identifiable symptoms to go unnoticed, putting black and brown individuals at risk. Medical textbooks and images depicting symptoms of disease online also rarely include dark skin, which contributes to the issue of racism in the healthcare system. The medical community is littered with dangerous misconceptions surrounding people of colour. Some allow their political views to cloud their judgement and proceed with the notion that certain races have a higher tolerance for pain and, therefore, require less medical attention than non-racialized groups.5 Outdated textbooks even contain entire sections explaining the various thresholds of pain that certain ethnic and religious groups can withhold, which does not reflect factual evidence.

Though it is nothing new that illnesses, and even viral outbreaks like the COVID-19 pandemic, disproportionately affect racialized communities, this fact should not be dismissed as ‘normal’. We, as a community, must take action against the inequalities surrounding the healthcare system and start advocating for change within it. It is important to note that although our end goal should focus on global change, local action is a significant first step.

1. 2. 3. Paradies, Y., Priest, N., Ben, J., Truong, M., Gupta, A., Pieterse, A., Kelaher, M., & Gee, G. (2013). Racism as a determinant of health: A protocol for conducting a systematic review and metaanalysis. Systematic Reviews, 2 (1). 4. McFarling, U. L. (2020, July 20). Lack of darker skin in textbooks, journals harms patients of color. STAT. 5. Sabin, J. A. (2020, January 6). How we fail black patients in pain. AAMC.