My final goodbye to New York (at least that chapter)
An homage to the Maje dress I couldn't afford then, and my take on media literacy
This is a post on media literacy in honor of Media Literacy Week. Don’t worry, I’m telescoping it down to only the most civically-relevant topic on everyone’s mind (voting) because I too understand that word pairs like “digital literacy” and “media literacy” aren’t clickbait. But we’re all in this for a reason!
Before your eyes glaze over, let me take you on a short digression that is less about civics and more about the psychology of women’s wear. If you think I can’t somehow tie it back to civics, you might be right.
I went on a closet cleanse a few months ago and signed up for The Real Real. The experience was so positive. A stylish redhead showed up at my door, took over my closet, had stellar things to say with some equally humbling feedback, and left me with an expansive optimism on everything from empty closet space to my evolved sense of (simplistic) fashion to a renewed curiosity in feng shui. I’m a late bloomer having never consigned clothes before, and this was an effortless way to do it. I get emails every time something sells. The commission is clear and concise, and for the most part, I don’t even feel like I’m getting hosed.
This morning, the dress that defined my twenties (and early thirties) sold for a quaint $64.
I don’t remember exactly how much I bought it for in the Maje boutique on Bleecker and Bank Street in the West Village circa 2014, but it seems to me the retail depreciation was approximately -85% in 10 years.
All I can tell you is I had no business buying it ten years ago, except that I can honestly say I made the most of it.
Here’s The Real Real’s professional rendering on an AI mannequin!
Cute, right? Feminine, well-made, too short to be worn without tights. But man, this was the dress of my coming up in New York. I wore it to the premiere of Aaron Sorkin’s STEVE JOBS at Lincoln Center. It accompanied me to a quite bougie Breitling watch gala. I watched Alfonso Cuarón be honored at an intimate dinner at the Museum of Modern Art in that dress. I took it to the premiere of an Oscar Isaac film at the Toronto Film Festival. And countless more things I’m not thinking of.
When I got the email this morning telling me the Maje dress had sold, it finally felt like saying goodbye to all that. At least, for now. It never quite fit the same after I had Gus, which I suppose is the point. I’m sending all the best vibes to whoever landed this gem for $64 and hope it brings them as much happiness, confidence and self-evolution as it brought me.
And in Carrie Bradshaw-style, I started to wonder: how has media literacy evolved since I was that carefree twenty something taking it all in?
Kidding.
But I do want to make the point that the spectrum of disinformation/misinformation (these are two different things, I learned recently) has similarly evolved since most of us started paying attention to the news. Remember how real the Nigerian prince emails used to seem? We don’t fall for those anymore, but just like our wardrobe, misinformation has become more sophisticated (OK I’m done with the fashion analogies).
What is Media Literacy?
Exercising media literacy is a fancy way of saying always be curious about the veracity of what you read and try to model that curiosity for your kids.
Media Literacy Now defines “media literacy” as the ability to:
Decode media messages (including the systems in which they exist);
Assess the influence of those messages on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; and
Create media thoughtfully and conscientiously.
This learned skill has obviously become so much more complex since we were kids. Nowadays there are YouTubers and TikTok stars who serve as primary sources for kids. Adults aren’t any more insulated from the spread of misinformation, disinformation or mal-information.
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s organization iCivics sums it up perfectly in How to Teach Critical Thinking in the Digital Age, arguing that curiosity is a potent weapon for combating misinformation and disinformation in the digital age. Here at Civic EQ, we consistently talk about curiosity as the antidote to so many things ailing the world, and so it’s no surprise that curiosity and critical thinking are two skills that underly the strong thread between civics and emotional intelligence.
Finally, I leave you with a reliable list of fact-checking sources (I’ve checked out them all).
As we head towards Election Day, keep in mind that if something sounds weird, over the top, or more doomsday than is normal, get curious and drill down. Curiosity is the best muscle we can exercise towards media literacy.
More soon,
Sarah
This is awesome — both parts. One, goodbye to the old dress, the old self, the old all of it. Two, shift gears and now it’s digital literacy! My husband teaches English and Journalism at our local highschool and is constantly challenging his kids to look at how news is created, how the same story can be told in vastly different ways, how to be diligent about the information we are being fed. His lesson planning has made for some awesome family conversations that will only get cooler as the kids get bigger and have more to say!