5 Unusual Forms of Propaganda by Governments

2. Clothing and Appearance

Some people wear clothes to express themselves, some chose their appearance to feel comfortable. Sadly, some people have no choice on what they wear and thus their sense of individuality is suppressed.

This method of influence is mostly used in communist countries with their dull and generic clothing. Its to show there is no real distinction between people and to culture the sense of no individual expression.

Meaning everyone is the same. Basically communism is an idea where no one is rich nor poor and everything is controlled by the government to achieve equality.

This was apparent in China when Mao was in power. Like most Asian countries, China had unique clothing styles with vibrant colours. But during Mao’s leadership, the people were dressed in dull and monochrome clothings that even the leaders wore dreary, gray suits. Anyone who refused were seen as unpatriotic. But that was in the past, now North Korea continued where the Chinese stopped.

They have banned all clothings other than their state-sponsored clothings and there are fashion police around. This is to make sure people followed the rules. Though, over the years, people are starting to not follow the rules with the black market selling clothes from China and Japan.