Thinking about encampment and incarceration in the long history of US empire; racialization and its effects on individuals who “resemble their crime before they commit it;” dress and beauty as forms of discipline and control, as uncertain signs about an interior “self,” as practices of resilience and defiance.
From the Library of Congress Flickr: “Japanese-American camp, war emergency evacuation, [Tule Lake Relocation Center, Newell, Calif. 1942 or 1943] 1 transparency : color. Original caption card speculated that this photo was part of a series taken by Russell Lee to document Japanese Americans in Malheur County, Ore. Re-identified as Tule Lake because of similarity to LC-USW36-789, which shows Abalone Mountain. Title from FSA or OWI agency caption. Photo shows eight women standing in front of a camp barber shop. Transfer from U.S. Office of War Information, 1944.”
threadbared 
Have you read Epitaph for a Peach by Masumoto? I remember it being a very beautiful book, and a particularly good motivator for me to learn more about the Japanese internment camps in the states.
No, I haven’t! Thanks for the recommendation.
Just discovered your blog and wanted to say thank you. Wonderfully eye-opening range of topics. I hope you continue to grow.
Thank you for reading! We love doing this, and we also hope to grow, and we have some exciting plans including the exhibition (that Minh-Ha is helming!) as well as some giveaways.
Can I just say that I’m in love with your blog? Reading your exceptional musings is such an inspiration. This post in particular absolutely dives into the core of what I care about- clothing as the exterior projection of the interior.
What conclusions did you come to about these particular women? It’s a little heartbreaking, for me at least, to contrast the pulled-togetherness of their dress with the uncertainty of their situation.