The Invasion of Consumerism into the lives of a Post-Modern Family
Consumerism is taking place everywhere. Whether we like it or not, it has come
to invade our everyday modern lives. Steven Miles, a lecturer in sociology at the
University of Plymouth says "How we consume, why we consume, and the parameters
laid down for us within which we consume have become increasingly significant
influences on how we construct our everyday lives" (1). Consumerism has even gotten to
the point of affecting the way we go about living and controlling our personal and social
lives (Miles 5). Wherever we go and whatever we do, consumerism is praised as the
answer to all of our problems, an escape from some of the harsh realities of our lives.
Don DeLillo's White Noise depicts the different aspects of consumerism and the
effects it has post-modern family that it invades. That specific family is the Gladney's
from Blacksmith. For the Gladney family, Jack, Babette, Heinrich, Steffie, Denise, and
Wilder, consumerism is a way of life. It is something they are always taking part in, even
if it is unconsciously. Consumerism is incorporated in with virtually every activity the
family takes part in, whether it be eating out, spending a day together at the shopping
mall, or making a quick stop at the supermarket.
Jack Gladney is a patron of supermarkets and shopping malls (McInerney 36).
Jack alone, but more frequently with the company of one or more family members,
makes trips to the supermarket. The supermarket has come to be a major point of
intersection in today's culture (Conroy 97). Among the busy and bustling crowds of
people, Jack often runs into acquaintances, most commonly a colleague from The
College on The Hill,...
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...hen Jack says, "I shopped with reckless abandon. I
shopped for immediate needs and distant contingencies" (83).
White Noise clearly illustrates how consumerism is constantly invading the lives
of a post-modern family living in a post-modern society. From when we wake up in the
morning to when we lie our heads down to go to sleep, we are bombarded with
consumerism. Consumerism is in the supermarkets we buy our food in, in the food we
eat, and in the shopping malls we walk through. While it may be argued that life would
be rather dull and monotonous without consumerism, the fact that it is literally
everywhere in today's society and is so hard to avoid is a bit overwhelming. Because it is
so hard to avoid, it is up to the family and the individual to use consumerism to benefit
them instead of let it hurt them before it destroys the family structure.
To follow Berry’s advice at the dinner table, shopping is one of the most important steps. Berry says that “people what they want—or what they have been persuaded to want—within the limits of what they can get. They pay, mostly without protest, what they are charged (Berry 37).” That is because most shoppers are in a rush and don’t have time to analyze the product. Also, some people don’t have enough money in their pockets, so they just choose a random product without thinking that healthy food choices keep you healthy. When people don’t consider food choices, they end up having illnesses. “They mostly ignore certain critical questions about the quality
In the book published in 2006, the Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural history of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan, is a non-fiction book about American eating habits and the food dilemma that many Americans are facing today. Pollan begins the book by discussing the dilemma of the omnivore like ourselves, a creature with many choices of food. Pollan decides to learn the root to the food dilemma by examining the three primary food chains: industrial food chain, the organic food chain, and the hunter-gathering food chain. His journey begins by first exploring the industrialized food industry. Pollan examines the industry by following both corn and cow from the beginning through the industrialized process. The work on the corn fields of George Naylor shows him that the industrial system has made corn appears nearly in all products in the supermarket (Pollan 33-37). Pollen then decides to purchase a steer which allows him to see the industrialized monoculture of beef production and how mass production produces food to serve the society. Following his journey, Pollan and his family eat a meal at McDonald's restaurant. Pollan realizes that he and very few people actually understand how such a meal is created. By examining the different food paths available to modern man and by analyzing those paths, Pollan argues that there is a basic relation between nature and the human. The food choice and what we eat represents a connection with our natural world. The industrial food ruins that ecological connections. In fact, the modern agribusiness has lost touch with the natural cycles of farming. Pollan presents the book with a question in the beginning: "What should we have for dinner?" (Pollan 1) This question posed a combination of p...
The 2009 movie Food Inc. describes the major role that food production plays within many lives. This movie revealed that there is a very small variety of companies that consumers purchase their food from. These few companies actually control what is out on the shelves and what we put into our bodies. These companies have changed food production into a food production business. Many of these companies experiment with ways to create large quantities of food at low production costs to result in an enormous amount of profit for themselves. Some of the production cost cuts also result in less healthy food for the population. Instead of worrying about the health of the population, the companies are worried about what will make them the most money.
There are many people who are driven by consumerism, and many people who wish they could get in touch with that type of world. Consumers are often encouraged to advertise more of the products that they are buying to get more people to buy more products. Hari Kunzru, author of “Raj, Bohemian,” creates a narrator who is obsessed with maintaining his individuality and free will in a world that is overcome with consumerism. Believes that the world takes away individuality when consumerism comes into play and how hard it is to maintain their true self. In her LA Times article “Teen Haulers Create a Fashion Force,” Andrea Chang writes about the phenomenon of teenage YouTube users who make videos that publicize their latest shopping binges.
The food industry continues to be a major contributor to health problems in the United States and around the world. Currently, 13% of the world’s 671 million obese individuals live in the United States. (Kaplan) Some believe that it is the government’s responsibility to go to educate the people and then to further encourage them to make wise decisions on what they choose to eat. Others argue that it is the consumer’s personal responsibility to educate themselves and make a conscious decision about their food. After all, we have the freedom to do so. No one forces people to buy and eat the things that they do. But it would be naive and even outrageous to say that there are no extraneous factors counteracting a person’s will to make healthy
Swimme, Brian. “How Do Our Kids Get So Caught Up in Consumerism”. The Human Experience: Who Am I?. 8th ed. Winthrop University: Rock Hill SC, 2012. 155-157. Print.
Nutrition and health have become more popular in today 's society. Our generation is becoming more and more indebted to the idea of being healthy and eating nutritious meals. However, in “The American Paradox,” by Michael Pollan he argues that our unhealthy population is preoccupied with nutrition and the idea of eating healthy than their actual health. He also mentions the food industry, nutrition science and how culture affects the way we eat and make food choices. While Pollan is right about all these factor that affect our eating habits, there is more to it than that. Convenience, affordability and social influence also affects our food choices making them inadequate.
Marion Nestle is a professor of food studies, public health and nutrition at New York University. Nestle’s article entitled “The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate,” is a short but succinct description of how different sectors of the food industry (food producers, manufacturers, and distributing supermarkets, especially) conduct their processes to ensure the prospective consumer purchases varietiess of products they do not need. This not only ensures such industries continue to profit, but that the unsuspecting consumer is instilled with desires for products they would not have, otherwise; oblivious to the tactics employed on them to purchase things they do not have to. -----------
Is the American family in really in crisis or is it just evolving at a more advanced rate than society? According to the sociologist, Michael Kimmel, “[t]hough the family feels like one of the most fragile of social institutions, it is also perhaps among the most resilient” (Kimmel 143). It seems fragile because of the decline of marriages rates, the increase in divorce rates, and the increase in cohabitating couples. However, the family is one of the most resilient social institutions, “able to adapt to changing economic, social, and cultural circumstances and remain the foundation of society” (Kimmel 142). Besides, statistics alone do not prove the failing condition of the American family.
happens because they become invaluable to the society’s consumerism. They no longer participate in consumer
Dad has a grim look on his face, mom sits staring emptily into space as if she were upset to her husband, a little daughter looks very blue because she might fight against her older sister who is sitting on the center, and lastly the man who seems uncle wearing white coat looks quite sad and depressed as if he lost his occupation just right now. Every individual on the image should have private issues and they bring about unsought intimacy in between family members. This is a broken family that frankly represents the present a true picture of modern family society in the United States. Claims, warrants, fallacies, supports and etc. can be varied in different perspectives, but I think the claim for this picture is that what makes family-ship broken and destroys
to reflect and think hard about what kind of life, what kind of society we as a
insecurity and alludes back to the fact that food is often seen as a commodity, not as a human
Sassatelli, R. (2007). Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics, London: Sage, Page 30, Page 126, Page 132, Page 133
...nhance one's self esteem. This motivation protects people from depression but in turn contributes to misjudgment and group conflict. It also causes one to live in such a "dream world."