“OMG”! You see that black young gal coming out of that Mercedes Benz? Oh! And she has on a Dolce & Gabbana dress. I wish I was like her” said a nosey Bahamian woman. “Don’t let dem materialistic tings fool ya girl, that’s Shirley’s daughter who live Bain town with both her parents, that’s all for show cuz she just got her a-sue money so she flaunting, watch next week you will see her in a lancer” said another lady. The world we live in, people judge you based on your appearance; so there’s no better way than to prove to those that you are living well than with luxurious possessions. The public has become more and more consumer driven over the years, thus we have confused the difference between need and want, and if persons think that they need something, they will do whatever it takes to get it. Constantly, we are bombarded with advertisements telling us to want more things, or that it is a necessity to have the latest item that's better than the old thing we already bought. Deprived individuals waste money on pointless assets to feel as though they are still a part of the “normal society” that is depicted as being able to have everything, when they are at a time when they have almost nothing. Nonetheless, in her article “Why do poor people ‘Waste’ Money on Luxury Goods?” Cottom McMillan argues that status symbols matter and that wasteful purchase of status items like bags, and shoes are required in a society where poor people are being discriminated and judged on their appearance more harshly. In this essay, I will dispute that it is beneficial for deprived individuals to spend money on expensive possessions because it boosts their self-esteem, assists them in future employments and also society leads to accept them.
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...heir bills at the end of the month, and when their friends see this they will turn heads and talk horribly about them.
In conclusion, poor people have a right to try to buy their way into status. Spending money on the status symbols like nice cars and clothes can be tickets to better jobs, or so-called upward mobility to deprived individuals. Persons are more likely to not judge them by appearance because they may dress in expensive suits, drive luxurious cars, and it also increase their self-esteem. When you are under a spell, you will spend a substantial amount of money to attempt to buy your self-esteem. Persons should keep reminding their selves that money or a lack of it doesn't define who they are. Their worth as a person has nothing to do with how much money they may have. We should all view other persons spending choices with sympathy and understanding.
‘Your coat’s a little shabby, but who cares? It doesn’t keep people from asking you to dine. If I were shabby no one would have me: a woman is asked out as much for her clothes as for herself. The clothes are background, the frame, if you like: they don’t make success, but they are a part of it. Who wants a dingy woman? We are expected to be pretty and well-dressed till we drop – and if we can’t keep it up alone, we have to go into partnership.” (Wharton,
Every day people are judged on what they have and what they don’t. When someone comes into your home they always look at what someone has and if their home is nice or not. That isn’t right because what someone has shouldn’t define them, it should be the person they are and how kind and giving they are. What someone has accomplished and...
Not everything that is expensive is better. Rich people can get everything they want, but middle class people need to think if they need it, or they can find the same thing cheaper. Most people try to find cheaper things, but some buy expensive things, because they think that it will help them to feel that they are rich. First, people buy those expensive things, and after that they are in debt. Expensive things need a lot of money, but people don’t have them, so they use credit cards to buy for that. According to the article “All That Glitters Is Not Gold” 32% of attendees who were at the auto exhibition bought a car and 56% of attendees reported they were going to buy a car in the near future. It shows that that people don’t have money, but they saw that other people bought the car, and they want it also. For example, my parents just last week bought a new car, because our old one broke. My dad said that everyone has big and new cars, so we need to buy a costly car like other people have. I thought that it was a stupid idea to look at expensive car, but anyway he found a good car, nor costly, nor a cheap car. The cost is in the middle, and it is a wonderful car. Indeed, running after expensive things people forget to look at prices. They forget that they will need to pay for that thing for many years after they buy
People living in poverty can be thought of as a “them” who can be easily ignored and forgotten; when, in reality, poverty can affect anyone. When people are living in poverty, sometimes it is not their fault. Often, unfortunate events that are out of someone’s control can set them up for failure. For example, the poverty rate for disabled adults from the age of 18-64 is 28.5%, while disabled 18-64 year olds only make up 7.7% of America’s population (Proctor, Semega, and Kollar 16). Therefore, poverty disproportionately affects disabled adults. The stories of those living in poverty are incredibly diverse, as Sasha Abramsky points out in The American Way of Poverty:
Present day social status, values, and activities are centered on the consumption of goods and services. Thus, for women to claim existence in later life, they must participate in consumer societal practices on bodily appearance. Bourdieu argued that for women and their physical appearance; the attention devoted, time and effort invested, and the awareness of product benefits, are proportionate to material expenditure. Older women’s self-presentation can be intrinsically linked to quantifiable conditions used for maintaining the youthful self. Moreover, economic and cultural capitals validate certain fashions, tastes, and practices, to align with the current social structures, endorsing notions of materialization and bodily
When average Americans struggle to put food on the table, many affluent people struggle to remain financially sound. Celebrities, politicians, lotto winners, and professional athletes receive millions of dollars in wages and payments, but somehow are unable retain their fortunes. According to the U.S. census bureau, the median family income in the United States is about 30,000 dollars annually; somehow some parents are able to feed their children and fund their children’s education. According to recent studies by CNN Money, the median cost of raising children to age eighteen was 241,080 dollars and that number does not even include the cost of a college education. The cost of a college education is continually on the rise and can go as high as 60,000 dollars a year for private universities. Many of the average family’s wages have remained stagnant while many costs such as: gas, healthcare, groceries, clothing and an education have risen at exponential rates. Unfortunately, many of society’s, wealthy believe they have limitless funds while many of them face charges of fraud and tax evasion. But what causes rich Americans to find the desire to self-indulge? Fame can place individuals with a heavy burden to become successful.
People today look at the poor with scorn in their eyes. Not to mention they get grossed out when they have to even walk by them on the streets. Today, you see the poor begging on the streets and you can’t help but feel sorry for them. Some people though, think that the poor are the sorriest bunch of suckers around and that their lives have no meaning. But, according to Henry David Thoreau, the poor have some of the best lives compared to all of us that aren’t. The article, “Comfort Zones” quotes the bible saying, “‘This poor widow put more than all the other contributors’ (Mk 12:43)” The poor contributes more than you know. Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” greatly describes how the poor are better because life if still great, they get independence, and money doesn’t help buy your soul.
It is believed that there is a tension between social classes in America. Typically, people of lower classes choose to imitate those of higher social status. As a result, advertisers have a tendency to take advantage of this tension in order to profit from people of the lower and middle classes. In “The American Upper Class,” G. William Domhoff says that “exhibiting high social status… is a way of exercising power” (Domhoff p.34),” which is something important to all social classes. According to Judi Puritz Cook, author of “Consumer Culture…Sales Discourse,” advertisements in print as well as in visual media seem to create “the promise of status mobility through consumption (Cook p.373).” In the article, Puritz explains how television programs on channels such as the Home Shopping Network are examples of how the media exploits the anxiety caused by social standing.
The male American dream is most often interpreted as moving your family up in society by increasing your wealth. With this comes the need to purchase items that are on par with one’s income level and therefore showing off wealth and status. This need for items is not particularly because of usefulness or practicality but to distinguish oneself in society as a part of a particular class level, coming from the pressure to keep up with one’s peers. This film shows that society has taken over the definition of our needs and men no longer think for themselves but rather turn to see what others have and from that interpret what society sees as acceptable and standard. The male American dream can be interpreted as a never-ending cycle to prove oneself to others and appear to the standards that others define. According to Tyler Durden, “Advertising has us chasi...
In the essay The Chosen People, Stewart Ewen, discusses his perspective of middle class America. Specifically, he explores the idea that the middle class is suffering from an identity crisis. According to Ewen’s theory, “the notion of personal distinction [in America] is leading to an identity crisis” of the non-upper class. (185) The source of this identity crisis is mass consumerism. As a result of the Industrial Revolution and mass production, products became cheaper and therefore more available to the non-elite classes. “Mass production was investing individuals with tools of identity, marks of personhood.” (Ewen 187) Through advertising, junk mail and style industries, the middle class is always striving for “a stylistic affinity to wealth,” finding “delight in the unreal,” and obsessed with “cheap luxury items.” (Ewen 185-6) In other words, instead of defining themselves based on who they are on the inside, the people of middle class America define themselves in terms of external image and material possessions.
Not everything that is expensive is better. Rich people can get everything they want, but middle class people need to think if they need it, or they can find the same thing cheaper. Most people try to find cheaper things, but some buy expensive things, because they think that it will help them to feel that they are rich. First, people buy those expensive things, and after that they are in debt. Expensive things need a lot of money, but people don’t have them, so they use credit cards to buy for that. According to the article “All that glitters is not gold” says that auto exhibition 32% of attendees bought a car and 56% of attendees reported they were going to buy a car in the near future. It shows that that people don’t have money, but they saw that other people bought the car, and they want it also. My parents just last week bought a new car, because our old one broke. My dad said that everyone has big, and new cars, so we need to buy a costly car like other people have. I thought that it was a stupid idea to look at expensive car, but anyway he found a good car, nor costly, nor cheap car. It is middle cost, and it is a wonderful car. Running after expansive things people forget to look of prices. They forget that they will need to pay for that thing for many years after they buy
Luxury goods are not the necessities but are very much desirable to people which is supported by a share of money income. They are not easily available and affordable for everyone but due to the coming up of competition in market this has been changed. Nowadays, every individual wants to raise their self high and wants to be different from everyone. Since, the times have changed luxury goods have become more affordable for middle class consumers. Whenever we open our social media accounts such as Instagram, snapchats or news on internet or be it the reality shows, it is full of rich people showing off their dresses, bags, accessories etc. Such news put an impact on our inner thinking about our need to look and feel good through rich possessions. Several manufactured goods have become luxury goods as they are designer, durable and better quality. These goods are considered as luxury goods by the consumers because they play a role of status and class for those who showcase or owns them. These items are not necessarily better than less expensive substitutes are purchased with the main purpose of showcasing their wealth. These kinds of goods are object of socio-economic phenomenon which includes watches, jewelleries, designer clothes and accessories, large
Who does not wish to be rich? The first thing that might come to mind when thinking about having a lot of money is owning luxurious cars, living in a prodigious residency, having expensive items to wear, or anything of that nature. A rich person has the ability to buy anything to please his or her desires, and he or she can visit any place at any time without having to think about it twice. Many people perceive that happiness comes within how much money they have. People confuse being wealthy with being happy. Wealth does not necessarily bring happiness; however, it is obvious that it can help to bring happiness for some and sorrow for others.
For many centuries clothing was used namely as a form of symbolising one’s ascribed class and social honour. A good example of this was evident in Feudal European times when sumptuary laws were created in order to regulate and specify the clothing that could be worn by certain classes. In 1463 Edward IV went so far as to ‘[declare] that purple silk was to be the prerogative of the aristocracy’ (Finkelstein 1991, pg. 137). As purple dye and silk were both very expensive and sought after this declaration demonstrated quite simply that those who were in possession of such materials should command respect and were of high social standing. Eventually these laws were abolished as, instead of ‘confining people to their designated rank, the laws provoked an intense interest in fashion and a desire to transgress the codes, both in the process of prestigious emulation and as an act of rebellion’ (Craik, 1994, pg. 205). This abolition allowed groups and individuals to establish their own chosen style or ‘marker’ in order to indicate their place within society. By allowing such freedom, ascribed social status gave way to that which was achieved. This not only meant that many more people were able to engage in the ever-expanding culture of ‘Haute couture’ but also that honour was no longer perceived as a birth right but rather as something that could to be obtained. Such a shift in symbolism provided a way for those of not so noble a birth to portray themselves as the latter through a variety of means such as renting or stealing clothes and buying counterfeit copies (a common occurrence in today’s society also).
In Sex and the City, one of the main characters was paying $700 a month for a 600 square foot apartment in the exclusive Upper East Side of Manhattan. Now, such an apartment would go for triple or quadruple the price. Between the luxurious brownstone and the extremely expensive Manolo Blahnik shoes, the show highlights the unobtainable for many women. Although these consumer goods portray an image of a “hip urban feminist” to make the show more appealing, many women cannot afford the standard set by some of these shows. A more recent television show, Girls, is an example of the shift to the attainable. For example, one of the characters lives in a 250 square foot studio in a not extremely prominent area in Manhattan. However, this is much more realistic for many young people than the Upper East Side