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Posts tagged ‘consumerism’

Feb 3

Christmas Consumerism

The meaning of Christmas has changed drastically over the years, from plantation owners giving their slaves a small gift, to parents spending an excessive amount of money on their children to appease them.  This new meaning of Christmas has happened for a couple of reasons, one being that society is becoming a lot more materialistic, but another, and a lot more prevalent, is what Gary Cross states in, “Modern Children, Modern Toys”, that, “The shower of gifts became a way of demonstrating personal affluence.  And it did so without seeming to deny the work ethic or ‘normal’ values of thrift. (Cross 59)” To explain this, Cross believes that the reason that people are buying so many gifts and spending any amounts of money on them, is that it is a way to show your community how wealthy your are, but at the same time it is considered ‘ok’ and not snobby because it is Christmas.  I agree with Cross’ thesis that parents spend a lot of money on Christmas because it is a time where they can do so while it is considered fine.  This is clearly something that is happening in modern day culture, because we see it all over the place.  While reading Cross’ article the first thing that came to mind that backed up his thesis was the movie “Jingle All the Way” (which you can read about here).  In this movie Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a father who goes to great length fighting off policemen, a mailman, and numerous other adults just to get this action figure for his son.  In the movie his motivation for getting this “turbo man” doll, is that everyone is getting one, so to look like a good dad he must get one for his son.  While this movie goes to great extremes backing up Cross’ thesis, it does so nonetheless by showing the world this is how ridiculous we look, and this is what Christmas has come to, a battle for who can get better presents where the parents are even more happy than their children when they get the toy, Just Ask Arnold.

Feb 2

Shower them with Nikon, Xbox, PlayStation and Kindle

In Gary Cross’ article Modern Childhood, Modern Toys he draws connections to Christmas and the meaning of Santa Claus. In the times after the Civil War, toys and play became a more prominent aspect of children and their developing childhoods. When Christmas was finally recognized as a true holiday, parents began to shower their children with gifts, not to secure loyalty or represent any power differential, but to strengthen the “emotional ties within the nuclear family” (Cross, 59). As the toy manufacturing companies began producing more and more toys, the original idea of toys being handmade and born from the heart started to fade, thus the idea of Santa Claus came to be. Children would write to Santa in the North Pole with their Christmas wish list and parents would go to seek the gifts the children asked for, only if the children’s behavior had been good.

From the movie A Christmas Story: a childhood favorite that depicts the spirit of Christmas for a young boy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In our current society, much emphasis has been placed on electronic gadgets rather than the traditional knitted sweater from Grandma or handmade wooden trinket from Dad. Instead of transformers and comic books, little boys wish for Nintendo DS’ or an Xbox. Nevertheless, gifts have grown increasingly expensive and a strain has been placed on parents to provide their children with the perfect Christmas. Cross explains this strain as “Parents teach their children to believe that Santa will bring them heaps of toys which no one had to sacrifice or even pay for.” (Cross, 60) While a parent may be able to afford the Xbox 360, the games that accompany the console are still very pricey. In present day, a family’s wealth may be depicted by how many of these new era gifts are given at Christmas time. While the parents are not purchasing the gifts for themselves, or showing off their wealth in prestigious vehicles, all of the newly expensive Christmas presents will speak loud enough for that family’s status. In the commercials that air in preparation of Christmas, many of them this last year especially started to show mother’s (in particular) developing an obsession with purchasing everything they could without facing bankruptcy in order to provide their children with that perfect Christmas experience.

Some commercials went as far as to show mother’s competing with the made-up character Santa Claus, to prove that they no longer needed him to make their children happy. With all the discounts that stores give on the expensive presents, they could do it themselves. This commercial in particular shows the mother buying the fun, cool and most modern electronic gifts while Santa is trying to fit in a small wooden truck, that looks like it would have made a little boys day 60 years ago.

Feb 2

A Modern Christmas Carol

An illustration from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" as found on gutenberg.org

In his writing, Gary Cross uses Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to describe the cultural link between wealth and Christmas that was developing in the nineteenth century. Cross suggests that Scrooge was able to buy “the Cratchits joy” with his gifts (59). Due to the “emotional ties” created by gift giving in the domestic setting, family life was idolized and children soon became the face of this developing innocent façade of the nineteenth century (59). In part, this façade that the child represents is an illusion created by a parent through the act of gift giving. With a gift, a parent is able to relive their own childhood, display their “personal affluence,” and proclaim the child as a “deserving” one (59). Cross’ opinion of a child being seen as “deserving” is an idea that holds true in today’s society (59).

Using themes from A Christmas Carol as a representation of today’s society, the child can be viewed as the Cratchits, and the parent as Scrooge. A parent is willing to give “selflessly” to their child, but oftentimes has an ulterior motive of trying to prove abundance and wealth (59). Striving to provide the child with a “shower of gifts,” a parent becomes the ultimate consumer during the Christmas season (59). They become prone and privy to any inkling they might have about joy that their child could derive from their wealth and abundance of gifts. The child is encouraged to indulge and take part in the abundance offered by the Christmas season. Advertisements evoke lengthy Christmas lists and outrageous wants and desires (which are often times strewn by the media as “needs”) from the child. In this way, the child is conditioned by society to hold a certain expectation of a plentiful Christmas. The parent, on the other hand, is expected to react swiftly to the demands of the child, no matter the cost. With the evolution of Santa Claus in the twentieth century as an integral icon of Christmas, the parent finds a scapegoat for lavish spending and indulgence (60). A parent, among other parents, can appear wealthy, yet selfless, through the act of copious giving to the child; all the while hiding behind the “jolly fat man” (60).

Feb 2

It’s not your 5 yr old son, it’s you

In an article from the San Francisco Chronicle by Margot Magowan, she argues that parents are the ones choosing to provide segregated toys for their children and these toys are limiting their brain development by placing a boundary on their experiences. She tells parents, they are the ones with the wallet, they need to ignore marketing and buy wisely. The idea of children and gender related toys has always been and is becoming even more widely seen today. It is very common that we give a girl the gift of a doll and a boy the gift of a toy truck. Elizabeth Segel also references this idea when explaining children’s books.

“Adults decide what books are written, published, and offered for sale, and, for the most part, purchased for children. (course packet pg. 67)”

Both authors are arguing that parents cannot blame their children for the toys and books that they have. The parents are the shopper and the parents are the one that purchase it for the child. Another issue they both bring up is that during childhood, our brains have more plasticity than at any other time in our lives. Children learn through play and the toys and books that children are exposed to while growing up will shape their attitudes and ideas about gender-roles. Magowan argues that these segregated toys will limit children’s learning because they are only experiencing half of the toys available. Segel argues that segregated books form their attitudes about gender-role behaviors. Encouraging children to try new things and move out of their comfort zone will enhance their learning as well as introduce an understanding of equality. This being said, it is extremely important to expose children to toys and books that are geared towards both the same and opposite sex.

 

Feb 2

What’s your Mood?

The year was 1975 and I was 12 years old when Mood Rings were popular. I remember wearing mine to junior high school and comparing the color to the rings of my friends.  According to the brochure that came with every ring, you could determine the mood of the wearer based on an interpretive chart.  Everyone wished for a violet-blue ring which signified happiness and romance.

Josh Reynolds and Maris Ambats were  the inventors of the Mood Ring.  They chemically bonded liquid crystals in a hollow glass shell and mounted the stones into rings.  The crystals would react with your body temperature and turn colors.

youtube, uploaded by futsang on Aug. 4, 2011

The rings were sold everywhere, from gas stations to department stores.  You could get a ring for as little as five dollars.  According to blogger Mortal Journey, a million dollars worth of these portable biofeedback aids were sold in a three month period during 1975 by the entrepreneurs.  Unfortunately, they went bankrupt because of failing to patent their idea and imitators soon saturated the market.  On page 50 of our coursebook, Gary Cross credits the rise in American manufacturing and the radical transformation of marketing after the Civil War, with abundant opportunities for retailers.

According to the article by Rick Kogan, the mood ring was seen as a symbol of control for a shifting culture.  Increased self-awareness and the popularity of group therapy during the mid-70s, contributed to the craze for these rings.  The jewelry gave the wearers a chance to display their emotional state to others.  By wearing the ring, a person supposedly felt a sense of control over their emotions.  I think mostly it was a fun fad that could not be taken too seriously.

 

 

 

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