L8, Gender and social relations of consumption. 44 good questions

Q: To what concept is circulation of symbols related?

Upscale emulation ; when lower class imitates higher class consumption patterns and when eventually too widely consumed, higher classes move on to other conspicuous consumption items.

Q: What are 2 types of social rules? Explain.

1 substantive rules: rules that are important within their own right, like laws. They are not necessarily concerned with saving our faces or presenting self. (waiting for a red light) 2 ceremonial rules of conduct : rules that are concerned with the presentation of self, actions with little consequence that are relevant for expression.

What is ethnomethodology? (goffman's way of thinking)

A field that argues that our life is build out of practices. Life is doing rather than being, we perform ourselves on a daily basis e.g. doing friendship.

What is the relation between ethnomethodology and consumption?

Life is more organised around routines and specifiable procedures, rather than being creative e.g. waiting in line at supermarket.

Why does Goffman questions status symbols?

Symbols represent status, but don’t constitute it. It is not that if you consume something you directly belong to that status group. Because of this circulation of symbols among modern consumers uniqueness is diminished. Therefore, the uniqueness of the symbols can be questioned and also the authentic presentation of self.

To what concept is circulation of symbols related?

Upscale emulation; when lower class imitates higher class consumption patterns and when eventually too widely consumed, higher classes move on to other conspicuous consumption items.

Why could authentic presentations of self be questioned?

The motive for behaviour is no longer maximizing personal gains but protecting social situations. We are therefore obliged to project a self that has a positive social value; this positive image of self is a person’s face.

What is meant with saving face?

Saving face = saving social situations. We want to save the face of others so they are not embarrassed (zipper pants) and we want to save our own face.

What is the theatrical/dramaturgical perspective? (Goffman)

It describes that everything we do is a performance, the world is our theatre.

What is the theatrical/dramaturgical perspective? (Goffman)

It describes that everything we do is a performance, the world is our theatre.

What are social rules and why are they important?

Social rules are invisible, underlying codes governing behaviour. They regulate and constitute the structure of social interaction as background assumptions.

What are 2 types of social rules? Explain.

1 substantive rules: rules that are important within their own right, like laws. They are not necessarily concerned with saving our faces or presenting self. (waiting for a red light)

2 ceremonial rules of conduct: rules that are concerned with the presentation of self, actions with little consequence that are relevant for expression.

What are 2 types of social rules? Explain.

1 substantive rules: rules that are important within their own right, like laws. They are not necessarily concerned with saving our faces or presenting self. (waiting for a red light)

2 ceremonial rules of conduct: rules that are concerned with the presentation of self, actions with little consequence that are relevant for expression.

What are 2 types of ceremonial rules (rituals) of conduct?

1 avoidance rituals: preserve and ideal sphere and avoid that you are embarrassed (zipper pants)

2 presentational rituals: giving compliments and showing that people are not alone and are seen

Why are rules neither mere regularities nor laws?

Rules become embedded in our life without thinking about it, it has turned into practical knowledge of how to carry on in social life. Our 4 background assumptions guide our interactions.

Name our 4 background assumptions that guide our interactions.

1. situational propriety,
2. involvement,
3. civil inattention,
4. accessible

Explain background assumption 1; situational propriety.

Situational propriety: situational propriety is practical knowledge of how to carry on in social situations, we only become aware of this knowledge when people break these rules or fail to demonstrate it.

Explain background assumption 2; involvement.

Involvement: individuals must know the appropriate level of involvement in a particular situation. E.g. different acting to friends than strangers.

Explain background assumption 3; civil inattention.

Civil inattention: individuals must display civil inattention in presence of strangers; you acknowledge that they are there but also maintain distance and don’t interfere with their lives.

As soon as someone breaks it, you acknowledge it. e.g trump kid looking in eye

What is a discourse? (Foucault?Buttler)

A well-bounded area of social knowledge formed by those with the means of power. They define the ways we think about social phenomena. Dominant discourses do not have to be true, since is directed what can be said.

In a marketing discourse the brands and media are in power. Most consumers adhere without knowing.

What is productive power?

Power is not only negative. The most restrictive measures are productive since they make new ways of behaviour possible. Power makes it possible that we have other means of saying. E.g. demonstrations

What is a discourse? (Foucault?Buttler)

A well-bounded area of social knowledge formed by those with the means of power. They define the ways we think about social phenomena. Dominant discourses do not have to be true, since is directed what can be said.

In a marketing discourse the brands and media are in power. Most consumers adhere without knowing.

What is the biggest difference between Butler and Goffman?

Butler also takes into account the question of power, which Goffman does less.

What are biopolitics? (Foucault/Buttler)

These are political and marketing discourses that are created to regulate our life and keep us healthy and safe. The responsible action of a consumer means that one follows the dominant discourse of biopolitics. E.g. government rules covid

Biopower and the embodied subject: productive dominance of all kinds of influential fields.

What are biopolitics? (Foucault/Buttler)

These are political and marketing discourses that are created to regulate our life and keep us healthy and safe. The responsible action of a consumer means that one follows the dominant discourse of biopolitics. E.g. government rules covid

Biopower and the embodied subject: productive dominance of all kinds of influential fields.

How does biopolitics relate to food?

It tries to inform about safe and healthy food in a subtle way. It controls when people consume what food items. Yet, acts of resistance against control on food waste.

What is gender performativity?

Gender is not something we automatically have but rather something we perform. Gender is a stylized repetition of acts, an imitation or miming of the dominant conventions of gender.

It is a dominant representation of power: discourses (hall and Foucault)

Describe the public-private distribution that rose during the industrialization era.

There was a clear line between production and consumption and followed by an ideological shift in understanding the role of the public and private sphere. The private sphere, home, was associated with leisure and consumption where no meaningful productivity or skill took place. Only important things were going on in the public domain.

What is resistance according to Butler?

Oppositional norms and discourses that call for action, like body positivity. We continually perform identities that are prescribed by hegemonic discourses.

Butler thinks we have less agency against power structures than Foucault.

What did the public-private distribution (from the industrialization era) result into? Explain.

Gender role specialization in these 2 domains. Woman were associated with household work and were consumers in the private sphere, whereas men were considered producers in the public domain.

Describe the paradoxical relationship women had with production and consumption.

Women were considered to be the property of men. They were ceremonial consumers, symbolizing the status of their husbands through conspicuous consumption. Their consumption mostly directed towards others and not themselves.

What were the paradoxical circumstances when looking at the role of women in relation to consumption culture?

On the one hand women were glorified as mothers, on the other hand they were criticized for being consumers and secondary.

What were the paradoxical circumstances when looking at the role of women in relation to consumption culture?

On the one hand women were glorified as mothers, on the other hand they were criticized for being consumers and secondary.

What is resistance according to Foucault?

We should not see structures of power as solely repressive, but we can use these same structures that repress us in our acts of resistance against these. We should think and act freely, and develop critical attitude towards ourselves (self-critique), like ethical consumption.

What is the idea of consumer culture?

It is based on the premise that culture (an archive of shared meanings) is one of the most important factors to influence consumer behaviour.

What are some characteristics of consumer culture?

Transforming of needs to desires, utilitarian/hedonic needs-values, commodity fetishism, conspicuous leisure and consumption, cultural values, aestheticization, alienation, differentiation and speed.

In the industrialization era woman were associated with household work and were consumers in the private sphere, whereas men were considered producers in the public domain. What was a consequence of this cultural construction of femininity and masculinity?

It legitimized the roles and responsibilities of each gender as well as the value attached to the roles. Because of this, females were considered an ideal consumer.

What was the contrasting function of consumer culture?

It reinforced gender differences, but also created possibilities to challenge them through active involvement in the production process.

McCracken: According to McCracken in what 3 places are cultural meanings located?

1 the culturally constituted world, 2 the consumer good, 3 the individual consumer

Meanings are transferred from 1 to 2 & from 2 to 3.

What are effects and aspects of advertising as a whole relating to consumption?

Advertising performs informing, manipulating and brainwashing in order to change consumer behaviour or to link it to a new set of goods.

It reveals class ideology of society and still uses stereotypical gender roles.

Goffman: images of beauty are used and try to create the perfect picture that women have to adhere/improve to.

What are effects and aspects of advertising as a whole relating to consumption?

Advertising performs informing, manipulating and brainwashing in order to change consumer behaviour or to link it to a new set of goods.

It reveals class ideology of society and still uses stereotypical gender roles.

Goffman: images of beauty are used and try to create the perfect picture that women have to adhere/improve to.

What can you tell about Veblen's view on the role of women in consumption?

His work is considered as an early critique on mass consumerism. He traced the historical roots of consumerism and linked it with the origins of personal property. He convincingly argued that in primitive cultures women were considered to be the property of men. They served as trophies to prove the “prowess of young warriors”. Women were a source of “invidious distinction”. Although the status of women has changed and they are no longer considered to be the property of men, according to Veblen, women’s status in marriage still largely bears traces of archaic cultures (Roberts, 1998).

During the first half of the twentieth century, a transformation in work organization brought a paradigm shift in the structure and organization of society. What shift and changes were discussed in the book?

Many women entered the workforce, mainly in the new consumer,
service-oriented industries. These changes gave birth to a new
culture of consumption in the affluent west where increased women’s participation in the labour force resulted in new forms and patterns of. consumption. These women became the ideal subject of consumer culture (McRobbie, 2008). Existing research on the history of consumption. has acknowledged that a new class of working women played an important. role in the promotion of fashion and luxury consumption.

During the first half of the twentieth century a shift took place. What shift and which consequences did this shift have for consumption?

A transformation in work organization brought a shift in the structure and organization in society; women entered the workforce. The increased women’s participation in the labour force resulted in new forms and patterns of consumption. Women were mainly associated with fashion and luxury.

What did mass production of consumer goods do for women?

It created the possibility for women of almost all economic strata to choose from a wide spectrum of consumer goods.

Consumer needs can be classified into two group. Name and explain them.

1 functional needs: practical consumption issues

2 symbolic needs: related to social identity and class relations.

L8, Gender and social relations of consumption

44 important questions on L8, Gender and social relations of consumption

What is ethnomethodology? (goffman's way of thinking)

What is the relation between ethnomethodology and consumption?

Why does Goffman questions status symbols?

To what concept is circulation of symbols related?

Why could authentic presentations of self be questioned?

What is meant with saving face?

What is the theatrical/dramaturgical perspective? (Goffman)

What is the theatrical/dramaturgical perspective? (Goffman)

What are social rules and why are they important?

What are 2 types of social rules? Explain.

What are 2 types of social rules? Explain.

What are 2 types of ceremonial rules (rituals) of conduct?

Why are rules neither mere regularities nor laws?

Name our 4 background assumptions that guide our interactions.

Explain background assumption 1; situational propriety.

Explain background assumption 2; involvement.

Explain background assumption 3; civil inattention.

What is a discourse? (Foucault?Buttler)

What is productive power?

What is a discourse? (Foucault?Buttler)

What is the biggest difference between Butler and Goffman?

What are biopolitics? (Foucault/Buttler)

What are biopolitics? (Foucault/Buttler)

How does biopolitics relate to food?

What is gender performativity?

Describe the public-private distribution that rose during the industrialization era.

What is resistance according to Butler?

What did the public-private distribution (from the industrialization era) result into? Explain.

Describe the paradoxical relationship women had with production and consumption.

What were the paradoxical circumstances when looking at the role of women in relation to consumption culture?

What were the paradoxical circumstances when looking at the role of women in relation to consumption culture?

What is resistance according to Foucault?

What is the idea of consumer culture?

What are some characteristics of consumer culture?

In the industrialization era woman were associated with household work and were consumers in the private sphere, whereas men were considered producers in the public domain. What was a consequence of this cultural construction of femininity and masculinity?

What was the contrasting function of consumer culture?

McCracken: According to McCracken in what 3 places are cultural meanings located?

What are effects and aspects of advertising as a whole relating to consumption?

What are effects and aspects of advertising as a whole relating to consumption?

What can you tell about Veblen's view on the role of women in consumption?

During the first half of the twentieth century, a transformation in work organization brought a paradigm shift in the structure and organization of society. What shift and changes were discussed in the book?

During the first half of the twentieth century a shift took place. What shift and which consequences did this shift have for consumption?

What did mass production of consumer goods do for women?

Consumer needs can be classified into two group. Name and explain them.

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