Sunday, October 14, 2007
Embourgeoisement Alert in Schoolyard?
When someone mentioned embourgeoisement, we think of a middle class person (or at least someone with a full-time job) trying to move up the social class. One of the reasons is that elite tastes are usually associated with goods and activities with higher prices. But it seems that embourgeoisement is starting to affect the younger age groups.
I don't know if you guys have noticed, there are more and more students carrying Gucci or LV hangbags in campus, and most of them are first or second year students. That does not only apply to girls, you can sometimes see guys buying lunch and flashing their LV wallets... Around 3 or 4 years ago, you rarely see students carrying these pricey or high class accessories to lectures.
Then I ask myself, is this just another newly developed trend, like Nano, NDS Lite and Wii? But when you look at Nano and stuff, they are more or less designed for teenagers or young adults, and their prices are usually acceptable and affordable to students with only a part-time job or no job at all. Whereas by observing the design and price of the products of Gucci, LV and Tiffany & co., you can tell that their target market is not the teenage group at all.
So, what drives the younger ones to take 2 part-time jobs and save for 3 monthes just to buy a $800 worth Gucci bag? What makes them beg their parents for 8 months just so that they could get a Tiffany necklace for their birthday? Is embourgeoisement really the reason to all these?
I don't know if you guys have noticed, there are more and more students carrying Gucci or LV hangbags in campus, and most of them are first or second year students. That does not only apply to girls, you can sometimes see guys buying lunch and flashing their LV wallets... Around 3 or 4 years ago, you rarely see students carrying these pricey or high class accessories to lectures.
Then I ask myself, is this just another newly developed trend, like Nano, NDS Lite and Wii? But when you look at Nano and stuff, they are more or less designed for teenagers or young adults, and their prices are usually acceptable and affordable to students with only a part-time job or no job at all. Whereas by observing the design and price of the products of Gucci, LV and Tiffany & co., you can tell that their target market is not the teenage group at all.
So, what drives the younger ones to take 2 part-time jobs and save for 3 monthes just to buy a $800 worth Gucci bag? What makes them beg their parents for 8 months just so that they could get a Tiffany necklace for their birthday? Is embourgeoisement really the reason to all these?
# posted by Stanley @ 11:22 PM 
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When I first read your entry, the first thing that came to mind was the similar situation in Japan, where some teenage girls have been absorbed into this materialistic infatuation with brands. It's actually pretty rare to find a girl who isn't holding a Gucci, Prada, Burberry, LV, or (insert expensive brand name) bag in big cities like Tokyo these days.
But one of the main differences between Canada and Japan (at least for now) is that this need for brand name items led to the wide-spread phenomenon of what they call "enjo kosai" (i.e. compensated dating). This term is used to describe high school girls getting paid by older men for dates which may lead to sexual activity. Therefore, instead of finding a part time job for the money to get these items, they use their bodies.
It is interesting that in order to obtain these "high culture" objects, people would engage in one of the most physical and "tasteless" activities to make ends meet. The line separating high and popular culture is very blurry in these circumstances, especially when these brand name items aren't getting cheaper. On one hand, I don't think these brands want to be associated with this type of behaviour among their consumers. Yet on the other, these companies most likely want to milk as much money as they can from teenage girls (a HUGE consumer audience) who will use any means to get these items.
It is hard to predict how this brands infatuation will affect any society as more young people start living as parasites, leeching money off of their parents or other people, and not being productive themselves. (By the way, I'm not trying to imply that this is a good or bad thing.)
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But one of the main differences between Canada and Japan (at least for now) is that this need for brand name items led to the wide-spread phenomenon of what they call "enjo kosai" (i.e. compensated dating). This term is used to describe high school girls getting paid by older men for dates which may lead to sexual activity. Therefore, instead of finding a part time job for the money to get these items, they use their bodies.
It is interesting that in order to obtain these "high culture" objects, people would engage in one of the most physical and "tasteless" activities to make ends meet. The line separating high and popular culture is very blurry in these circumstances, especially when these brand name items aren't getting cheaper. On one hand, I don't think these brands want to be associated with this type of behaviour among their consumers. Yet on the other, these companies most likely want to milk as much money as they can from teenage girls (a HUGE consumer audience) who will use any means to get these items.
It is hard to predict how this brands infatuation will affect any society as more young people start living as parasites, leeching money off of their parents or other people, and not being productive themselves. (By the way, I'm not trying to imply that this is a good or bad thing.)
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