Class signaling via Apple products
18 Apr 2012 12:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
firecat"A Macbook Pro is just as much of a status marker as a Louis Vuitton purse or a BMW."
I recoil at the notion because I think Vuitton purses and BMWs signal a different class than ones I identify with. (At least I tend to have prejudices about people who have those things—I'll assume "not like me" unless I get evidence to the contrary.) But I do think that, in California at least, there's a class I might call "hi-tech professionals" and having Mac products can signal identification with it.
FWIW, I think I'm kind of clueless about class.
Anyway, it's interesting to contemplate. What do you think?
I recoil at the notion because I think Vuitton purses and BMWs signal a different class than ones I identify with. (At least I tend to have prejudices about people who have those things—I'll assume "not like me" unless I get evidence to the contrary.) But I do think that, in California at least, there's a class I might call "hi-tech professionals" and having Mac products can signal identification with it.
FWIW, I think I'm kind of clueless about class.
Anyway, it's interesting to contemplate. What do you think?
no subject
Date: 19 Apr 2012 09:24 pm (UTC)I don't think wanting to have enough money is a class aspiration per se, but how much money a person considers to be "enough," and what they buy with it, and where the money comes from tie in with class, I think.
having a fishtank in your house is a sign of lower class.
I seem to recall that although I agreed with Fussell's general idea, that there were multiple classes that were associated with certain particular things, I disagreed with a bunch of the specifics. Fishtanks are something I don't associate with class.
no subject
Date: 19 Apr 2012 09:48 pm (UTC)I don't think wanting to have enough money is a class aspiration per se, but how much money a person considers to be "enough," and what they buy with it, and where the money comes from tie in with class, I think.
I agree.
I seem to recall that although I agreed with Fussell's general idea, that there were multiple classes that were associated with certain particular things, I disagreed with a bunch of the specifics. Fishtanks are something I don't associate with class.
Yes -- Fussell is a crank and some of the specifics are silly -- probably even more so these days. Actually, I think I remember reading somewhere that Fussell meant the book to be satiric/humorous, which is weird because I think of him as an absolutely humorless dude.