Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Sweet Sixteens

       I believe most of us have either seen or heard of the MTV show, "My Super Sweet Sixteen." The show's plot line involves spoiled teenage girls with wealthy parents, who fly to Europe to find their birthday dress, invite only the popular kids in their grade to their extravagant birthday parties, and receive fancy cars as their birthday presents. They also manage to spend a large sum of money on the party itself. These parties do not just occur on television. In fact, Sweet Sixteens are becoming more and more common in America, largely because of the MTV show's influence. In my own hometown of Tampa, Florida, a girl in my little sister's grade threw a Sweet Sixteen a few weekends ago. Here are some photographs from the event:


She rented out the Ritz  in my hometown: Tampa, Florida.

Decorated it with a futuristic theme.

Had a grand entrance with fog, male escorts, and a silver sparkly dress.

Was crowned with a tiara by her mother.

Received a private performance by a popular teen band.

Had another grand entrance and changed outfits.
Received a Hummer as her birthday present. 
And received a SmartCar as well.
She also had a photo shoot with the band.

      When I was looking through the different photographs online, I was amazed by how elaborate her party was. It made me wonder how much money her parents had spent for the band, the venue, the two cars, and her three outfits.  I wanted to see what other people's thoughts were on Sweet Sixteens in general and the MTV show in particular, which probably has influenced teenage girls a great deal, making Sweet Sixteens more desirable and labeled as "The Cool Thing To Do."  I came across the book Girl Culture by Claudia A. Mitchell and Jacqueline Reid-Walsh. Here is an interesting quote I found:


"The American fascination with celebrity and adolescent aspirations toward the lifestyles of the rich and famous have driven the cost of Sweet Sixteens to incredible heights. Most episodes of the program feature the children of very affluent parents, who have budgets of $50,000 to $200,000 at their disposal. In modern-day incarnations, personal status has become associated with the level of wealth, exclusivity, creativity, and celebrity involved in the Sweet Sixteen party."

         I liked that the quote mentions exclusivity as being associated with Sweet Sixteen parties. Just like Old Money created clubs to isolate themselves from the rest of society, rich teenagers throw Sweet Sixteens for a reason. By having an expensive party, they prove to the rest of their community that they are financially capable of affording such a lavish event. Because most other students will not be able to afford a party of the same caliber, the student who throws a Sweet Sixteen is able to set himself or herself apart from everybody else.

        Sweet Sixteens also represent society's fascination with living a rich lifestyle. The social pressure experienced by teenagers who throw Sweet Sixteens reflects the challenging difficulties of entering the super-exclusive upper class. According to high school peers, only the teens who throw the biggest and best parties are allowed to pass this rite of passage and then become accepted into their higher spot on the social ladder. Those who fail remain on the bottom. This standard of criterion for entering the higher echelons of high school popularity mimics the format of society itself: while many could try to be in the spotlight, only those with strong family backgrounds, reputations, and wealth were accepted.  Sweet Sixteens are very similar to the antics of High Society because only a small number are accepted into each group. For Sweet Sixteens, only the very wealthy teens who throw the best parties are welcomed into the popular group. In High Society, it was the same group of wealthy families that were named in the Social Register and talked about in the newspapers. Although High Society has given way to Celebrity Worship in society, in a way, High Society still exists in high school. Only the richest students can afford the Sweet Sixteen ritual and this sets them apart from their classmates.



Friday, October 8, 2010

Red-Neck Bashing

       In The Redneck Manifesto, Jim Goad describes the acceptable berating and open condescension that working class whites experience. These lower-class people, targeted as "red-necks" and hillbillies", have become the butt of American jokes and unlike African American jokes, which are reprimanded as racist, and religious jokes, which are deemed politically incorrect, these jokes are, for some reason, viewed as acceptable in our society.
    A perfect example of the patronization the working class endures from higher social classes can be seen on the site www.peopleofwalmart.com

         On this site, people post photographs, stories, and videos of people shopping in Walmart whom they view as "weird" or "different." Because the people being photographed (unknowingly) are judged as inferior to the photographer, there are then made fun of on the website. The structure of this website perfectly reflects the class racism that exists in today's society. Because middle class people judge working class behavior from the habitus of a middle class person, they think lower class people have chosen, out of freedom of choice, to live in that particular way. Thus, the lower class's obviously inferior quality, which the middle class seems to think is a chosen lifestyle, is viewed as due to ignorance, conformity, and bad decisions.  
         Middle class persons fail to realize that while the middle class might live a certain way by choice and have a taste for freedom, often times, the lower classes experience a "forced choice of necessity" and develop a taste for necessity. This taste develops, not out of deprivation, however, but out of preference. The workers are just more practical with confronting the needs and urgencies of making a living so they develop a different lifestyle.
       On the site, the photograph of the day is labeled "Feature Creature," referring to the person in the picture as a creature. Because dominant classes tend to use working-class lifestyles as a negative reference point for themselves, it is viewed as "acceptable" for them to refer to lower-class humans as creatures, and because the working class rejects the culture of the dominant class as "not for them," they manage to isolate themselves from mainstream society. Because of this separation between classes, different social classes fail to understand one another, which perpetuates class racism. Since the middle and upper classes do not understand why the lower and working classes might act in a certain way, they attribute it all to stupidity.





"The trailer park has become the media's cultural toilet, the only acceptable place to dump one's racist inclinations."





Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Gourmet Family Stores over Finicky French Ones



          Last night, I ate at a restaurant called Henrietta's Table. The place was decorated plainly and the restaurant's slogan, "Fresh and Honest," was displayed proudly at the front entrance. When I walked inside, photographs of pigs, beans, and happy children and greeted me from every direction. To me, this restaurant represents the change in style restaurants have undergone as described by Brooks in Bobos in Paradise: "There weren't any interesting food stores [in the past]. And there certainly weren't any restaurants with casual-sounding names like Teresa's; instead, they had imposing French names like L'Auberge. But now it is the formidable French places that have had to adjust."
        Because Bobos prefer not to flaunt their wealth, they seek out casual-sounding restaurants versus formal, fancy ones. Although the atmosphere might be different, however, the prices still remain quite high. In the past, the high prices were a way for upper class members to prove their place in society and show that they could afford to purchase expensive foods. Now, however,  the high prices are viewed as an acceptable trade-off for the benefits customers receive by dining at such a restaurant. Henrietta's Table, for example, emphasizes its support for local farmers and its organic ingredients; both of these qualities attract Bobos because today's society now emphasizes "reflected wholesomeness," "more casual food," "less pretentious names," "family and community," and "Upscale Suburban Hippiedom". Bobo-influenced restaurants appeal to costumers through support for local products, good intentions, charity donations, and friendly atmosphere, rather than stuffy atmosphere, formidable names, and condescending attitudes. 
        At the bottom of the Henrietta's Table menu was a notice that "In support of Haiti, Henrietta's Table is using Haitian Products to assist in the growth of their economy." This choice to use Haitian products makes the restaurant's dishes more expensive. After all, the products are now being shipped from Haiti rather than from closer farms. However, this choice to support a devastate country appeals to Bobos and is thus an acceptable reason for higher prices. The ideal Bobo eatery is not pretentious or finicky. Instead, it must have healthy, local roots. At Henrietta's Table, the menu proudly informs customers that all vegetables are locally grown and that the restaurant makes a large effort to support local farmers. Statements like these prove to Bobo costumers that Henrietta's is all about "family and community" and in today's society, this type of ambience is what Bobos are looking for.







Monday, October 4, 2010

Rule 6. Educated elites are expected to spend huge amounts of money on things that used to be cheap.

 
        David Brooks tells us in Bobos in Paradise that "we [the educated elite] prefer to buy the same items as the proletariat- it's just that we buy rarefied versions of these items that the members of the working class would consider preposterous. So we will buy chicken legs, just like everybody else, but they'll likely be free-range chickens that in life were treated better than Elizabeth Taylor at a health spa." I find this quote to be extremely accurate. Packages of free-range chicken can be found in most grocery stores in the organic section, which tends to be more expensive than the other sections. To prove David Brooks' claim, I looked up a free-range chicken company online to compare prices and see how they advertise their product in order to reach the Bourgeois Bohemians, their main costumer.

  


            The website I found described their chickens as "raised on pasture (grass, sunshine, insects, etc.) and on Cocofeed" which "is an organic chicken-feed ration that contains high-quality natural ingredients." Because Bobos want more rarefied versions of ordinary products, they seek out the more expensive products. In a Bobo's opinion, organic chicken-feed, natural ingredients and free-range farming are all viable reasons for a Bobo to spend a huge amount of money on chicken. For the proletariat, spending that much money seems unnecessary because chicken can be purchased at a much cheaper price but Bobos view spending huge amounts of money on things that used to be cheap as a must. Before the rise of the Bobos, the upper classes would spend their money on fancy foods like caviar and foie gras. Now, however, the same amount of money is expected to go towards "average" foods like chicken and fruit. If Bobos spent their money on fancier foods like the old upper class did, it would seem like they are trying to show off their wealth. By buying more expensive, healthier versions, however, of cheap, everyday foods, they are allowed to spend their money without seeming snooty.


         One of the Frequently Asked Questions on the site provides a good example of what a Bobo looks for when trying to find a good that used to be cheap and is now worth spending more money on. The questions, "Why do your pastured chickens cost so much compared to other chickens?" was answered by the company with a beautifully painted picture of the chickens' happiness, our support for local farmers, and the bridged gap between urban dwellers and healthy farmers. These reasons, in the minds of the Bobos, are worth a more expensive price because purchasing it helps the environment and others. In this way, the Bobos believe themselves to be giving back while purchasing products for themselves. Brooks is quite accurate in his assessment of educated elites- they DO spend exorbitant amounts of money on quite trivial things. Although it would be impolite to spend the same increased amount of money on material goods, spending the same amount of money on organic, all-natural chicken is acceptable because it does not flaunt wealth and it helps the community.



Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Social Register


         The article Old Money refers often to the Social Register and the large role it played in society's past. The Social Register, which highlighted the achievements and success of society's elite, was the determining factor for whether a person truly was an upper-class socialite or not. Because a person could not simply ask to be listed in the Register, the Register maintained an elite status and only the most worthy were able to grace its pages. Despite its decline in popularity, the Social Register still exists today. The most recent cover of the 2010 Social Register has a wedding photograph of two influential families- the Sullivans and the Vietors.





            Even now, the Registry still focuses on family ancestry. Although David Brooks argues in his book, Bobos in Paradise, that today's high society has evolved from Old Money to Bourgeois-Bohemian, Old Money's presence can still be seen in the Social Register. While today's Bobos focus more on education and job occupoation as important characteristics, Old Money socialites emphasized social club membership and family lineage. As seen in this 2010 Register entry, the information in the Sullivan-Vietor marriage announcement includes parent names, church location, and hometowns. There is no mention made of either person's educational background or current employment. 
          Because the Social Register listed a person's social clubs beside his or her name, abbreviations were created for the various clubs in existence. These abbreviations signified how important a person's social participation was and allowed readers to judge how good of a socialite the person was. Examples of club abbreviations include "Dar" for Daughters of the American Revolution, "H" for Harvard Graduate, and "Rc" for Racquet Clubs. Through these abbreviations, the Social Register, which is viewed as an impressive achievement for upper-class socialites, manages to reduce each person/entry's existence to only their clubs, education, marriage, and family lineage. The fact that only a letter H is used to represent a Harvard graduate further emphasizes how exclusive the Social Register's entries were. Readers of the Social Register understood all these short abbreviations and knew which universities and clubs they stood for. I found an example of a Social Register entry to prove how difficult it is to decipher each entry if one does not understood the many different abbreviations. Charles Norton Adams' entry in 991 was "Unn.Nrr.Srb.BtP.Evg.Myf.Ht.Cw." To a high class socialite, this would mean Charles was part of the Newport Reading Room and the Spouting Rock Beach club, but to those of the lower classes, these entry would be meaningless. Thus, the use of the Social Register not only proudly exhibits the best examples of upper class society through its exclusivity, but also further separates the middle class from the upper class through its cryptic entry abbreviations.