This week in class we talked about Horkheimer and Adorno and how they make the point that, “mechanically differentiated products are ultimately all the same” We discussed how if you arn’t part of the same group you become a threat to the hegemonic cultures and how media is infecting our culture. For example I thought it was very interesting how we talked about Polos in class and how they are all pretty much the same exact thing except for the little icon that is in the corner. Depending on what the icon is in the corner weather it be a dog, cat, ship, gator all depends on how you will be judged by others. Money becomes a huge factor in our society and I think it is very sad how we make stereotypes of people based off of their clothing and how much his or her shirt costs. I also think that it is sad how materialistic our society has become. For example, my little cousin got a shirt for her birthday and when she opened it she looked at it and told her mom that it was ugly and she didn’t want it. Her mom told her to try it on and she refused to. After her mom told her that it was juicy couture, she right away changed her mind and said… “it is?!?!, o well I think its actually kind of cute I want to try it on” I was blown away by this and could not believe how fast she changed her mind when she found out that it was “Juicy Couture” again this is how our society makes stereotypes about certain clothes and I think that it is ridiculous how the media is already starting to hit kids at age 9.
Just the other day my friend gave me a compliment on my dress and I told her I got it at Target for $15 she was shocked and told me she hated me because she has the same exact dress from Juicy Couture except she paid $200 for it. This just shows that really, every product is the same thing; it is just presented in a different way. And the way it is presented is why we buy it. We find ourselves in the product.
“The concept of a genuine style becomes transparent in the culture industry as the aesthetic equivalent of power” (47). Style is becoming an ISA and if you have style it is likely you are in the ruling class and this is certainly how our society makes stereotypes about people. Its all about money and material and whats the “cool” thing to be wearing or to buy.
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You use some good examples to represent the role style plays in society. It is a shame that more and more children are becoming sucked into the media hype of materialism. I like the second example where the two dresses were the same but one was from Juicy - you clearly identify the role of sameness. Next time, take analyze the thoughts you bring up and why our culture functions in this way (along with how the theorists help this understanding). For example, you could go on to identify why materialism has become so predominant and how say Marx would respond to the role clothing plays in distinguishing class? :)
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