The Mass-marketing of Working Class Culture :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Mass-marketing of Working Class Culture The fads of the father are visited on the son weve all seen how adult fads are given down to children. Weve seen how cargo gasp have trickled down, thanks to the Gap, Baby Gap, and Old Navy (all corporations owned by The Limited, Inc.). Cargo knickerbockers have always been a mystery to me. The attractive thing about them is storage (which Ill get to later), blandness and personal appearance. I nevertheless considered wearing cargo pants because theyd hide how chunky my thighs are. And theyre beige and boring--they thus go with anything. I also dont understand this fascination with looking working-class (In a recent copy of Vogue, there were ritzy, high-priced versions of lumberjack clothing). Theres absolutely nothing wrong with that and I dont want to sound like an elitist, because Im by no agent not working-class. I just wonder why this a trend, why white collar workers want to look like they work with their hands. But this fascinati on with storage, with having so many products presents a problem. Cargo pants were designed so workers could essentially wear their toolbox. Todays kids wearing cargo pants dont need that space for hammers and nails. To subdue acknowledging that cargo pants are a silly trend, wearers unconsciously seek to fill their pockets. As Lacan might say, empty pockets remind us of our lacks. Cargo pants only encourage the reckless. The Gap, like any other capitalist corporation, wants consumers to spend oodles of money. Providing more storage space in a pair of pants allows for children and teens to spend even more money filling them. What the Gap has done is transformed the meaning of cargo pants. It is a redefinition todays cargo pants wearers arent laborers, theyre spenders. Isnt that a brainy thing, the Gap may ask us. Its a way of showing how the upper class has always stepped all everyplace the lower class, taking what aspects of its culture it likes and discarding the individuals in volved. Weve seen this over and over, but it usually has been a races culture that has been used while the individuals are considered meaningless by the ruling classes. This is happening again today with Latin culture. sporting culture takes what few things it likes (namely Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin, maybe a salsa beat, and some Tex-Mex food), and celebrates it as all Latin culture has to offer, ignoring debates about the Latinness of such aspects anyway.