Kaew's Media Culture Blog

Without realising, I think people tend to come up with easier questions as they get older, such as…What is art (in this programme at the start)? What is Freedom (in my previous Philosophy class)?

Now, what is  ’Lifestyle‘ for now? (LOL, what’s so funny?)…Of course, lifestyle is not just lifestyle! Lifestyle, can only be defined in general and not specific. It is encountered simply in every single step of our breathing life. Lifestyle draws ideas of taste, wealth, health, status, diet, aspiration, subculture, leisure in order to represent everyday life in ‘advanced capitalist cultures’ as the increase of ‘personal style achieved primarily through consumption.’

Thus, how does ‘lifestyle’ links with consumption? This is because lifestyle is more concerned with the way you consume rather than produce, as the way you consume also defines your social status, class, wealth, etc or known as ‘social distinction’. In this case, this is why consumption is more linked with lifestyle than production. Moreover, products today are less consumed by it’s capability or usefullness but instead are based on the brandings which deffinitely declare status from class. As according to Max Webber 1966  -   classes are stratified according to their relations to the production and acquisition of goods ; whereas ‘status groups’ are stratified according to the principles of their consumption of goods as represented by special “style of life.” 

Moreover, modernity also has a hand in this topic, as modern lifestyles involve with complex process of self-presentation and social differentiation according to the rise Yof mass culture ( e.g. industrialization, urbanization, and secularization of social orders and hierarchy). With modernity, it reduces the traditional knowledge from many culture in the world, where tradition has less effect on people live today and cause them to do outside the box of their specific cultures and traditions. By all means, making people to concern more on what to wear/ eat/ use or talk or simply who to become?  You can see nowadays that people, especially the teens seem to follow their life routines from either celebrities, singers, actor/actress…all those represented in the medias. As they seems lovable, successful, fun, lively, happy, beautiful, smart, handsome, etc… This may or may not have anything to do with this topic but just to mention reasons behind this is varied. In order to be who you want to be… Money plays the most important role here. As nowadays everything can be turned into commodity, even beauty, success, health, love, feelings, etc…… Since everything can be turned into commodities, all you need to have is ‘money‘. Out-side appearance is now matter most in modernity though, the shallowest way to tell his/her true self. Todays, there are more kinds of commodities which give different outcomes when you consume it such as you want to look successful  e.g. black shiny shoes, a dark good quality leather bags, tuxidos, and a nice looking car etc… products which give you that sense no matter from colour, quality, price, but the most important thing here is brandings. 

People choose to use more of the branding products rather than anything else, no matter how the product is actually functioned ( good or bad, difficult to use?), branding is the most important thing to help defining the status or class you want to be in, even though, you are not belonging to that kind….(it’s who you want to be, not who you are). In theory, people from higher class/status are identified by the consumption of the branded products as they can afford them, where as people from lower class/status tend to viewed as using the branded products less as they can’t afford the products. This then means that status/class of people are judged by the use of branded products. However, a coin has two sides, for some people, brands are use to cover his/her true identity, for example when people from lower status or class who drive a Mercedes Benz will simply ranked as to a higher status/class. This applies to people from higher status or class as well, who use only public transports and not Mercedez Benz or branded product as such will simply be viewed as beonging to a lower status/class although this is not always true. From the previous examples show that the type of product they consume can really make a difference, just by observing their out-side appearance and you can tell their status/class, though this does not apply to every case. According to lifestyle is based upon social, cultural simulation is perceive as constructed by product characteristic (commodities).

 These two types of transportation…. the first one is Mercedes Benz and the second one is Taxi…

Who knows, in that taxi could be a prince in disguised…!?!!?!