Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Social class and your possessions


In the movie People Like Us, they show many different things that people buy that represent their social class such as a Tuscan style kitchen, a 4 foot Mitsubishi TV, a Volvo. What possessions do you or your family own that represent your social class? Do you think that class is related to the things we own? Think about a possession that you own that could be much cheaper or much more expensive - why do you have the one that you have and not a cheaper/ more expensive one? You can go to the following website and take a quiz about how the things you prefer represent your class:
Chintz or shag

We also see a guy who goes into Williams & Sonoma and says that the store represents upper middle class because of the things it sells. Then we see Karen Hess (bread expert) who says the bread we eat reflects our class. We develop tastes that reflect our class. What stores do you shop at and what types of bread do you eat? How do your possessions reflect your own social class? You can visit the following website and take the quiz "Identify this" or "Name that class" and see if your values represent a class:
Identify this

Here's a quick example from W & S:
It is a set of wooden utensils - but not just any wooden utensils, "Canadian inventor and designer Tom Littledeer is known for his beautifully carved kitchen tools with fluid shapes inspired by canoe paddles. Each of the tools in this set is handcrafted from a single piece of North American maple..." $99.99 for a set of 5.