Thursday, November 14, 2013
Which one's better?
This morning when I woke up, one of my friends came into my room and asked me to help her pick up a shirt to wear. One was a blue and white flannel and the other was a red orange and brown flannel. I told her I liked the red one and then she proceeded to put on the shirt and head out to class. This struck me as a perfect example of people being manipulated by objects. In all honesty, it did not matter which shirt she wore. I doubt people would judge her one way or the other but even so she wanted someone else's opinion to make sure she looked "okay." I think the way people dress is a pretty big deal at Hamilton. Students here are like walking advertisements. No matter where you look you can almost always find a boy in a Vineyard Vines fleece or a girl wearing a Patagonia sweater with L.L. Bean duck boots. One could argue that these companies do make good gear that will keep us warm in the winter, but more often than not you pay for the name. Is a Vineyard Vines sweater really going to keep you that much warmer than a sweater you bought at Macy's? Probably not. But our generation has been manipulated by these companies to look the best and wear high end companies in order to improve our appearance.
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I agree that there is manipulation going on in this situation in terms of branding. But more than that, on a larger scale, I think a majority of the manipulation in this context comes from other people. What “object” we choose to wear is largely due to how it will be perceived (as you said). Therefore, although the object is a vessel of the manipulation, the true source comes from our interactions with other people.
ReplyDeleteI think you both bring up really good points. Of course people are manipulated by brand name objects and the lifestyle that these brands associate with their products, but I think more than that is, as Hannah said, the manipulation by other people. In many settings, including here at Hamilton, people are manipulated by what others are wearing, buying, and supporting. In such a small community like Hamilton, it's easy to fall victim to the not-so-subtle manipulation of everyone wearing Patagonia, LL Bean, Vineyard Vines, LuLu Lemon, and puffy jackets. While there are definitely people who would rather be themselves than conform to what everyone else is wearing, the majority of people look to fit in rather than to stand out.
ReplyDeleteI think it's safe to say that if you were to look at another small school you would see the same general trend. As in the case of Kenyon College, the majority of people there influence each to be more and more "hipster" through what they wear, what music they listen to, and even how they view the world. Like Hannah said, people's manipulation by objects is actually just another venue for manipulation by other people.
I think it's interesting how I've seen this same principle apply to people who don't want to conform. My sister is artsy to the extreme, and when I went shopping with her over fall break, she didn't buy an American Eagle sweater that she liked "because she didn't want to be a clone." I'm not in support of buying into brand names or anything, but I thought it was funny that she was being just as manipulated by clothes as her "clone" classmates. They may buy stuff just because everyone else is, but she's NOT buying stuff just because everyone else is. I mean, I think it's pretty silly to avoid getting something you want for virtually no reason at all. No matter how you spin it, everyone, regardless of their intentions, is manipulated to some degree by the people around them.
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