In light of Tuesday's class discussion, I've come to the realization that I am incredibly easily manipulated by consumer products. First, I thought specifically of anti-germ products. Being a germ-aphobe, I readily purchase any cleaning product, antibacterial wipe pack, or bottle of hand sanitizer that catches my eye in a drug store. No matter how many products I have at home, or in my dorm room, I can't stop myself from making the purchase if it is something I haven't seen before, or a "new and improved" version of a product I already own. The process is always the same: I see the product, tell myself to not touch it, have an internal debate in my head about its necessity, and then always end up grabbing it. I scan the label and information for a few minutes, still mentally debating, and all it takes is one picture of a squeaky clean surface, or the phrase, "Kills 99.9% of bacteria!" to push me over the edge. Why do I continue to do this every single time? Every disinfectant product, after all, claims to eliminate "99.9% of bacteria" and that may not even be something you want anymore, now that we know there are so many "good" bacteria you can have in your system. I do it because, as I can now acknowledge, I fall victim to manipulation in every way, shape, and form.
I wondered if, after many talks about it with my classmates, and after Professor Schwartz made us aware of the fact that manipulative forces are always acting around us, I would change my ways. I gave it my best over break, convincing myself that I'd be better off not succumbing to such tactics of society; yet, in class on Tuesday, I found myself thoroughly enjoying flipping through the Free People magazine that Hannah used as her mediated artifact. In my opinion, resisting is simply not worth it--as much as I hate that I'm allowing the media to control me and influence my thinking, it is what I've been trained to do all my life, and most of the time it makes me happy. Maybe I would be better off if I'd never been told to act against manipulation. Isn't ignorance bliss?
I often have this same dilemma. Is is better to fight the manipulation or live in an ignorant state of bliss? Although ignorance is definitely easier,it is very easy turn ignorant bliss into being ignorantly taken advantage of. But just because you are aware of the manipulation doesn't mean that you must reject it and label it as a destructive force. You can buy hand sanitizer and somewhat defeat the manipulation by embracing your knowledge of its existence. Yes, you understand that most of the antibacterial lotions are falsely advertised, yet that doesn't always destroy the comfort of these products. I think the key is being aware of the manipulating, and from that point, you can do whatever you want with it.
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