Consumption is a site of social struggle between structure and agency - Essay Example

? Consumption is a site of social struggle between structure and agency Ever since, women and men have always been conscious of how they look. In business too, the image one portrays is extremely beneficial in business and may depict his or her personality (Yurchisin 2010, p.5). Therefore, the fashion and design industry often provide ways in which individuals could fit into various occasions. In the community, one would be surprised at the rate which people consume commodities, especially clothes and beauty products. In addition, as one walks across the street, one can be impressed by the number of people wearing fashionable clothes and jewellery (Yurchisin 2010, p.6). Fashion has become part of the society. Many people have derived advantages from the fashion industry. The essay below is going to discuss how Consumption is a site of social struggle between structure and agency. The fashion and design culture started in the past limited to certain aspects in the society. For instance, in the past, it was easy to judge from the quality and the fabric used on a given clothe the social status of a certain person. Nowadays many more dimensions have evolved and considered as under the following: conservative or progressive, low or high educational level, low or high ecological awareness or more (Yurchisin 2010, p.13). Culture is a unique entity and fashion got its way to its heart million of years ago. With fashion, people often regard it to some cultures that have been there since time immemorial. Take for instance wearing of skirts by the Scottish people. In as much as fashion has more been likened to language since the past, still there is a vast gap existing between them. Language has grammar, and the sequence of the words provides meaning. Clothing, on the other hand has constantly perceived as one entity, not as a sequence, plus has no grammar. In the society, there are some impression regarding language and the clothes people wear (McCracken 2009, p.34). Another example could be the association Kanzus to Arab speaking people. Different languages have in the past been associated to certain fashions. Take for instance the Maasai speaking people in Kenya with their fashionable clothes. As much as the fashion industry is trying not to associate certain clothes with languages, still in some reasons they become forced to do so. Fashion and culture have always been intertwined. In the society, people refer to certain fashion and designs as attributed to certain cultures. For example, sneakers get associated with the American culture (Douglas & Goodman 2004, p.78). There are some clothes which people associate them with hip hop culture, rock culture and the rest. Fashions get always attributed to certain cultures in the society. Individuals often associate with different cultures for the sake of identity (McCracken 2009, p.36). It is the love for identity that people often look for in certain clothes and materials. The items help them to associate with a given culture. In addition, there are some fashions that are unique, and it is only people who could afford them could possess them. Therefore, some fashion and design industries produce items that are unique to the specifications of such people (McCracken 2009, p.40). Over time, consumption has proved to be site for social struggle between the agency and the structure. The fashion and design industry have at times have a problem with getting consumers for their products. Finding the right consumer for your product requires a lot of marketing into the lives of people living in the society. In regard to culture, sometimes fashion and culture have clashed. Take for instance the wearing of jeans by women in the Muslim community (Yurchisin 2010, p.33). The societies in some regions are against certain cultures. Majorly, the fashion and design industry often are in the move to create newer things, but the problem, which they often await is, will it be sold or not. There have been cases of outstanding designs and fashions rejected in certain communities due to the religious repercussions they have (McCracken 2009, p.50). The struggle between social structure and the agency has been ongoing since time immemorial. Consumption has been a valuable tool for manipulation by the fashion and design industry and has led to some troubles. Society has human beings. Human are complexes being to understand yet sometimes they can be predicted. In fashion, a lot on consumptions of people living in a given society could be vital. Fashion is the prevailing custom or style available in a given society (McCracken 2009, p.68). Designers often produce items in relation to the consumer’s consumption and needs. Consumption is the process of consuming. For the fashion and design industry to flourish, consumption constantly has to be present. Consumption is an element that varies due to a number of things, and designers have to be careful not to satisfy the customer’s need. Fashion is a critical component of the culture in which we stay. Fashion has always been subjected to changes ever since the past generations (Douglas & Goodman 2004, p.23). Fashion and people have a long history. Since fashion has evolved in society, it has adapted to the given environment in which it becomes marketed. Fashion is often widespread among the popular global cultures, but it happens to differ in various places around the world. Trend setters and designers are constantly working to create new items and expand fashion (Yurchisin 2010, p.67). A fashion trend usually starts off struggling, but after sometime, becomes part of the society when they embrace it. For example, in the clothing industry, clothe labels often become popular and achieve international level. In the society, people refer to certain fashion and designs as attributed to certain cultures. For example, sneakers get associated with the American culture (Yurchisin 2010, p.67). There are some clothes people will associate them to hip hop culture, rock culture and the rest. Fashions get attributed to certain cultures in the society (Yurchisin 2010, p.70). Individuals often associate with different cultures for the sake of identity. It is the love for identity that people will look for certain clothes and materials to associate themselves to that given culture. In addition, there are some fashions that are unique, and it is only people who could afford them could possess them. Therefore, some fashion and design industries produce items that are unique to the specifications of such people (Yurchisin 2010, p.79). Fashion and design is an extremely sensitive industry. In the past and current times, it has got a lot of controversies through exploiting the concept of consumption in the society. With the introduction, of many design and fashion industries there have been in competition (Bruzzi 2000, p.78). On analysis of consumption, many designs often produce products that suit their specifications. In the process, a lot of laws and ethical issues become broken, and consumers end up suffering. For instance, in the fashion industry, sometimes they produce beauty products for females. In the process, they end up including some chemicals that are harmful to the same human beings they want their products to be consumed (Bruzzi 2000, p.67). Consumption has increased greed in the fashion and design industry. By the fashion industry knowing the specifications of its market, a lot could be done. The industry manipulates their products to force their way into the market. Consumption goes hand in hand with culture and fashion (McCracken 2009, p.90). Fashion totally relies on consumption. Consumption for fashion could be high in a flexible culture compared to a rigid culture. For fashion to flourish in a given community, members have to be willing to accept fashion to change them (Bruzzi 2000, p.89). Fashion became built in the concept of abandoning old fashion and replacing it with the new. Since fashion too is not a rigid thing, the society should also be willing to change. In accordance to consumption theory, there have been a lot going on regard to the agency and the society (McCracken 2009, p.88). Fashion sometimes clashes with culture and causes drifts. This is not the way it ought suppossed to be. Fashion gets embraced by the society if it is appropriate. In the clothes industry, there are some fashions and designs that become rejected by the public due to the notion they bring. Men and women often associate the items they have to their personalities. For instance, when a person wears a suit gets more attention at work compared to a person who goes to work on casual wear. In the recent times, they have been a lot of debates regarding theories and concepts relating to consumer culture. Consumers have a choice. In business, consumers have a choice in choosing from the many available products available. The ability of the consumer to choose the product he or she wishes to buy is consumer choice (John & Sherry 2009, p. 50). Consumers in the society ought to be given free will to choose. In business, design and fashion industries are not to manipulate their consumers into buying some of their fashions and designs. For instance, a fashion and industry company could be having an upper hand in one of the media companies thereby gaining advantage of its product advertised more compared to other companies. In the end, such a company often ends up to be the one selling products with some illegal components or malpractice in them (John & Sherry 2009, p. 52). Fashion and design has come a long way to incorporate both men and women in society. According to some article on fashion and industry (James 2010, p.34), research found out that the fashion industry is more inclined to the women’s side than the men’s. A research conducted in United States and Europe found out that the main consumers contributing to the fashion and design industry were women. Infact, women consumed 75% while main contributed the rest. In our culture, fashion has constantly been struggling to penetrate to the men too, but they have got a lot of resistance (Bruzzi 2000, p.89). Accordance to a researcher, Harvey Crow (2010, p.45), the fashion and design industry often target the middle and high social classes. Harvey realized that the industry was unfair to the low income earners as some of the products were too expensive for them (John & Sherry 2009, p. 55). Fashions since the past has been things of the affluent and the rich in the society. Even in the era of kings and queens, it is only them and rich business men that could possess fashionable items. It is also true that fashion and design goes hand in hand with money. Therefore, the more money one has, the more fashion and design one could acquire (John & Sherry 2009, p. 56). Finding the right consumer for your product requires a lot of marketing into the lives of people living in the society. In regard to culture, sometimes fashion and culture have clashed. The societies in some regions are against certain cultures. Majorly, the fashion and design industry often are in the move to create newer things, but the problem, which they often await is, will it be sold or not. There have been cases of outstanding designs and fashions rejected in certain communities due to the religious repercussions they have. The struggle between social structure and the agency has been ongoing since time immemorial. Consumption has been a valuable tool for manipulation by the fashion and design industry and has led to some troubles (McCracken 2009, p.49). The society became divided in terms of gender, male and female gender. Ever since the past centuries, the society has often accorded women with the role of fashion, that is why still up to date, more products from fashion and industries get directed towards women (Douglas & Goodman 2004, p.45). In addition, women get more concerned in fashion than men, giving an added advantage to the fashion industries regarding the consumers of their commodities and services. Therefore, more products from the fashion and design industries become directed towards satisfying the women’s needs. The other reason why the design and fashion industry produces products more inclined to women is because women love shopping compared to their male counterparts (Douglas & Goodman 2004, p.46). Fashion often utilizes cheap labour from women. For example in the manufacturing of clothes for instance, it is women who get exploited to prepare the crops while in the farms. The irony is the same women who become exploited by the fashion industries become required to ensure the fashion industry flourishes (Yurchisin 2010, p.96). Since most of the consumers of products from the fashion industries become consumed by women, their act is hence justified as exploitative. There have been a lot of agencies and lobby groups that have fought for the rights of these women (Yurchisin 2010, p.99). The agency has always been in a constant struggle with the society due to the environmental damage they cause. In the beauty industry for instance, they use a lot of hazardous chemicals that have proved to cause a lot of environmental pollution (Douglas & Goodman 2004, p.65). Take for instance sprays; they emit a lot of gases that contribute to green house effect and change of the global climate. In addition, some products cause a lot of soil and water pollution (Douglas & Goodman 2004, p.68). Furthermore, they contribute to the increase in the number of toxic wastes in the environment. The society hence has a problem when it comes to fashion. It is hence up to the fashion industry to produce products that are healthy to its consumers and the environment from which they live (Douglas & Goodman 2004, p.71). In conclusion, in the essay above, one could deduce the relationship between culture and the agency. Fashion has been a thing of the past and still tries to be a part of human beings. In the attempt, to constantly remain in the market and maintain or increase their consumers, the fashion industry constantly has done a lot of things (Bruzzi 2000, p.87). The society on the other hand, is at rift with fashion due to the way they treat fellow human beings that are the consumers of their products. In overall, it is evident that consumption is a site of social struggle between structure and agency (Bruzzi 2000, p.99). Bibliography Douglas J. Goodman, M. C., 2004, Consumer culture: a reference handbook, Washington: ABC- CLIO. Jennifer Yurchisin, K. K., 2010, Fashion and consumer, New York: Berg. John F. Sherry, E. F., 2009, Explorations in consumer culture theory, New York: Taylor & Francis. McCracken, G. D., 2009, Culture and consumption: new approaches to the symbolic character of consumer goods and activities, Indiana: Indiana University Press. Stella Bruzzi, P. C., 2000, Fashion cultures: theories, explorations, and analysis, New York: Routledge. Read More