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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
9 pages in length. Personal preference is not an arbitrary human characteristic; rather, the extent to which taste is formulated from deep-seated cultural indoctrination is both grand and far-reaching. According to Douglas et al, the fundamental purpose of taste is to define one's identity by way of being a status symbol, serving the concurrent purpose of erecting both fence and bridge as it reinforces social acceptance and rejection. Bourdieu further quantifies taste as being one of the most prominent determining factors in how an individual views his or her world, as well as how that person is viewed by others. Veblen, who did not agree with Bourdieu's theory, argued how social interaction – and the drive to achieve social and economic success – is not so much a survivalist tendency as much as it is the pressure to perform as well as the next person. Bibliography lists 8 sources.
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9 pages (~225 words per page)
File: LM1_TLCTaste.rtf
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(1979), the fundamental purpose of taste is to define ones identity by way of being a status symbol, serving the concurrent purpose of erecting both fence and bridge as it
reinforces social acceptance and rejection. Bourdieu (1984) further quantifies taste as being one of the most prominent determining factors in how an individual views his or her world, as
well as how that person is viewed by others. "Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier. Social subjects, classified by their classifications, distinguish themselves by the distinctions they
make, between the beautiful and the ugly, the distinguished and the vulgar, in which their position in the objective classifications is expressed or betrayed" (Bourdieu, 1984, p. PG). Veblen, who
did not agree with Bourdieus theory, argued how social interaction - and the drive to achieve social and economic success - is not so much a survivalist tendency as much
as it is the pressure to perform as well as the next person. Therefore, Veblens theory is formulated from the fundamental component of conspicuous consumption, a manmade manifestation of
"the appropriation and consumption of costly objects which determines our standards of taste, even when honorific considerations are not present in the consciousness of the valuer" (Ollivier et al, 2001).
II. CONSUMERISM Human nature is defined by myriad elements, not the least of which is the social need to categorize people into
distinct groupings based upon certain criteria. These innate classifications can represent significant social power, as in the case of beauty, wealth and status, or they can symbolize aspects of
society that people would just as soon forget. Consumerism represents one of the most influential aspects of taste in contemporary culture, with its falsified needs and overstimulated advertising routinely
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