Commodity Fetishism and Its Impact on Contemporary Society and Culture

The True Cost is a documentary that was filmed with the hope of educating consumers regarding the global impact that ‘fast fashion’ has on our society. Director Andrew Morgan provides the link between our clothes and the people who make them; careful to bridge the gap between the factory workers and how our high demand for fashion can affect their life. In fact, we seldom consider consumptionism (to consume, use or spend with little regard) and globalized production (when goods are made in another country for low wages) while shopping, but we should. Projects such as this documentary, shed light on the untold stories behind what appears to be a glamorous and trillion dollar business. Unfortunately, those who are impacted the most are the workers

In the introduction of Chapter 1 “Consuming Passions” “The Culture of American Consumption,” it talks about how American popular culture is grounded in consumption. With the media in our hand, it is a huge influence towards the advertising world. With how styles of clothing have been changing over time, this talks about how from the earlier times wearing a simple type of blue jeans can change between who wears them over the years. As stated, “ By the 1950s, however, blue jeans began to bear an additional class significance as “casual wear” for middle-class Americans.” (72). In 1970 these pants have then become a simple fashion wear. They have also been introduced as a hipster type wear. Then in 1980 through the early 2000s, baggy jeans were

Marx’s commodity theory is a two-category theory; objects become commodities when they have more use than their standard value. When commodities are traded they can either have exchange or sign exchange value. Exchange value occurs when monetary value is placed on an object and is traded and sign exchange value is when a commodity is exchanged social status is obtained (Tyson 62). As Tiana goes along her adventure to achieve her goal of buying a building to open her restaurant she, as well as other characters use their commodities in hopes to gain something in

They become symbols of the affluent 21st Century living and mass production. I’m representing the clutter, the information overload, making sense of it and being seduced by it.”

She begins the essay by pointing out the use of porographic themes in advertisements, which use sexual fantasies, such as bondage and domination, to appeal to the desires of the audience. However, as well as promoting the advertiser’s product, these advertisements send a message about men and women that Kilbourne identifies as harmful to society. She connects that these advertisements promote the idea of male domination and female submission, and the sexualization and objectification of women. She provides many examples of this to prove her point, describing one horrifying ad after another. Kilbourne speculates that these ads, as well as objectifying women, also promote rape culture, and the idea that women are responsible for their own assault. As though these messages were not enough, ads also sexualize children, and teach them that objectification of women is normal and accepted. Kilbourne addresses these issues in advertisements, stating that they are promoting the dangerous ideas that today’s culture already has. She connects female addiction to

Sexualizaton and objectification in the advertisements we see and the media we watch has become a very strong issue in our society. With the idea that “sex sells”, consumers don’t even realize that they’re not viewing the advertisements for what they are, but for the women (or men) that are being portrayed in a very erotic way, posed with whatever product they were hired to sell. Many articles have been written so far to challenge and assess this problem, but one written by Jean Kilbourne (1999), “”Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt”: Advertising and Violence” holds an extensive amount of authority. Using her personal experience with the subject, as well as studies she has conducted herself on the topic of sexualization, she talks about how the amount of sexualization in advertising affects how society views the culture and products consumers buy. She also notes that because of the quantity and prevalence of these ads, the rate of all forms of sexual assault, specifically rape (mostly towards women of all age), increase, as well as other forms of assault. It is important to examine Kilbourne’s use of rhetorical devices, such as ethos, pathos, and logos, and how effective these devices make her article. This way, it can be examined for its validity and her understanding of her own research. Kilbourne’s article is very effective through her uses of pathos and ethos, but at the same time, it loses its effectiveness through her absence of a counter-argument, as well as a lack

The concept of commodity fetishism applies both to the perceptions of normal people and people in everyday life and to the formal study of economics. Economists, both then and now study the economy in terms of the movements of money, goods, and prices, which is essentially, the point of view of the corporation. from this point of view, the social dimension of economic life is considered unscientific and unworthy of discussion. Karl Marx argues that this commodity fetishism allows capitalists to carry on with day-to-day affairs of a capitalist mode of production without having to confront the real implications of the system of exploitation on which they depend.

With the rise of industrialization, globalization, and mass production, the manufacturing productivity has been dramatically increased and accordingly the availability of consumer goods. And with the rise of the mass media, various products have been targeted on broad groups of consumers. Consumerism, which is propelled by a system of mass production and high levels of consumption, has been one of the themes in art works from twentieth century till now.

Hunger for luxury items and people’s strife for the brands and items they associate with being beyond reach is paramount for this system. It is this drive for items one can’t have that the author feels is one of the benefits of consumerism. He declares, “…the aspiration of the poor to

In the Tom Ford ad, a woman is seen laying down on her side, half naked and slim, looking at her face full of makeup through a mirror. Marketers use the concept of gender, mainly women to display sexuality, providing a resource that can be used to receive attention. The audiences’ attention is caught right away in this ad as they see a “sexy” woman being the main focus. Advertising shapes a society’s culture, and reflects its values. Furthermore, advertising is a part of “a discourse through and about objects” as it does not mention anything about the product but how it is connected to major domains in our lives (Jhally 328). The makeup product of Tom Ford is not mentioned in the ad whatsoever, but the mirror is used as an indication of beauty viewed through society’s expectations. It promotes images of what the audience assumes to be “the good life” as it tries guiding us to become “happy” through the purchase of products. If a woman were to buy any makeup by Tom Ford, she will automatically be happy as the makeup will give her glow in life because she will be able to do anything with her new and enhanced beauty. The concept of advertising consists of wrapping up your emotions and selling them back to you (329) by giving fake happiness and satisfaction that loops an individual to chase goods in order to fill the void of

Marx’s analysis of capitalism begins with an investigation of the commodity because the wealth of capitalist nations is essentially “an immense collection of commodities” (Chapter 1). Marx differentiates between the use-value and the exchange-value of any given commodity. The use-value of a commodity refers to its qualitative ability to satisfy a human need, while its exchange-value is the “quantitative relation… in which use-values of one kind exchange for use-values of another kind” (Chapter 1). Therefore, exchange-value is not an intrinsic quality of a commodity; it is only discovered in comparing a fixed quantity of commodity A to a fixed quantity B. Since differing quantities of these two commodities appear to have the same value,

Marx viewed the ‘commodity’ as the most elementary form of modern wealth. The essence of the commodity is the

The fashion industry is one of the most prevalent and visible forms of influence on today’s society. Billboards, malls, magazines, TV, movies, advertisements, runways, etc. are filled with fashion campaigns usually distributed to make a statement and to influence the consumers. Often times, the fashion industry engages in offensive promotions like romanticizing eating less and the “thigh gap” or producing clothing that has “depression” plastered all over it. One of the most offensive trends of the fashion industry is the use of cultural appropriation to promote their company or clothing. Cultural appropriation is the taking of something produced by members of one culture by members of another culture. The products of that culture usually have a special sacred or cultural significance to them, which is why cultural appropriation is seen as offensive and exploiting rather than appreciated. The public tends to overlook these extreme messages and appropriation from the fashion industry, brushing them off as trendy and ideal. This becomes a problem because the fashion industry’s blatant use of cultural appropriation in editorials and ads influences people to show admiration for products from other cultures yet still remain prejudiced against the people who created and continue to practice that culture.

This essay will be addressing ideologies of consumer fetishism and pseudo-individuality through examining the commodity signs found in the mass marketing and advertising of designer cosmetics, particularly Chanel.

In music videos the dancing or portrayal of the people within these videos is often of a very sexual driven nature. This re-inforces the idea that women are sexual objects and the purpose of their being is to provide the male population with sexual satisfaction. Women portrayed are very thin and pretty, wearing heavy layers of make-up which portrays the idea that women need materialistic items such as mascara and lipstick