The Semiotics Of Home Décor, By Joan Kron

Designer clothing, luxury cars, flashy handbags. These are just a few of the status symbols that differentiate the rich from the poor. These items are often used to determine the who’s who in today’s society by showing off wealth and status. Although others should not be based solely on their income, this judgement is sadly commonplace. The rich and the poor are segregated both by accident and on purpose in many situations and the lower class is the one that deals with the brunt of that discrimination.

I wholeheartedly endorse what Cottom calls “The Logic of Stupid Poor People”, that poor people buy status symbols to survive in this world. She demonstrates that, as a middle class black girl, her family had a way of turning the tables in their favor in multiple aspects in order to supply their needs and wants. Poor people buy expensive items, sometimes depriving themselves of their other needs, just for the respect of others. These items are 21st-century status symbols, they can single-handedly determine the fate of your everyday encounters. The author uses personal experiences to support her argument, persuasively changing your entire perspective and broadening your mind to another individual’s lifestyle.

1. Quindlen’s thesis, “home is a place of certainty, stability, predictability, privacy,” demonstrates the importance of ownership. Her thesis explores the relationship between owning and object and the way it makes a person feel.

There was a time when social classes were most easily identified through material goods and possessions. Whether wealth was gained through inheritance or hard work, it was the luxury items that made the most visible and tangible statement regarding a person’s social status. Men could rely on a large house or expensive car to proclaim the success they had earned. It was much more common to see women adorned in jewels, designer clothes, and furs as symbols of her upper class status. The extravagance of a woman’s appearance was a reflection of the success of her husband, so it was natural to indulge her desire for expensive material possessions.

“It’s not what you own its what people think you own” (Ewen 183). Consumerism is fueling today’s “middle class”. Stewart Ewen’s “Chosen People” goes into detail about the rise of the materialistic middle class.

What are cultural luxuries? Many people may wonder what that is and when it will be so kindly afforded to them. The idea of cultural luxury

Everyone enjoys material things, whether they want a brand new car or even a phone; these items do not provide any necessity for survival, yet they make people’s lives much easier, and even more

Yet in presenting something as inaccessible and dangerous, an invitation to know and to possess is extended. The secrecy associated with female bodies is sexual and linked to the multiple associations between women and privacy. (92)

Not only is watching The Simple Life entertaining, it draws the viewer into what life would be like with all the perks of the upper class. Even while leveling out the playing field by stripping Paris and Nicole of their high class lifestyle, it is still easy to tell where thy come from by the brand name clothing and accessories. These are versions of emulation and price tag framing. Emulation framing is engrained into young children’s minds as a result of the media and reality television. This type of framing allows for rewarding ones self with a pricey object which leads into price tag framing. It is easy to measure self worth with property and clothing, therefore name brands become very important to portray a good image. By owning something of value, it is easier to feel better about yourself instead of being

For centuries, women have had the role of being the perfect and typical house wife; needs to stay home and watch the children, cook for husbands, tend to the laundry and chores around the house. In her short story “Girl”, Jamaica Kincaid provides a long one sentence short story about a mother giving specific instructions to her daughter but with one question towards the end, with the daughter’s mother telling her daughter if she had done all the instructions to become a so called “perfect” woman, every man would want her. Kincaid’s structuring in “Girl,” captures a demanding and commanding tone. This short story relates to feminist perspectives. The mother expects a great deal from her daughter to have a certain potential and she does not hesitate to let her daughter understand that. As a matter of fact, the story is about two pages long, made into one long sentence - almost the whole time the mother is giving her daughter directions to follow - conveys a message to the reader that the mother demands and expects great potential in her daughter. The daughter is forced to listen and learn from what her mother is telling her to do to become the perfect housewife. Throughout the story, Kincaid uses the symbols of the house and clothing, benna and food to represent the meanings of becoming a young girl to a woman and being treated like one in society. Women are portrayed to appeal to a man to become the ideal woman in society, while men can do anything they please.

Possessions from the past can provide history on a person or period. This chapter examines various items and provide what they mean and how it can describe something. It clearly explains the existent of each item and what they were used for in that period. Material Witness provides in depth information on the evolution of several items and why some of them are unused today. It also reveals the practices that were used before and how it brought out the middle

The late Irish poet Oscar Wilde once stated, "In the world, there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” This quote accurately describes human nature to the extent that man is never fully satisfied with his current possessions. In fact, most people who rely on materialistic items for happiness are typically desolated and miserable. This story is based on an archaic view on women, where women have no caste or hierarchy. The people grade women based off their looks and beauty. Money “practically makes nobility” (Shmoop). It “enables the user to pay for the high life” (Shmoop) and confine the person with luxurious items known to man. Money controls the life of people,

People love luxury. Some people think it stands for fashion, and some people think it stands for a social stratum, but in common, people think it stands for rich and success. However, is it really a symbol of success? Or, it is just the satisfaction of vanity? People can see what famous people use and wear in television or magazine in their daily lives which gives them a model of rich people’s lives. Luxury usually plays a big role. People’s vanities push them to spend a huge amount of their income on purchasing luxuries so that they can look more similar to the famous people who they idolize with. Generation to generation, using luxury to measure whether one is success or not becomes a culture, and rich becomes the synonym of success in the society. The development of luxury industry benefits by this unhealthy culture; at the same time, people’s vanities also be expended by luxury which cause the distorted definition of success.

The author, Anna Quindlen, does make a valid point regarding, our possessions are not what we think. Americans consume personal property that we do not appreciate and forget what really is valuable. Consequently, it’s easy to forget what is more important than possessions that come and go throughout our lives. The merchandise that we value are just that, material objects that lose value within time and then we search for the newest. Before the appointed time, it is not materialistic items that bring us joy and fulfilment, it should be loved ones and special memories.

Today, people consume for pleasure. The act of consuming goods may allow one to fit in, feel confident, or participate socially in shopping culture. Consumerism has become a universal behaviour amongst most people and groups. According to Sharon Boden, consumption is affected by both external and internal constraints and expectations (150). I argue that consumerism and consumption is no longer an accurate indicator of a person’s actual status and wealth. As a society, we have increased accessibility to commodities and experiences. For example, driving a Mercedes-Benz is no longer a symbol of being wealthy or belonging to the upper class. Leases or loans have brought such luxuries to a broader spectrum of social