Consumerism Culture: Challenges and Solutions Essay
The world community is on the edge of the homogeneous trend in buying similar food and clothes; it also follows similar cultural tendencies, including music preferences and video programs. In the United States, consumer culture and popular culture have become identical notions because younger generations are dependent on existing trends and fashions in behavior.
Apparently, the reluctance of people to understand their real needs is swallowed by the overwhelming power of advertising, and the extreme influence of mass media. In particular, Americans are attracted by visual ads and commercials because they receive access to a better world. What is more important is that adhering to a consumerist ideology, people strive to improve their environment by creating a utopian vision of the world.
However, consumerist culture prevents people from understanding the veritable values of society and, as a result, popular culture consumes uniqueness and plurality of genuine American culture. To prevent the spread of consumerism, individuals should gain awareness of the fact that commodity items should not be perceived as symbolic signs of popular culture, but products for sustaining living standards and meeting specific needs of humans. The U.S. government, therefore, should implement specific regulatory and legislative measures to limit the spread of consumerism.
People often buy similar products because they perceive them as signs of popular culture. Looking at the commodities beyond their actual needs, individuals fail to follow their own unique lifestyles. According to Maasik and Solomon, “American culture and popular cultures are virtually one and the same, and that whether we are looking at our political system, our economy, or simply our national consciousness” (vii). As a result, goods bought by consumers do not actually reflect their physical needs but express their desire to fit in the frames of the popular culture norms.
Such an ideology of consumerism was also initially presented in the eighteenth century, before the Industrial Revolution. The signs of consumerism also involved the spreading market for sugar, which was considered the product of wealthy Europeans in the Middle Ages. People longed to have sugar on their tables not because they had a special need for it, but because it was a sign of welfare and wealth. Stearns states, “Sugar purchases did not constitute full consumerism, but they did suggest a new taste for indulgence in a food that was by no means necessary” (17). Guided by the demands of time, people unintentionally stick to the consumerist culture which provides them with a chance to approach to higher social classes of society at that time.
The consumerist culture of past centuries has significantly advanced its positions at modern times and has impregnated into the minds of people all over the world. However, American culture has become the major target of consumption ideology because of specific historical and cultural underpinnings. In particular, the prosperity of consumerism dates back to the 60s of the past century, the rise of the American Dream ideology.
Maasik and Solomon explained, “Given the importance of popular culture to our lives and the life of our country, it… was subordinated to the ‘high’ culture that academic was charged with preserving and propagating” (17). In such a manner, people from an earlier stage of personal development start to shape their self-identification with the styles and norms accepted in society. According to Bauman, “…the process of self-identification is pursued, and its results are displayed with the help of visible ‘marks of belonging’, obtainable as a rule in the shops” (82-83). Visual representation of products affects social consciousness and distorts individuals’ understanding of the overall purpose of consumption.
Because consumerist ideologies interfere with every sphere of social life, it is highly important to take resolute steps for preventing its constantly increased popularity because some of the trends negatively affect the perception and lifestyle of youth. Specifically, teenagers often buy things that they do not actually need, or that can do harm to their health. This is of particular concern to the proliferation of such brands as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and many other food products that contribute to the increased rate of obesity among children (Maasik and Solomon 25).
Consumption trends also influence individuals’ private space and make people follow the values and rules accepted at the public level. Because of the mass interruption, the government should introduce the specific subject into an academic curriculum about the roles and essence of consumerism to provide them a chance to make decisions and avoid the globalized tendency of consuming unnecessary goods.
A narrow-focused curriculum should be introduced to preliminary schools for children to gain awareness of the marketing in simplistic terms.
These measures will allow shaping the platform for shifting behavioral patterns and habits of the population, as well as make parents understand the extent of the problem. Students should be able to distinguish between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ so as to be able to make a reasonable choice. Another viable solution will be introducing limitations on advertising goods that are considered harmful to health. As a compromise, each TV ad should contain a warning that a specific product has negative impacts on health. This can significantly prevent children and their parents from following the commonly accepted norms.
Introducing limits to aggressive marketing and establishing prohibition on the available products, such as cigarettes, sweet beverages, and junk food is necessary, particularly when it comes to children under the age of 18. Teenagers should also be limited in financial resources so that parents should know what products their children buy. Alternatively, parents might provide their children with healthy snacks leaving no money at all.
Adults should make effort in educating their children and explain the basics of money management. Educational institutions should also prevent similar courses to attract children and interest them in gaining responsibility. Children often smoke because it is fashionable and it is a sign of growing up. However, their desire to grow up can also be revealed through introducing subjects and topics that make them feel responsible for their lives. Hence, monetary literacy should also become the major subject along with reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Consumerism has negative consequences for social and economic life in the United States. People become associate their wants with their actual needs. The power of advertising, as well as the course on aggressive marketing, prevents people from understanding actual values because of a lack of education.
The younger population is most strongly affected because they have wider access to popular video programs and games. Because of the desire to follow fashionable trends, they consume fast food, wear fashionable clothes, and buy various accessories. In order to avoid further spread of consumerism and its influence on popular culture, the government should introduce change to the education of children and their parents. In addition, it should also impose restrictions on advertising goods via various media channels.
Works Cited
Bauman, Zygmunt. Consuming Life . US: Polity, 2007. Print.
Maasik, Sonia and Jack Solomon. Signs of Life in the USA: Reading on Popular Culture for Writers . US: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. Print.
Stearns, Peter N. Consumerism in World History: The Global Transformation of Desire . US: Taylor & Francis, 2006. Print.
- Material Culture: Social and Cultural Background
- Clients’ Cultural Practices: The Importantce for Business
- Quotes on Consumerism Analysis
- Should You Less Consume To Be Happy
- What Are Some of the Contradictions of Consumerism?
- Chinese Subculture and Its Function in Canadian Society
- Cultural and Ethical Issues’ Relation to Healthcare Field: The Impact of Cultural Diversity
- Quranic Cosmology and the Time of the Prophet
- Adopting the New Culture: Children's Case
- Cross-Cultural Communication: Challenges and Solutions
- Chicago (A-D)
- Chicago (N-B)
IvyPanda. (2022, January 31). Consumerism Culture: Challenges and Solutions. https://ivypanda.com/essays/consumerism-culture-challenges-and-solutions/
"Consumerism Culture: Challenges and Solutions." IvyPanda , 31 Jan. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/consumerism-culture-challenges-and-solutions/.
IvyPanda . (2022) 'Consumerism Culture: Challenges and Solutions'. 31 January.
IvyPanda . 2022. "Consumerism Culture: Challenges and Solutions." January 31, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/consumerism-culture-challenges-and-solutions/.
1. IvyPanda . "Consumerism Culture: Challenges and Solutions." January 31, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/consumerism-culture-challenges-and-solutions/.
Bibliography
IvyPanda . "Consumerism Culture: Challenges and Solutions." January 31, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/consumerism-culture-challenges-and-solutions/.
- To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
- As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
- As a template for you assignment
Free 400 Words Essay Examples
As a rule, a short 400-word essay is assigned by teachers to assess one’s ability to articulate their ideas succinctly together with their knowledge of a particular topic. Commonly used genres for 400 words essays include personal statements and discussion board posts.
You don’t need to conduct an in-depth analysis to write a paper of 400 words. The keys to success are good planning, a catchy hook, conciseness, and creativity. Check free 400-word essay examples on this page to get inspired!
Civil Rights Advocacy in the United States
The history of civil rights advocacy in the United States is long and complicated. It is simple to understand how African Americans’ struggle for civil rights started when they were brought to the country as slaves. African-Americans have been the target of hate crimes and other forms of violence for...
The Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Case
The events that led to the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case were supported by the active fight of the NAACP against segregation laws in public schools. Prior to the event, the Supreme Court narrowed the field of Civil Rights Act legislation that can be supported by the...
Analysis of Sainte‐Foy, France Church
This paper provides a formal analysis of the Church and Reliquary of Sainte‐Foy, France. This examination begins with the artwork that is visible even before you plunge into the church building. The paper also provides a formal analysis of the church itself together with its structural features that convey that...
Brady v. United States (397 U.S. 742): Facts, Issue, and Reasoning
Case: Brady v. the United States was a case that was decided on May 4, 1970, by the United States Supreme Court. Facts: Robert M. Brady was convicted in 1959 of abducting and failing to free a hostage unharmed in contravention of 18 U.S.C.S. § 1201(a), which imposes a maximum penalty of...
400-Word Essay FAQ
A 400 words essay would typically be about 2 pages long, assuming it is double-spaced and written with a standard font (Arial or Times New Roman) in 12-point size. If the text is single-spaced, it will be twice shorter. Other factors that influence the 400-word essay length are formatting and paragraph structure.
How many paragraphs are there in a 400 words essay? A paper of such a length would contain 4 to 5 paragraphs. This works for an academic writing assignment because a typical paragraph there is about 100 words long.
It usually takes 8 to 14 minutes to type a text of this length on your keyboard at an average speed. However, if you are assigned a 400 words essay, it is going to take much more time, as you will need to conduct research, study the sources, and plan your paper. Writing a solid essay of 400 words will take about 1 hour 20 minutes.
At a rough estimate, 400 words would take up about 40 to 45 lines. However, the exact number of lines in your 400-word essay depends on a number of factors such as the spacing, the font size, and the margins.
“Four Views on The Apostle Paul” Book by Bird
Introduction Bird’s book Four Views on the Apostle Paul focuses on Paul as an important figure in Christian theology. Problems arise now when it comes to understanding Paul’s thoughts on the church. For the authors, proving Pauline’s correct understanding is as simple and plain as possible. Beyond the arguments of...
Reflection on “Hills Like White Elephants” by E. Hemingway
“Hills Like White Elephants” is an outstanding short story written by Ernest Hemingway. At first sight, it describes a common situation in a life of a couple who spends time in a rail station bar while waiting for a coming train. A man and a woman are drinking beer and...
Communication: What We Learn From Non-Verbal Cues
Introduction Non-verbal cues usually involve the use of facial expressions, vocal intonation, gestures, and posture to communicate. This essay uses the three-point proof technique to describe what we learn from non-verbal cues. Non-Verbal Cues are Very Powerful Complementation of Verbal Communication Non-verbal cues help emphasize the message being said, thus...
English Common Law and Penal Law in the United States
Law is a system of rules enforced by the government to regulate behavior. It is a fundamental aspect of modern society that requires the peaceful coexistence of billions of people. United States law functions at a federal and state level guided by common law and civil statutes. Common law, also...
A Basic Understanding of Juvenile Justice
Introduction This paper provides a basic understanding of juvenile justice in reference to the steadily rising figures relating to youth or juvenile violence. The paper also touches on various aspects of youth and juvenile delinquency: a historical perspective, trends and response by the government, children-rights groups, and society in general...
Termination in Social Work Practice
The purpose of this blog is to explain how termination might be addressed during field education experience. Termination is an essential part of social work practice and the step in the planned change process finalizing the professional client-provider relationship. Social workers or field education students may conclude their generalist practice...
How Refugees Affect the Host Country
What are the first and most prevalent associations with refugees attempting to integrate into society? For someone, that implies a ready workforce, eager to do any task to avoid returning to their problematic homeland. Someone else could perceive a mob of offensive, non-intellectual people who merely waste resources. Both of...
Minoritization and Pluralization Issues
The connection of religion and politics is a complex yet critical theme to be studied in the contemporary sociopolitical and economic context. While Latin America has been known as overwhelmingly Catholic for an extended period, the recent religious trends and increased share of Pentecostals/Evangelists in the region’s population imply the...
Review of Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
In her short story Everyday Use, Alice Walker characterizes the daily life of a rural African-American family to show the clashing dynamics between different understandings of African-American culture. The story revolves around Mrs. Johnson’s, that is narrator’s, experience with the visit of her daughter and her male companion. The most...
How Does Child Neglect Affect a Child’s Self-Esteem in Adulthood?
Introduction Child neglect and maltreatment are unfortunately common social problems in the global world of today. The repercussions of the ill-treatment in childhood can take many forms, from drug use (Oshri, Carlson, Kwon, Zeichner & Wickrama, 2017) to mental health issues such as depression (Xiang, Wang & Guan, 2018). As...
Helping Hand For Veterans: Developing Human Resources
Human resource development is comparatively a young intellectual discipline. An old deeply rooted field of practice within an organization. In Helping Hand for Veterans, the approaches to human resource development hypothesis and performance are highly rooted in the organizations improvement and progressing methods (Gilbert, 1978). However, retraining of the Helping...
Personal Development in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening
Modern people agree that a person can be satisfied or happy when their needs are met. Notably, this simple truth was widely accepted in earlier times as well. However, the way society saw the needs of an individual varied considerably throughout centuries and across the globe. For instance, development has...
China-United States Trade Problems and Causes
Abstract There has been a dramatic change in trade modalities between the US and China for the last 15 years. Before the advent of 1992 quantity trade volume between the two nations was estimated at $10 billion per year, but it grew by about 600% in 1999. This has in...
Sociological Issues: Violent Crime in the Society and Same-Sex Marriages
One topic that is of great interest to me is the topic of reducing violent crime in the society. My personal interest in this topic is because there are so many cases of violent crime occurring in the society that go unreported. For instance, in many black and Latino neighborhoods,...
Wolverine Frog: Phylogeny, Environment, Adaptation, and Selection Pressures
The hairy frog is a species of frogs associated with the Central African region. It belongs to the Arthroleptidae family, the genus Trichobatrachus, and is scientifically referred to as Trichobatrachus robustus (Wells 53). Its name originated from the presence of hair-like structures that appear on the body and thighs of...
Elements of Project Management
Project management is a broad study area within the academic and educational aspects of conducting practical projects. It contains components that are resourceful to frontrunners in the field of project management. Therefore, this assignment addresses the role of project management elements and incorporates the use of a case study in...
Properties of Cloud Computing Services
Questions Asked This paper is aimed at cutting through the hype of cloud computing to evaluate if CU-IT services should adopt it. Emphasis will be given to the explanation of how cloud computing integrates with CU-IT’s basic business competencies. Also, this paper will be aimed at assessing how cloud computing...
War on Drugs: Reducing and Defining the Trade of Illegal Drugs
‘The War on Drugs’ is an expression mostly used for the prohibition campaign and military intervention carried out by the American government, with support from the foreign military and involved countries, and the main objective is to reduce and define the trade of illegal drugs. This proposal engages a range...
Project Management: Theory and Practice
Working with a team has enabled me to achieve the objectives of the project and taught me the importance of communication in teamwork. By being a part of the team, I am now better equipped with the tools and knowledge required to work in a team through cooperation and coordination....
Qualitative Research Study of Smoking among Australian Youths
The article by Rachael Green and David Moore reports a qualitative research study conducted to examine smoking among Australian youths in a particular social network (Green & Moore 2013). The researchers collected ethnographical data among 60 young adults between 2005 and 2007. The study also involved semi-structured interviews using 25...
Risk Assessment and Management in Criminology
Introduction Risk can be defined as threat or likelihood of a damage, loss or injury. The negative happening can be caused by internal or external factors, actions or inactions. Every company or organization has its level of risk. The acceptable level of risk is defined by legal and regulatory department...
The Benefit of Studying Abroad Compared to Studying in the Home Country
As the process of globalization continues to impact the modern world, the problem of choosing the appropriate institution for higher education continues to occupy student’s minds. Studying abroad may become an exciting experience beneficial for one’s future career while studying in the home country has its advantages as well. The...
What Is Philosophy?
The Oxford Dictionary defines Philosophy as the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. However, philosophy means much more than this basic definition encompassing a vast body of work and this essay examines the various aspects of what is philosophy. Philosophy deals with the fundamental questions about...
“Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel
Introduction Like Water for Chocolate written by Laura Esquivel is considered to be a marvelous novel published in 1989. The story overview gives an opportunity to realize the basic themes highlighted by the author who strived to underline such issues as “familial insubordination, passion and dictatorial governance”. The author strived...
Dark Matter: The Issue of True Identity
Introduction What constitutes one’s self? When one’s personality begins and ends? What are the origins of a person’s identity? These questions have been discussed in the fields of philosophy and psychology for centuries, and yet there is still no consensus on the topic of personal identity. Body theory and memory...
Enterprise Resource Planning Assignment
Discussion Part The implementation of the ERP is challenging for any organization disregarding whether the ‘big bang’ or phased approach is used. The ‘big bang’ approach suggests that the company will shift from the old ERP to the new one at a single point in time. The advantage of such...
Water Pollution and Associated Health Risks
The deterioration of the environmental situation all over the globe is inseparably linked with the pollution of the atmosphere, soil, and water with agricultural, industrial, and domestic human activities. Since the abstraction of water for drinking purposes is made from underground and open water sources, it becomes evident that all...
Chinese Colonial Administration in Inner Asia
China and Other Colonial Empires China has always been one of the most discussed and investigated countries. Today, the outstanding development of this state gives rise to a new wave of discussions about its imperialistic past and how it impacts its todays growth. In the paper “China and Other Colonial...
Is Online Learning as Good as Face-to-Face Learning?
Online learning becomes a widespread option for education. Some people believe that face-to-face learning ensures effectiveness. Many students prefer it because of its convenience and time-saving. Others consider that online learning can also be useful. They say that it helps them to improve discipline while simultaneously saving money on various...
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
The excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings tells about the memories of a little girl. Marguerite Johnson and her brother Bailey, abandoned by their parents, go to their father’s mother to Stamps, Arkansas. That is how children start living with their grandmother whom they soon begin to...
Africans in America – the Growth of Slavery in the 1600s and 1700s
Introduction American slavery involved the ownership of persons who were subjected to work without consent and contracts. The southern side focused on cash crop cultivation as the main economic activity while the northern side agricultural activities were less. In the north, slaves were used in domestic work and skilled crafts...