Joan Kron, “The Semiotics of Home Décor (128)
One. Why is Martin J. Davidson mocked in the New York Times?
Because he is a man of poshlost (banal vulgarity trying to be grandiose), which means he is a person who aggrandizes himself by showing off his Juvenile Man Cave. His attempts at grandiosity, toys that signal he’s a predatory player, are actually expressions of bad taste, narcissism, ignorance, and personal degradation. All of these qualities point to the Russian term poshlost.
Examples of poshlost:
Gold trim on a Lexus
Any gold car
Puka shell necklace
A rich Anglo American who after a tour of Africa returns to the US wearing a dashiki
A diamond-studded doorknob
A dancing bear doing tricks at your birthday party
Two. What are the motives of acquiring possessions?
We look for signs of security, stability, and control.
Here’s an example of control: We outbid someone on eBay and see ourselves in a bidding war for an item that is less about our wanting it and more about “beating our competition” and feeling control over “our opponents.”
We resent communal cars and lawnmowers. “It has to be mine. It just feels funny sharing a car or lawnmower or jacket with a bunch of people.”
If someone smokes or stinks in a car I’m driving, I’m going to feel my personal sense of identity is insulted, violated even.
We buy things to show our dominance over other people or to compete with them. Studies show for example that people like big SUVs and trucks so they can bully smaller cars on the road.
“Potlatch” syndrome: showing signs of conspicuous waste and the burning of money as if to say, “There’s more where that came from!” In other words, show off to gloat in the presence of the human race whom you’ve reduced to “your competition.”
Our consumer demands are driven by two antithetical impulses, the cortex (reason, Prius) and the Inner Reptile (dominance and reproductive success, BMW M5).
We desire high social status and we desire to be spared the humiliation of low social status.
It hurts to see the valet pull up in a bunch of expensive cars, Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, at a restaurant and then everyone sees another valet approach ingloriously in your car, a beat-up Yaris.
I personally feel humiliated when I walk past the first-class airline passengers and make my way to coach. The first-class passengers are gloating at me and I have to resist the urge to say, “What are you looking at?”
We acquire scarcity as a sign of our rarified status.
Beyond status, we cherish possessions that inform others, and ourselves, of our identity (133).
Three. How is home décor a form of “personalization”?
Furniture embodies experience and memories. So do books, not Kindle or eReaders. A watch represents our self-image. Do we go for the “business look” or the “sporty man-who-climbs-and dives-look”?
Things embody the self. They are part of our “identity equipment.”
Apple represents the creative class. PC means you’re a poor farmer.
A Mini Cooper means you’re a hipster.
A Volvo station wagon means you’re a family person who eschews the trappings of bling.
A compost compacter in you’re kitchen means you care about the environment.
Having nothing of leather attire means you love animals. So what you don’t possess also defines you.
Essay Option for First Typed Research Paper
Reading the Signs, page 138
Adopting Kron's essay as a critical framework, analyze the consumption behavior of the two families profiled in John Verdant's "The Ables vs. the Bines" (p. 152).
Use Works Cited for anthology. Cite at least the two essays mentioned in the assignment.
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