shopping and classes

8/13/2019 Shopping and Classes

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WATCHING THE ENGLISHNothing physical, no actual corporeal human beings to deal with at,all. Just written words. Our favourite thingAnd, best of all, cyberspace is a disinhibitor. The disinhibiring effectof cyberspace is a universal phenomenon, not peculiar to the English.People from many cultures find that online they are more open, morechatty, less reticent than they are face-to-face or even on the telephone.But this disinhibiting effect is particularly important ro the English,who have a greater need for such social facilitators than other cultures.In rny focus groups and interviews with English Internet users, thedisinhibiting effect of online communication is a consrantly recurringtheme. Without exception, participants Say that they express themselvesmore freely, with less reserve, in cyberspace than in what they invari-ably call 'real life' encounters: 'I say things in emails that I would neverdare to say in real life."That's right, you lose your inhibitions whenyou're online - ir's almost like being a bit drunk.' .It seems particularly significant to me that so many of my inter-

viewees and focus group participants contrast their online communi-cation style with what they would (or would not) say in 'real life'. Thiscurious slip provides a clue to the nature of the disinhibiting effects ofonline communication. It seems that rWilliam Gibson, who coined theterm 'cyberspace', was right when he said that 'It's not really a place, it'snot really space'. Xfe regard cyberspace as somehow separare from thereal world: our behaviour there is different from our conduct in 'real life'.In this sense' cyberspace can be seen as what anthropologists wouldcall a 'liminal zone' a marginal, borderline state,. segregated fromeveryday existence, in which normal rules and social constructions aresuspended, allowing brief exploration of alternative ways of being. Justas we abandon the conventional rules of spelling and grammar in ouremails and other cyber-talk, so we ignore the social inhibidons and resrric-tions that normally govern our behaviour. The English behave in remark-ably un-English ways. In cyberspace chatrooms, for example, unlike most'realspace' public environments in England, striking up conversationswith complete strangers is normal behaviour, indeed acdvely encouraged.'We then go on, in instant

RULES OF PLAYMuch of this sociable disinhibition is based on an illusion. Becof the 'liminality effect', em ail feels more ephemeral and less binthan 'putting something in writing' on paper, but it is in fact if anyt

mo.re permanent and considerably less discreet. So although mEnglish people find the alternative reality of online communicatioliberating experience, it can have adverse consequences. Just as wesometimes regret things we have said or done while under the influeof alcohol, we may also sometimes regret our unrestrained behavin cyberspace. The problem is that c)'berspace is not sep arate from'real' world, any more than the office Christmas party takes placeparallel universe. Excessively uninhibited emails, like office-p afty mimeanours, may come back to haunt us. But tr would still argue thabenefits of the cyberspace 'liminality effect' in overcoming English sdis-eas e far outweigh these disadvantages.The Rules of ShoppingIt may seem strange to include shopping in this section on 'privatedomestic' pursuits, as shopping clearly does not take place in the hobut in shops, which are public places. 'We are talking about the Enghowever, which means that'public'activities can b. just as'privatdomestic ones. Shopping is not, for most people, a social pastIndeed, for most people, most of the time, it is not a 'pastime' abut a domestic chore - and should really have been covered in the chaon work, not Lrere.

But you would probably have found it odd to see a section on sping under the heading of 'work'. Shopping is not generally regaas 'work'. There is a curious mismatch between shopping as a concand shopping as , a real-life activity - between the way we talk inabstract about shopping, and the realities of our actual experiencit.sr Discussions about 'shopping' - in the media, among researcand social commentators, and often in ordinary conversation - tenfocus on the hedonistic, materialistic, individualistic view of shoppwe talk about shopaholics, about 'retail therapy', about the powe


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messages

WATCHING THE ENGLISHadvertising, about people spending lots of money they don'r have oniots of things they don't need, ab_out the 'sex and shopping' novel, aboutshtrpping as self-indulgence, shopping as pleasure, shopping as leisure.Shopping may indeed sornetimes be all of these things. But apartfrom the very rich and the very young, most people's day-ro,day expe-rience of shopping bears little resemblance to this image of mindlesslredonism. Most of the shopping we do is 'provisioning' - buying themundane necessities of life such as food, drink, washing powder, loopaper, light bulbs, toothpaste and so on. This is no more an act ofmaterialistic self-indulgence than the gathering and f


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WATCHING THE ENGLISHhelping them to display their manliness by performing elaboratepantomimes of mock-exasperation at their inability to find their wayaround the supermarket, teasing them constantly and telling stories abouttheir latest doofus mistakes. 'Oh he's hopeless, hasn't got a clue, haveIou, lo-ve?' said a woman I interviewed in a supermarket coffee shop,smiling fondly at her husband, who pulled a mock-sheepish face. 'I senthim out to get tomatoes and he comes back with a bottle of ketchupand he says "well it's made of tomatoes isn't it?" So I go "y.r, but it'snot nnuch bloody use in a salad " Men Typical ' The man positivelyglowed with pride, laughing delightedly at this confirmation of his virility.

The 'shopping as Saving' RuleFor many English females, who still do most of the 'routine', 'provi-sioning' type of shopping, shopping is a skill, and it is customary, evenamong the relatively well-ofl to take some pride in doing it well, whichis understood to mean with a concern for thrift. Not necessarily gettingeverything as cheaply as possible, but getting value for money, not beingextravagant or wasteful. There is a tacit understanding among Englishshoppers to the effect that shopping is not an act of spending, but anact of savingso. Yor do not speak of having 'spent' x arnount on an itemof food or clothing, but of having 'saved' x amount on the item. Youwould certainly never boast about having spent an excessive sum of moneyon something, but you are allowed to take pride in finding a bargain.

This rule applies across all social classes: the upper echelons wouldregard boasting about extravagant expenditure as vulgar, while the lowerclasses would regard it as 'stuck up'. Only brash, crass Americansdisplay their wealth by boasting about how much something cost them.Congratulating yourself on a bargain or saving, however - boastingabout how little something cost you - is universally acceptable amongEnglish shoppers of all classes. It is one of the very few exceptions tothe money-talk taboo. 'Sfhat constitutes abargain, what counts as cheapor good value, may well differ according to class and income level, butthe principle is the same: whatever price you paid, you should if possibleclaim that it somehow constituted a saving.

RULES OF PLAYThe Apology and Moan OPtions

When it is nor possible to make saving claims - when you have indis-putably paid full price for something undeniably expensive - you shouldicleally iust keep quiet about it. Failing that, Yod have two options, bothvery English: either apologize or moan. You can apologize for yourcmbarrassing extravagance ('Oh dear, I know I shouldn't have, it wasterribly expensive, just couldn't resist it, very naughty of me ..') oryou can moan and grumble about the extortionate cost of things('Ridiculously expensive, don't know how they get away with chargingthat much, stupid prices, rip-off . - .')

Both of these options are sometimes used as indirect boasts, waysof subtly indicaring one's spending power without indulging in anythingso vulgar as an overt display of wealth. And both can also be a formof 'polire egalitarianism': even very rich people will often pretend tobe either apologetically embarrassed or grumpy and indignant aboutthe cost of expensive things they have bought, when in fact they caneasily afford them, in order to avoid drawing attention to any disparityin income. Shopping, like every other aspect of English life' is full ofcourteous little hypocrisies.

The' Bting-bling' ExcePtionThere is one significant exception to the 'shopping as saving' principle,and irs associated apologizing and moaning. Young people influencedby the black American hip-hop/'gangsta'/rap culture - currently a signif-icant yourh sub-culrure in this country have adopted a style thatrequires deliberate osrentatious displays of wealth. This involveswearing expensive designer clothes and flashy gold iewellery (a lookknown as 'bling-bling'), drinking expensive champagne (Cristal) andcognac, driving expensive cars - and certainly nof being the slightestbit embarrassed about all this extravagance; in fact taking gteat pridein it.

Even those who cannot afford the champagne and cars (the maiority:this style is particularly popular among low-income teenagers) will dotheir besr ro acquire at least a few items of the correct designer clothing,and will boast to anyone who will listen about how much they cost.


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ATCHING THE ENGLISI-Iheavily be-ringed fingers at all our unwritten codes of modesty, resrrainr,diffidence, polite egalitarianism and general hypocrisy. In its own way,it provides confirmation of the enduring imporrance of these codes -assertion by negation, if you like.Youth sub-cultures come and go, and this particular example maywell already be passb by the time you read this. The next one may pickon some other aspect of mainstream Englishness to rebel against.

Class and Shopping RulesThe shopping-as-saving rule applies across class barriers, and even rhebling-bling exception is not class-bound: this style appeals ro youngpeople from all social backgrounds, including some upper-class publicschoolbols, who seern quite unaware of how silly th.y look, trying todress like pimps and walk and talk like. rough black 'gangsras, fromAmerican inner-city ghettos.Most other aspects of shopping, however, are deeply entangled inthe complexities of the English class sysrem. As might be expected,where you shop is a k.y class indicator. But it is nor a simple marrerof the higher social ranks shopping in the more expensive shops, whilethe lower echelons use the cheaper ones. The upper-middle classes, forexample, will hunt for bargains in second-hand and charity shops, whichthe lower-middle and working classes 'would not be seen dead in,. yerthe upper-middles and middle-middles would be reluctanr to buy theirgroceries in the cheap supermarkets, with names that emphasize theirprice-consciousness such as Kwiksave and Poundstretcher, favoured bythe working classes. Instead, they shop in middle-class supermarkerssuch as Sainsbury's and Tesco, or the slightly more upper-middleWaitrose.

Not that anyone will admit to choosing a supermarket for its classstatus, of course. No, we shop in middle-class supermarkets because


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WATCHING THE ENGLISHsrupid cow,'a middle-aged woman told ffie, with a disdainful, disap-proving sniff.'It's iust showing off - thinks she's better than us.'M&S clothes, on the other hand, are generally regarded as 'goodvalue? by the thrifty, respectable, genteel sort of lower-middles: 'Norcheap, mind you, but good qualiry'. Some lower-middles feel thesame about the cushions and duvets and towels, while others regardthem as 'very nice, but a bit too pricey'.

If you need to make a quick assessment of an English shopper's socialclass, don't ask about her family background, income, occupation orthe value of her house (all of which would in any case be rude): askher what she does and does not bu y at Marks Ec Spencer. I say 'she'because this test only works reliably on women: men are often bliss-fully unaware of the yawning social gulf between M&S knickers andan MBcS patterned dress.

shopping and classes

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