sociology leisure consumption and identity Flashcards
what did rojek say about leisure consumption and identity
leisure and work are same part of life, leisure is less planned and purposeful and take part in them for the sake of having fun, leisure choices are no longer shaped by position in society in terms of class age or gender
identity politics become important for people- pick and choose who they are and not limited by their biological makeup
leisure plays central role in identity politics and increasingly creates your identity- you become who you are through your leisure
what did bocock say about leisure consumption and identity
peoples consumer choices are important aspects of fefining their identityand image and status they want to project on to others, shop for lifestyles and in effect buying and creating identities, pick n mix whatecer identities they want, advertising for consumer products isnt about selling the products but the label is more important
what did taylor say about leisure consumption and identity
society is about how you look what they consume and what they believe in
consumption of goods can help individuals to create and identity
what did parker say about iccupation and work experience as an evaluation point to postmodernists view
peoples occupations and the way they experience their work have influence over their leisure
opposition-physically hard and dangerous male dominated eg mining deep sea fisherman and steelworkers, leisure is central to life interest and sharp contrast to their work and an opportunity to escape from the hardships of work
neutrality-boring and routine work with little job satisfaction leading to apathy and indifference to work eg routine clerical workers, assembly line workers and supermarket staff, nothing much to do with leisure for relaxation with home family like DIY and going out with family
extension- work involving high levels of personal commitment involvement and job satisfaction eg doctors teachers social workers and business executives, due to work being so interesting and demanding leisure is work related and there is a blurring of the distinction between work and leisure
what are some problems about what parker says
over emphasises the importance of work in shaping leisure activities, experiences at work cant explain the leisure activities of substantial sections of the pop
pluralist view- roberts says he doesnt take into account the choices that people make in leisure activities, one division cant determine someones leisure, in his research he found some leisure that were common pursuits that were common to all groups such as watching tv and having sex, some pursuits were mre common to some social classes but it was a small effect on their leisure
focused primarily on men in full time paid employment, doesnt take into account the way gender influences leisure particularly as women only work part time and their leisure is far more influenced by their emands of domestic labour and control by men than by paid employment
what did scaton and bramham say about social class as an evaluation point to postmodernists view
postmodern view that people have free choice of leisure and creating their own identities through participating in leisure based consumer activities ignores the fact that such activities are only available to the most well off members of society
what did bauman and may say about social class as an evaluation point to postmodernists view
choice takes place within society on which resources are unequally distributed- some people dont have the money to make free choices, peoples choices will be influenced by the amount of cultural capital they possess, their taste will influence what they choose to buy and the identity they project to others
there are winners and losers in consumer society and it isnt positive for everyone, the winners are those who can afford to consume and the losers are those who cant but there are other reasons apart from money that might prevent someone from taking a full part in consumer society
the seduced- financially secure usually in well paid regular work knowledgable about consumption and physically able to take part in it, seduced by attractions of consumer society, enjoy consumtion and they are seen by companies as attractive customers
the repressed-may be attracted to consumption but they only have limited ability to shop and consume, low income and cant easily get hold of cheap credit or they lack the knowledge of consumer trends to know what to buy or disbaility or old age, devalued identity not able to buy right products or services they wont be fully accepted into society by peer groups, cant project the image they need to through consuming
what is the criticism to baumans views
oversimplifying the difference between the seduced and the repressed failing to accept that there might be a range of different relationships to consumption in society
doesnt acknowledge some people reject consumer identity
what is age as an evaluation point to postmodernists view
leisure of young single people tends to be spent outside the home in the company of their peer group, may gain some economic independence from either a wage packet or benefits on training schemes, lack of financial commitments and responsibilities of household bills children and the burden of paying rent or mortgage, young people more leisure centred than perhaps any other age group except the retired, more likely to have the opportunity of forming their identities through participation in leisure based consumer lifestyles expressed through the purchase of clothes and music and the clubs pubs and concerts they go to
what is family life cycle as an evaluation point to postmodernists view
young couples who have households and children face more restrictions on leisure activities
as children become less dependent on their parents and as mortgages get paid off people will have more disposable income to spend on leisure activities and consumer goods
ill health as people get older with reduced income in retirement may once again limit leisure opportunities
what is gender as an evaluation point to postmodernists view
gender role socialisation-men and women show different leisure activities and some leisure activities are moe associated with one sex than the other eg shopping, women have less time and opportunity for leisure activities than men reponsibilities such as housework and childcare and sometimes dependent for elderly or sick family members, women earn less than men restricts their opportunity to participate in commercia leisure activities
what did deem say about gender as evaluation point to postmodernists view
womens leisure activities combined with aspects of childcare such as driving children to leisure centres and going swimming with them, raises questions of how far activities are freely chosen and enjoyable leisure activities rather than aspects of unpaid domestic labour, patriarchy and patriarchal control restricted womens leisure opportunities to approved activities, male partners felt threatened by womens independent participation in leisure activities that might bring them into social contact with other men, activities like clubbing and pubs in a night out with the girls are not often approved of by men, patriarchy restricts womens independence and choice in leisure activities through harrassment that women may facfe in public places such as getting chatted up if they go into pubs clubs or leisure centres on their own or the risks they face in walking home alone at night, gender remains important asect in leisure choices and identity formation
what is ethnicity as an evaluation point for postmodernsits view
people will make cultural choices of leisure activity in accordance with the ethnic group to which they belong and some feel their leisure activities are restricted by racism, asian women more likely to be restricted to home and family based activities because of culturally defined roles
what does roberts say about ethnicity as evaluation point for postmodernists view
many asian workers will put in longer working hours so they can afford and have time to visit kinfolk in their countries of origin, younger british born people from minority ethnic groups may be adopting less culturally defined leisure choices and lifestyles and forming identities that are less constrained by the cultural inheritance of their parents culture- whether this reflects everyday life for most people is questionable and may not be true of everyday life for ethnic minorities which value traditional culture
what did clarke and critcher say about the pursuit of profit as evaluation point for postmodernists view
leisure become highly organised and commercialised multinational industry employing millions of people worldwide and concerned with making profits eg sport huge international and highly profitable business with associated airline and hotel chains a major global industry
large corporations shape and manipulate peoples choices of leisure activities consumer goods and shopping habits, global marketing of consumer goods through advertising in meia saturated society end creates endless demands for new must have products and services, advertising aims to convince people that their series of self their very identity depends on buying into the very latest ajd ever changing lifestyle trends to the benefit of large businesses making the products required to establish those identities
do accept that some groups who try to resist the commercialisation of leisure and manipulation of identities in line with mass culture, the campaign for reale ale challenged dominance of big brewers and has succeeded in encouraging many more small breweries to open and existence of independent cinemas in some cities which choose to show alternative movies from outside mainstream some expressing anti capitalist views
