In her article, “The Signs of Shopping” Anne Norton says, “walking from window to another, observing one another, shoppers, especially the astute and observing adolescents, acquire a facility with the language of commodities…shop windows teach composition” (88). In the following essay, we will be looking at how consumerism and advertising influence and help us develop our identity.
What is identity? According to the Merriam- Webster Dictionary, identity is the qualities, ideas and beliefs that differentiate a person from the rest of the group. Our identities form from different aspects of our lives; such as family life, school life, friends, professors and religion. In addition, places such as the mall also helps shape our identity. The mall …show more content…
I definitely agree with that, in high school my friends and I would go to the mall to hang out, eat, talk and like she said “ they spend, indeed , more time than money” which we definitely did and we still do. We would spend up to four hours either walking around and talking or sitting down while we ate. It is also true when she states that ‘stores hang a variety of identities on their racks and mannequins’, and some brands and stores are a symbol of riches. For example, stores such as Hollister or Abercrombie & Fitch are stereotyped as stores where only rich, whites, or surfers shop there. One thing that I do not agree with Norton, is the fact that she says that women used the practice of shopping as an occasion to escape the confinements of their home and enjoy the companionship of other women. I agree that yes, we use shopping as a way to get together we our girl friends but women do not use shopping as a way to escape the confinements from their homes or their husband maybe in earlier years that was true but I do not think that it holds true today. As for her statement, that shopping has become an activity that has overcome geographic limits. With the internet and online shopping sites such as eBay, Amazon and so many more, a person from Australia can buy something from the United States and get it within a couple …show more content…
Over the last few years, the United States has changed from being a producing country to a consumer country, which has affected how advertising presents the product. In the article ‘Commodity Your Dissent’ Frank bases the article on the counterculture idea of the 1950, which refers to the idea of going against the notion that every American lived the same life style. The 1950s were a time in which the people were forbidden and denied basic human individuality and impulses. Now marketers use this idea to promote and get people to buy their products because as Frank states, “Consumerism is no longer about ‘conformity’ but about ‘difference’ (153).”
The mall and all the different stores play an important role in forming our identity. Each store that we walk by gives us so many options on how to dress. All the tabloids, fashion magazines, and all the TV commercial are constantly pointing out the different fashion trends and health trends, etc. When we see all these things, whether we want it or not it is shaping our identity because based on what we like but also the fashion trends, that’s how we decide what clothing items to