If nothing else, there is one crucial element that both subculture and consumer culture share: that element is distinction. Distinction is not only the basis of being different, but also the driving force of being cool. This blog entry will examine how distinction works in relation to subculture as well as consumer culture, and how the two often coincide.
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Subcultures would not exist if it were not for people longing to be different, either in their view, their attire or their lifestyle. Hungry subcultures feed on distinction. These same subcultures also thrive off of their critique of consumerism. Some believe that consumerism means blind conformity to whatever every other yuppie is wearing or doing. However, according to Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter in the article “The Rebel Sell”, “consumption is not about conformity, it’s about distinction”. It boils down to the ideology that people often want what others do not have. In the case of some subcultures, people can also want what others do not want period.
“People consume to set themselves apart from others. To show that they are cooler (Nike shoes), better connected (the latest nightclub), better informed (single-malt Scotch), morally superior (Guatemalan handcrafts), or just plain richer (bmws)”. Some subcultures, like that of underground hip-hop, may be more concerned with consuming the right brand of shoes in order to be cool; whereas a subculture of Bohemians may focus on the moral superiority of consuming organically produced goods. On the other hand, a high-class society may consume merely for the intention to prove their wealth. Though, in any quest for distinction, “intentions are irrelevant. It is only consequences that count”. These consequences often result in competitive consumption.
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Heath and Potter make an interesting point about how “we are often forced into competitive consumption, just to defend ourselves against the nuisances generated by other people’s consumption”. Many people (and subcultures in particular) avoid certain brand names in order to stray away from the mainstream market, but in doing so, these people become even more immersed in consumerism. Brand names are clear sources of distinction, but other unlabelled alternatives are no different since we are consuming them nonetheless. Heath and Potter also mention the concept of consuming “ironically” to defend to our mainstream consumption choices. It is almost sad to think that we need to use irony as an excuse for the things we buy. Alas, ironic consumption seems to be emerging as a trend in itself.
Subcultures of “hipsters” are often viewed as being anti-consumerist in their choices to endorse independent music and second-hand clothing. However, in avoiding and scrutinizing mainstream culture, these hipsters are simply feeding the idea that brand names uphold social significance. “Many people who are, in their own minds, opposed to consumerism nevertheless actively participate in the sort of behaviour that drives it”.
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We live in a capitalist society, and just as “capitalism requires conformity to function correctly”; it equally needs distinction to complete the consumer cycle. In fact, distinction is at the very beginning of the cycle. We seek to find distinction from the mundane crowd, but as this distinction becomes recognized, others will conform and we must find another source of distinction to preserve our authenticity, and so it goes.
Work Cited
Heath, Joseph, and Andrew Potter. “The Rebel Sell.” This Magazine. Red Maple
Foundation, 1 November 2002. Web. 15 February 2012.
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