Sociology of Consumption: Conspicuous Consumption and Gender Roles

This essay delves into the sociology of consumption, focusing on Thorstein Veblen's theory of conspicuous consumption, which posits that individuals, particularly those of higher social standing, purchase luxury goods to display their wealth and status. The paper examines how this behavior has evolved in the 21st century, considering factors such as globalization, advertising, and the rise of a middle class with increased spending power. It explores how conspicuous consumption is not limited to the wealthy, with lower-income individuals also engaging in this practice. The essay further investigates the influence of advertising on perceptions of masculinity and femininity, demonstrating how media portrayals can reinforce gender stereotypes and impact consumer behavior. It concludes by summarizing the evolution of Veblen's theory and the impact of gender bias in advertising.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY OF CONSUMPTION
Sociology of Consumption
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The chosen topic for the paper is Conspicuous Consumption; the famous sociologist
Thorstein Veblen in his book “The Theory of Leisure Class” stated that, the chief motive of
certain consumers is to display their wealth and high status in the society by buying expensive
commodities. These commodities are generally luxury items and they are not a part of daily
necessary goods. Those who buy these expensive luxury products, they do so to invoke envy in
the minds of others and increase their self-worth, prestige and to display their high income.
Sociological survey has shown that the people belonging to middle class or lower classes tend to
practice conspicuous consumption going beyond their financial means in order to increase their
social status, this is also known as “pecuniary emulation”, the term was coined by Veblen as
well.
Conspicuous Consumption in the 21st century
Veblen used the term conspicuous consumption in order to describe the upper class
individuals who emerged after the Technological Revolution that occurred during later part of
19th century. In his book he also mentioned the term “vicarious/conspicuous leisure” which
means that the owner of a household employs people to complete tasks that are generally
considered to be a waste time and the owner spends that time in leisure (Wrege & Greenwood,
2017). The standards of living increased during this period, the people belonging to the middle
class began consuming goods that were beyond their financial means and had no practical use. In
the 20th as well as in the 21st century there was an evident explosion in conspicuous consumption
pattern due to the several factors lie globalization, use of advertisements in an extensive manner,
new inventions, and other things (Liang, Chang & Wang, 2017). The term conspicuous
consumption although initially referred to the rich people (as proposed by Veblen) but later the

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recent economists like Nikolai Roussanova, Kerwin Kofi Charles, and Erik Hurst found that this
sort of behaviour has been predominantly seen among people belonging to lower classes. The
display of wealth by the people having lower income helps them in concealing their actual social
status.
The people belonging to the class of people who aspire to belong to a higher status or
those who may already appear to be belonging to the higher society explain the idea of Veblen’s
conspicuous consumption (Currid-Halkett, 2017). They spend beyond their means on the luxury
unnecessary products like sports cars, expensive refrigerators, and crystal glass wares (Bellezza,
Paharia & Keinan 2016). The show of one’s social status through consumption is even more
challenging in the recent times than it was in Veblen’s time. The change in the economic scenery
from the Industrial revolution has created a middle class who have money to spend to show off
their wealth (Kapeller & Schütz, 2015). Recently, the luxury fashion brands like Armani, H &M,
has created cheaper products. They have created high fashionable clothes and are selling them
for $30 rather than $4000. This fake fashion has made the aspirations of the middle class and the
lower class rise beyond their means.
The conspicuous consumption of the rich people in recent times are mostly motivated by
their need to save time or to make more profits, they do not consume expensive things to show
off rather they meet their necessities (Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2014). . They also spend a lot on
the education of their children so that they may have a good employment opportunity in the
future. The habits of the elite class will affect the economic scenario of the future, as the children
of the current elite class will hold the financial and political power.

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Advertisements Influences the Perspectives of Masculinity and Femininity in the society
Advertising through various mediums like banner, T.V, radio, songs while
influencing the consumption behavior has also made an impact on our thinking about the roles of
males and females in the society. However, advertising and mass media is definitely more than
the simple conveyance of information and especially if it is conveyed visually. It can
significantly affect or influence, an individual’s perception and reinforce certain values.
Consumerism and advertising have given shape to “sexism”, the term was introduced by the US
American women’s movement during the 1970s. The portrayal of female figures in advertising
has over the years influenced the consumer buying behavior and as a result, womenfolk have
been dominated and persistently portrayed as the weaker gender. The portrayal of images of men
and women in TV, newspapers and magazines has induced a well demarcated gender hierarchy
(Zhao et al., 2017). Body language is one of the mediums through which advertisements have
injected the stereotypical images of men and women. According to the theory of conspicuous
consumerism, an individual’s consumption behavior is influenced by his class and culture
(Pastore et al., 2016). The same is used to make a clear demarcation between the conventional
stereotyped gender roles. In case of women, the pattern of their consumption was determined by
her position in the society and household. Traditionally, a woman was allowed to consume
things, which were necessary to their sustenance and would reflect class and social position of
their masters. Whereas, excessive consumption of materials became the sign of class and dignity
for men, noble status in society and one of the scales to measure the noble from the ignoble
(Warde, 2017).This is one of the sexist aspects of a consumerist society.

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Media and communication, one of the fundamental mediums of 21st century determine
consumer buying patterns and choice of lifestyle. In advertising and media, the minorities often
get little or absolutely zero representation and in certain cases are presented in a stereotypical,
conventional manner. According to J.A Doyle, advertisements shape perceptions in showing the
male personality as unnecessarily dominant, aggressive and with such other masculine
accomplishments. This is also a powerful way of selling products that can further appeal to their
manliness and make them distinct and superior with an image befitting to their dominant selves.
The women on the other hand are portrayed often times as the caregivers, and advertisements
have evolved around ways to ensure the utmost satisfaction to the male community. This creates
the power equation between the men and women, the former being abstained from images that
are conventionally associated with women (Collins, Baer & Weber, 2015). It gives a very false
notion of gender identity and gender roles by stereotypically associating colors, works and way
of dressing with the female gender, for instance household tasks like cooking and cleaning when
shown by a male portrays them as a buffoon. This is at par with the theory of conspicuous
consumerism where the women, who are considered as a chattel to the men, should consume
only the things that would honor her superior (Campbell, 2016). Conspicuous consumption of
materials is a means of earning reputation and securing self-esteem.
Media represents women as sex objects and influences them to by certain products or
avail services that would sustain the sexual aggressors, men. The skilled manipulation of gender
centric role is not new in the realm of advertising and media and the same has over the years
promoted sexism and objectification of women (Percy, 2016).
In case of video games and toys, as Simon de Beauvoir enumerates that one is not born a
woman but becomes so, the games portray a sexualized version of the female body. Though the

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women are invested with powers and skills like that of men, they are represented according to
the conventional male fantasy. The idealization of female body is thoroughly prevalent within
the world of toys and video games. They portray that a slender and accurately proportioned body
is the paradigm of feminine body.
This is how the growth of beliefs and assumptions take place in the society due to
advertising, media, toys and video games. The male figure is presented with the help of several
stereotypical male character traits such as muscular physique, a typically aggressive male
personality outnumbering the females. In the third generation consoles, the male gender is
sketched and represented as the savior of their trophy wives or damsel in distress. Women were
required in the games to provide the male figures a fascinating sense of victory and triumph. In
this way it created biased images and as a result gender inequalities in the society, as large
section of population was actually a part of the mainstream media.
Conclusion
To conclude, conspicuous consumption theory as suggested by Veblen has changed a lot
since the past. Previously conspicuous consumption meant display of wealth by the rich upper
class people but now the term is used to refer to the lower classes who try to buy expensive
products to hide their status. It is seen as a wasteful way displayed by the consumers. Regarding
the matter of display of wealth, in recent times, less is considered to be more, the real up-per
class people display their wealthy in a much subtle manner. Gender bias has been an underlying
truth hidden among the advertisement, and this idea has been at par with the conspicuous theory
in which the women are considered to be the property of the men and they consume things

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according to the wealth of their masters. Although the theory still remains but it has evolved a lot
and has got a different dimension of its own.

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Bellezza, S., Paharia, N., & Keinan, A. (2016). Conspicuous consumption of time: When
busyness and lack of leisure time become a status symbol. Journal of Consumer
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Campbell, C. (2016). Status Matters? The Contradictions Surrounding Conspicuous
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Collins, J., Baer, B., & Weber, E. J. (2015). Sexual selection, conspicuous consumption and
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Currid-Halkett, E. (2017). The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class.
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