Okay, Ive been doing a bit of reading today. I’ve been reading a chapter called “Addressing the Body” by Joanne Estwistle. And I know I was supposed to have read this a long time ago (yes Franci, I know…) but my plan is to catch it all up as quickly as possible from now.
So… I read through and took out the things that were relevent to being a big pompous snob. And what Ive gathered is that the body is an entity that is socially constructed. Now she doesnt really go into detail here but I believe what she means is that its not just some biological thing that is dressed afterwards, but we are able to physically alter our bodies in certain ways (anorexia, penis enlargements, etc) and therefore their shapes and sizes are not only genetically determined but also socially determined.
But not only are bodies socially constructed in terms of changes we make to the actual bodies but also by the clothes that we wear. Dress is a basic fact of social life. In almost all social situations we are required to appear dressed – although this varies from culture to culture and differs from situation to situation. These are conventions in other words…
She goes on to say that “conventions of dress attempt to transform flesh into something recognizable and meaningful to a culture – one that doesnt conform and transgresses such cultural codes is likely to cause offence and be met with scorn and increduality (like when I went to the gym yesterday). And this is one of the reasons why dress is a matter of morality: dressed inappropriately we are uncomfortable and we feel ourselves open to social condemnation.
According to Bell (1976) wearing the right clothes is so very important that even people not interested in their appearance will dress well enough to avoid social censure.
Dress maintains social order basically.
Now how does all this relate to me dressing like a snob? (not slob)
Firstly, I, through the conditioning processes of growing up in society know to a certain degree where I stand in the social order of things. I also know now explicitly that dressing in certain ways maintains social order. So putting these two together I instinctively know how it is that I should be dressing – being located at my specific social station. And me dressing like a snob means that I am ultimately defying or disrupting the social order to some degree.
Secondly, the fact that I know that I am not a snob and that I am disrupting the social order to some extent causes some degree of uncomfort.
Okay, serious stuff aside I went to Wembley Square today and looked down on a few things. Looked down on some plebs at a coffee shop. Looked down on some cheap wine shop clerk. Looked down on some fellow customers who were plebs. Looked down on a dirty painting studio and the artist therein. I was better than quite a few people there if not everybody. They all were rather unwashed I felt. Yes.
Went to the gym after that and got a few nasty stares while combing my hair in the mirror and putting on my bow tie. Cant blame these plebs though – I mean you either have culture or you dont…
Oh why Toffeenose, you are definitely at the top of the social ladder looking down on us. Care for a glass of merlot some time?
that depends my dear fellow. I only drink merlot from a small area in southern Bordeaux you see… and the vintage is very important
FANTASTIC! thank god my undies were LV, wld hate to b judgd by u! Tres bien! Awaiting ur nxt day trip and post. Question: hav u been mingling with the snobs, u knw, deepend, shark infestd waters and stuff… Go forth!
good idea