Social Inequality in a Global Age by Sernau Scott

Author:Sernau Scott [Scott, Sernau]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2016-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

Transportation and Leisure

Prestige and lifestyle also dominate where we go and how we get there. In modern American society, we often get our first impressions of others not from their clothes, but from their cars. An advertisement in the 1950s contended “We now judge a man by the car he keeps.” In many ways, automobiles simply enlarge the prestige claims that were once made solely by clothing. These can be rich and brazen (the yellow Cadillac) or wealthy yet subdued (the gray Mercedes-Benz). Cars can speak about lifestyle, values, and attitudes, from sports cars to luxury vans to small gas misers. Their labeling is also in signatures, in the form of hood and trunk ornament logos. Vehicles also demonstrate the attempt to bring prestige to leisure. The pickup truck was once a standard of working-class practicality. The very popular sport utility vehicle (SUV) starts with a truck chassis but adds a wide range of luxury amenities and prestige labeling to accompany the high sticker price. The prestige label is not only in the manufacturer (e.g., Land Rover) but also in the supposed designer (e.g., Eddie Bauer Edition). The SUV with a roof rack and trailer hitch has become a symbol of a lifestyle of conspicuous leisure.

Leisure itself often follows a prestige hierarchy. Other than members of the old upper class, few are captivated by polo; Prince Charles was very pleased that Prince William took up that activity. Golf has captivated many, from the capitalist class to the middle class, yet it retains its upper-middle-class image of physicians, attorneys, and businesspeople escaping the office for the links. In the United States, major professional sports dominate the leisure interests of the middle and working classes and sometimes the aspirations of poor children. These differences reflect not only differences in disposable income but also differences in taste and association. Polo is expensive to play, but one can often watch a local polo match for much less than the ticket price for a seat at a professional basketball game. Yet it may be hard for a working-class polo enthusiast to return to work on Monday and convey this enthusiasm to buddies: “Ah, you should have seen the final shot in the first chucker!”

Travel destinations also reflect disposable income and lifestyle expectations, as well as values and tastes. The capitalist class flies and seeks private retreats. The upper-middle class may also fly to resorts and go on ocean cruises. Car travel with stays in motels and camping becomes more popular in the middle. Travel diminishes drastically for classes below the middle: For the working poor, vacation time may be almost nonexistent, and those in the underclass may have neither the transportation nor the housing security to be away from home for long. The forced simplicity of camping has limited appeal to those who are primarily concerned about the condition of their permanent housing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.