I’ve heard that the roots of bling, particularly that related to cars and clothing, is in housing discrimination. Being locked out of a housing market until recent decades, African-Americans couldn’t use their money to buy a house or rent in a nicer neighborhood. They could buy cars, clothes and jewelery, though, and they did, almost as a symbol of defiance, and to send a signal to their peers that they were financially stable.
In other words, the reason we see box Chevys rocking 24" rims cruising Eight Mile today is because nobody would sell nice houses to blacks 80 or 100 years ago.
While I understand status symbols on an intellectual level, in that I can identify them and see what people get out of it, I don’t really understand why it’s something that’s so important to people. In fact, I had dated one girl for a considerable length of time and one of the things that ultimately showed how incompatible we were was that while I wanted some nice things simply because I liked them, she was very interested in the social impact of things and would spend money on items simply for the impression they gave.
That said, when I think of a status symbol, I think of something where the purpose in ownership is to impress others. Obviously, something like a $10,000 watch is almost always a status symbol since there’s seldom a real function that adds that kind of value. In the case of a car though, that may or may not be true. For instance, having a higher end car to impress people or show off how much money you make is a status symbol, but if you spend a lot of time in your car or you have particular interest in cars or it has features you need, then that it may or may not impress people is incidental.
And, as others said, there’s also the sort of ironic status symbol, where the impression you’re giving isn’t “look how rich/sexy I am” but rather “look how smart/frugal I am”. Like the South Park goths who would constantly talk about all the things you have to be to be non-conformist, which was ultimately still conforming, just to a standard that was more or less opposite to popular culture. If you may a big deal out of NOT owning something, that you don’t own it is as much a status symbol as owning it is to others. If you’re frugal or not really into something that’s popular like TVs or smart phones or whatever, that’s fine, but the moment you start making a point of it, it is basically treading in the same territory.
That all said, there’s not really anything wrong with it. We all have things that we use to define our status to others to some extent. Oddly, we have a way of deriding how others define their status if its something we don’t do ourselves. We might consider it shallow if someone has a lot of expensive things, or pretentious if someone has a lot of frugal or intellectual things, or odd if someone has a bunch of collectibles, or whatever. But I’m really more interested in how much thought I give into why I have or do things. If I’m doing it because it’s something I need or want then I’m generally okay with the impression it gives off, though I am aware that sometimes it gives off an incomplete or contradictory image.
That’s the thing, though. Nobody thinks their status symbols are status symbols. To you, your status symbols are just quality items that you happen to like.
But the other guy’s status symbols- those are mindless crowd pleasing purchases made by people with no perspective and poor priorities.
The guy who buys the pricey after-market rims probably isn’t thinking “Now this is an item that will make me look good in front of other people!” He is probably thinking “Wow, those look really nice. That’s the sort of thing I would like to own.”
Then its still about fitting in, not NECESSARILY showing off. Its about communicating that you are “the type of person who may purchase something here” or “the profile of someone who will buy this car and isn’t wasting your time.” For a money manager, that $800 suit is about communicating “I am successful at this and you can trust me with your money.” The young guy with the really nice car is communicating “hey, I look hot in this car and you will too.” The woman with the eyebrow ring is communicating “I’m an edgy sort of person.”
These things are not necessarily TRUE and like all communication, the message is not always received, but status symbols are a form of communication that can change the behavior of the receiver.
The underlying message of impressing others, or at least not presenting yourself in a bad light, is always there, though. One might buy expensive clothes because you like the quality or fit, or because it suits your personal sense of fashion, but would they buy a article of clothing they know won’t have a positive impression on others in their peer group?
As for rims, when I visit a large city, I’ll occasionally see a car that not only has huge rims, but also a decal in the window bragging about their size, kind of like this. If they just liked the way they looked, why brag about their size too? Many that are into the import tuning/modding scene will fill their windows with decals showing the aftermarket part brands. If they just wanted the benefits of improved performance in some respect, why the decals? It can’t just be because the decals “look really nice.”
On the other hand, my car has factory-equipped aluminum rims. I think they look nice; they’re not at all flashy. One of my best friends can’t stand them, because he equates them with bling and the misplaced priorities of inner city culture.
For instance, there are days where I’m going to sit on my butt in my house alone. And on some of those days I sit unshowered in my jammies and watch TV. But often, I get dressed. Sometimes I even dress up. I do my hair and put on makeup, throw on clothes more appropriate for a nice dinner out than hanging in the house - and watch TV. I’m not doing it for the dog, or the cat…so sometimes there must be an internal motivation at play. And I’m far too old to think I need practice putting on my eyeliner. So while there is certainly an external component to - oh, say expensive clothes - I don’t think there is ONLY an external component to it.
I’d argue, quite often, that he’s thinking both. “Man, those rims are really ballin’. We’ll see if Roberto cracks wise about my bitchin’ El Camino after I install these babies.”
It’s the same with everyone: For example, I’m sort of looking for a new car to replace my current commuter car. No matter what I get, I’ll be paying around $30-40,000 for a car that pulls something better than a 6-second 0-60 time stock, because that’s the feature that I value, but the choice between a Mustang (and further, a Mustang GT vs. a Boss 302), a Nissan Z, a Charger, and a used Infiniti M37 hybrid is going to be based almost entirely on what I want myself to appear as–which is the very definition of status symbol.
I really try to avoid buying anything that could conceivably function as a status symbol. Do you know how hard it is to find a freaking colored t-shirt that doesn’t have some stupid logo on it? Running shoes that don’t have some big, stupid logo-tastic design element? I have some t-shirts that have graphics on them, but they tend to be for friend’s bands (I’m 51, so no, this is not some “hipster” thing - I help my friend’s bands, they tend to give me shirts).
The only high status item I have is a really nice video camera, and the only reason I have that is because it demonstrably produces a better than picture less expensive video cameras, and has capabilities that less expensive video cameras do not, like XLR inputs. But that falls into a special area of a craftsman and his tools. Does the carpenter with a Bosch drill acquire more status than the one with a Hitachi? Is it a status symbol if it is genuinely better, or is it a status symbol only if it is not actually better?
Some of the people here are really shallow (and, to be fair, most of them are friends or “friends of friends”).
OR… is it that they’re afraid the public is shallow? So afraid that they would hope that carrying around the right brand purse or backpack will keep them safe from judgement/mockery.
But I will admit to not caring about fashion: I grew up wearing jeans and T-shirts (no particular brands… I guess most of the jeans were Levi’s or Lee or whatever Target sold). And generic “sneakers”. We had NO idea Converses were cool. Some of us had them, but we just needed something that we could climb over fences in.
And what do I wear to work* now? Levi’s and T-shirts and “sneakers” (I’m so glad that I don’t know the brand-- bolsters my argument).
*And nice restaurants that I stop at on the way home from work. We “schlubs” get excellent service…our tables, and menu choices, and our tips are ‘beyond our clothes’.
I usually do as well, but I get better service when I dress better when patronizing certain types of places. Have you tried it both ways?, because it sounds like you are dismissive of the notion and have nothing to compare it too. Of course, that would mean having to acquire those status symbols you find shallow.
I’m perfectly capable of schlubing it. That’s the nice thing about symbols, unless you choose facial tattoos or something to claim identity, they can be swapped around at will.
Now that I stop to do some self-analysis… there’s no stealth in my brag at all.
I thought I was too nerdy and apathetic to care about my clothes, but wow, I guess I AM “so cool”! This is excellent – I’ve never felt cool before.
No, this is not some “witty banter” stratagem. I’m being sincere! I was always the geeky kid who got chased off the playground by the “cool kids”.
Now I’m cooler than they are, because they’re trying desperately trying to hold onto that title, and I DON’T CARE.
I think there is a lot of false equivalence going on in this thread. It’s nice to pretend everything is a status symbol and that my iphone is the same as some ghetto guy’s huge chrome rims but it is bollocks.
I struggle to think of anything I own that I would not own if no one knew I owned it. Do you think the same is true about the owner of the rims? You are kidding yourself.
Michael Pursig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) places people on a continuum from “romantics” to “classicists” with the former tending to define things in terms of perception and how society values things and the latter tending to define things in terms of what things are in themselves and what function they have.
Classicists (such as myself) shake their head at people who buy shit just because of how it will be perceived by others without concern for the practical. We can understand it intellectually, but we don’t get it, naturally. And Romantics shake their head at people who buy shit that merely gets the job done.
This thread is permeated by romantics who assume that classicists who buy things for reasons of function actually buy them as hidden or inverted status symbols because that’s what romantics would do. No, actually the classicist just bought it because it worked.
Upthread even sven suggested that an Apple computer was like showoff car rims because it came with Apple stickers. Sure, Apple computers do cater to romantics. But when someone like me buys an Apple its because it functions well, and the stickers go in the bin along with the other useless nonessential shit cluttering up the packaging.
People who just don’t give a damn what other people think actually do exist. (Look up “superiority complex” in Wikipedia). They should not be confused with people who conform to non-conformity…because these people do care about fitting in to whatever scene they are attracted to. So I disagree that status symbols are universally sought after and possessed.
