August 24th, 2010 by Rachel | Tags: American Culture, Anthropology, Corporation, Europe, European Culture, Material Culture | No Comments »
Kids’ lives are majorly influenced by materials surrounding them. Girls are engrossed in beautifying themselves as nail polish and princess-like accessories such as plastic crowns exist in stores for them to purchase. An overwhelming number of brand names exist for kids to choose, giving them opportunities to compete in showing off their ownership of big names. Lauren Greenfield, a photographer who documented a project called Kids and Consumerism, examined how kids and teens developed their identities through materials:
“Kids and teens are constructing their identities and social worlds around the rampant acquisition and brazen display of the latest hot brands, making them the most trend-obsessed, consumer-involved, and materialistic generations in history.”
Greenfield captures exquisitely the sentiments of kids obsessing in purchasing goods in order to feel beautiful. It is evident in her photos that brand names is a huge deal to some people as some images depict Juicy Couture, Gucci, and Versace being proudly displayed on an article of clothing or in the setting. She captures the feelings of happiness of kids and teenagers as if materialism is godsend to their life. Moreover, materialism does not merely exist in the US, it also exist in other parts of the world such as Italy as shown in Greenfield’s photo essay.
I can only imagine that kids’ obsession in forming their identities by the products they purchase in stores is incredibly profitable for many companies.
