Concepts of the Seduced and the Repressed Essay Example

or another life change, like retiring or having an accident and being unable to work.

This leads on to the repressed. Zygmunt Bauman theorises that people such as the unemployed or low paid and others not in a position to participate in a consumer ociety on a sound level, some people with disabilities and some older people with only state benefit income will be labelled as the repressed. Those people may not have transport and would not be able to visit the out of town supermarkets and shopping malls without being dependant on public transport and even then may not physically be able to get onto a bus.

These people have less opportunity to become a social member and will feel less likely to feel part of society. In an industrial society those people from slums, criminals and those in workhouses were classed as the repressed. The term repressed could be applied to those who cannot participate in consumer activity because they lack the resources to do so. The people in the repressed category can often feel like they are excluded from consumer society and can feel negatively valued simply because they are unemployed or have a disability or may be old and retired.

Some of the repressed people could try and change simply work. There are those that are labelled repressed that Just could simply not be able to raise a higher income, unless they inherited or won some money. Zygmunt Bauman basses his argument on observation and description and then ffers an explanation as to how or why consuming in society is determined by the degree in which people can participate. (Taylor et

el 2009). It offers generalisation and tries to give a big picture of consumer society.

I can see how Bauman's concepts could so easily be divided into the two sectors but there are of course those who don't seem to be classed in either of Bauman's concepts, those who choose not to participate, or do not choose to shop in certain shops even if they do or do not have the money, maybe for environmental or political reasons or simply do not like certain hops, perhaps choosing a small local shop or growing food at home. Most people will always shop for necessities and there are those that receive government grants and welfare payments to help with costs.

Affording items that perhaps would not normally be afforded to them could then be seen to be seduced, but in Bauman's terms would be the repressed. Consumption in contemporary consumer society may not always Just be the need to shop for food and necessities, it can also be seen to include purchases of other kinds, like membership to the local gym, going to the hairdressers or maybe purchasing a oliday. Children are a big pressure in todays society always pressurising their parents on wanting the next in thing as they have one so why cant I'.

There are arguments that the big supermarkets are killing the small local stores, the big stores gain is at the expense of the small stores losses, causing what is known as zero sum-power (total losses from total gains equal zero). Some social scientists believe that it is a positive thing and all the small shops can gain by passing trade off

to the larger stores. If all stores gain this is called positive sum gain. The Supermarkets can also offer low paid, low skilled Jobs replacing higher paid skilled jobs in Industry.

This could have an effect on farming and other industries in the I-JK. The influence of modern day supermarkets has made a big impact on what we choose to buy and where we go, the big retail parks outside of towns have sprung up and are now accessible to everyone in one way or another. They can provide the necessities that we buy everyday like bread and milk at a 'no frills' price, so as even those deemed not to be able to afford luxuries can at least experience in some way he shopping experience.

The layouts of the shop and advertising or buy one get one free are all there to entice us in. Only the seduced could possibly afford most of the expensive items or may be coerced into buying something through advertising that they simply do not need or even want in some cases, branded products or items with names on like Nike of Adidas may be afforded. People identify themselves by their consumption. Is todays modern society coming to an end?

With the recent recession and banking crisis, getting credit is becoming harder, mortgages are near impossible to get unless inancial help and spending on a low, putting people out of work, and redundancy on the rise, maybe people will no longer be able to identify themselves through consumption in the future or will it create a bigger divide between the rich and the poor. In conclusion, you can see

Bauman's explanations of the seduced and the repressed and the arguments for and against it.