Consumption, Leisure and Identity

Learning Objectives To explain how consumption and leisure choices affect identity To evaluate the view that we have free choice over our consumption and leisure choices

Starter On your coloured paper, write down everything you know about consumption and identity.

Postmodernism Postmodernists argue what we choose to do in our leisure time and the products we consume are far more significant in forming our identities than class, gender, ethnicity etc. They suggest most people now have an almost unlimited free choice of leisure activities and lifestyle and can adopt any identity they wish. Strinati emphasises the importance of popular culture in shaping consumer choices. Popular culture bombards us daily and dominates the way we define ourselves. Baudrillard argues we live in a media saturated society where the media creates desires and pressures to consume. How does popular culture ‘bombard’ us on a daily basis. Provide examples. In pairs, note down how the media pressurises us to consume products and provide examples.

Shopping for Identities Featherstone suggests shopping is not just about buying products, its about buying lifestyles and establishing identities. How might purchasing certain products enable you to present a particular identity? Give examples. What theory of identity does this link to? How?

Shopping for Identities Bauman and May suggest that advertising for certain products is not simply about selling the products, its about selling a lifestyle through the advert through the dress, language, house decor and appearance of people in advertisements. For each of the advertisements you will be shown note down: The name of the product The lifestyle it is promoting (think about how you would describe the people/product in the advertisement) The estimated cost of the product Bauman argues that life has become a shopping mall. We can construct whatever identities we choose and change them whenever we want. Why do the Postmodernists argue we are able to do this? What are the concepts/terms used to explain this according to the Postmodernists and Polhemus?

Advertisements Hugo Boss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I0oDJ6GreQ Bacardi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqol0eM39SU BMW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD6IcFz_yOQ Bisto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDQ5rf0-rYs Paco Rabanne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpj2U8G1gDc

How much free choice is there in choosing lifestyles and identities? Place a post it note on the continuum for how much free choice you think we have over the identities we can adopt through consumption and leisure. On your post it note include your name and the reasons for where you have placed it on the continuum. Agree Disagree

Factors limiting our choice over lifestyles and identities Work in groups, to complete the handout on factors which may limit the choice we have over our identities and lifestyles. Once you have completed this, move your post it note on the continuum if you need to. You need to be prepared to explain why you have moved it.

Exam Questions Using one example, briefly explain what is meant be a ‘media saturated society’ (2 marks) Outline three ways in which a person’s consumption and leisure choices may be limited (6 marks) Outline and explain two ways in which leisure and consumption affect identities (10 marks) 15 minutes You will then peer mark each others 10 mark answers using the 10 mark mark scheme in your AFL booklets