Consumption is a site of social struggle between structure and agency Essay

Consumption is a site of social struggle between structure and agency - Essay Example According to the research findings ever since, women and men have always been conscious of how they look. In business too, the image one portrays is extremely beneficial in business and may depict his or her personality. Therefore, the fashion and design industry often provide ways in which individuals could fit into various occasions. In the community, one would be surprised at the rate which people consume commodities, especially clothes and beauty products. In addition, as one walks across the street, one can be impressed by the number of people wearing fashionable clothes and jewellery. Fashion has become part of the society. Many people have derived advantages from the fashion industry. The fashion and design culture started in the past limited to certain aspects in the society. For instance, in the past, it was easy to judge from the quality and the fabric used on a given clothe the social status of a certain person. Nowadays many more dimensions have evolved and considered as under the following: conservative or progressive, low or high educational level, low or high ecological awareness or more. Culture is a unique entity and fashion got its way to its heart million of years ago. With fashion, people often regard it to some cultures that have been there since time immemorial. Take for instance wearing of skirts by the Scottish people. In as much as fashion has more been likened to language since the past, still there is a vast gap existing between them. Language has grammar, and the sequence of the words provides meaning. Clothing, on the other hand has constantly perceived as one entity, not as a sequence, plus has no grammar. In the society, there are some impression regarding language and the clothes people wear (McCracken 2009, p.34). Another example could be the association Kanzus to Arab speaking people. Different languages have in the past been associated to certain fashions. Take for instance the Maasai speaking people in Kenya with their fashio nable clothes. As much as the fashion industry is trying not to associate certain clothes with languages, still in some reasons they become forced to do so. Fashion and culture have always been intertwined. In the society, people refer to certain fashion and designs as attributed to certain cultures. For example, sneakers get associated with the American culture (Douglas & Goodman 2004, p.78). There are some clothes which people associate them with hip hop culture, rock culture and the rest. Fashions get always attributed to certain cultures in the society. Individuals often associate with different cultures for the sake of identity (McCracken 2009, p.36). It is the love for identity that people often look for in certain clothes and materials. The items help them to associate with a given culture. In addition, there are some fashions that are unique, and it is only people who could afford them could possess them. Therefore, some fashion and design industries produce items that are u nique to the specifications of such people (McCracken 2009, p.40). Over time, consumption has proved to be site for social struggle between the agency and the structure. The fashion and design industry have at times have a problem with getting consumers for their products. Finding the right consumer for your product requires a lot of marketing into the lives of people living in the society. In regard to culture, sometimes fashion and culture have clashed. Take for instance the wearing of jeans by women in the Muslim community (Yurchisin 2010, p.33). The societies in some regions are against certain cultures. Majorly, the fashion and design industry often are in the move to create newer things, but the problem, which they often await is, will it be sold or not. There have been cases of outstanding designs and fashions rejected in certain