Refection 6
I resonated a lot with the Bourdieu’s Cultural Capital, the Love of Art & Hip Hop. We can many times see that choices of individuals belonging to the same classes or having the same backgrounds are similar. One of the explanations could be that as attitude affects the behavior, it is more likely that persons with similar preferences will encounter each other. For example it is more likely that people who like visiting museums will meet more of such people when they visit museums. Our tastes and habits are dictated by our social environments and our minds. My mother being an artist, I always admired paintings and different artworks as a child. I was also better at sketching, painting in my school than my classmates and could talk about art. I think this was my cultural capital, that because of my background my teachers appreciated me. And in contrast, after coming to the US, I was lacking the knowledge about US pop culture. I used to find it difficult to talk about topics other than academics with my peers. So, I can totally agree that depth of knowledge can give you power to make more connections and influence people. I remember watching an Indian series, where it’s shown that an organization teaches young impoverished girls, the mannerisms, ways of talking, tastes and topics of the upper class. With these skills the protagonist could easily enter an upper class circle and start her business with the help of her new connections. I think it just reflects the quality of humans to be comfortable around familiar things or people. As it’s more likely that similar others will have similar opinions and world views that validate one’s own opinions. And hence interaction with similar people can be a source of social reinforcement. We anticipate rejection from dissimilar people, and everyone wants to avoid rejection. But again it’s interesting that this similarity is relative. If we reflect on our friendships, it’s more likely that we will notice the differences more than the similarities. But if we compare the similarities between us and a close friend to the similarities between us and a random person then the relevance of similarity for friendship becomes apparent.
It always affected me how aesthetics are down played in design thinking with the focus on usability. I agree that usability and user-centric design are cardinal. Don Norman has said that “Attractive things work better”. And I agree with that point as well. As it creates a positive effect which leads to users ignoring minor difficulties. It led me to think what is design? It has a problem solving side and also a styling aspect. It can range from making a shoe, designing a dress, a website, a piece of furniture, an accessory and so much more. Design can be said as creation of an experience but it’s too multifaceted. For solving problems designers rely on data and hence the toolkit of designers is research and not aesthetics. But also design is more than usability, as it makes ordinary things more meaningful and brings happiness. It’s worth thinking if style is only an aspect of the product. I believe style becomes the identity of the product.
Another point which struck me was Pierre Bourdieu’s statement that aesthetic judgements are inherently and forcefully political. As questions of beauty and taste appear natural, they are powerful ways of reinforcing hierarchical distinctions between people. Though we have seen this everywhere, it was something I never thought about. We always tend to judge people and identify their class based on their tastes and the aesthetic appeal of the products they use and the places where they live. I find it worth mentioning that Indian schools have a system where students are made to wear uniforms. It is an attempt to bring equality in children and to reduce hierarchical distinctions. Though the tastes and aesthetics of school bags, lunch boxes, bottles and other supplies make the distinction evident, still the impact is reduced because of the uniforms. Also we identify tastes with communities and backgrounds. Use of aesthetics in movies and TV shows is also very common to tell more about the character and the character’s financial standing. I recently watched marvelous Mrs. Maisel, where it’s apparent that Miriam Maisel comes from an upper class family from her dressing and the aesthetics of her apartment from the upper west side. On the contrary, we can understand that Susie comes from a lower class and is barely managing to earn for her living, from her small apartment and the fact that she needs to shift her bed each time before opening the door of her apartment. It’s interesting to see how your tastes are shaped by the society to which you belong and how your tastes shape your social life.
