Culture of the Luxury?- Luke
Luke Kirchner
Cultural Anthropology is the study of cultures in human societies (shocker...). The idea behind it is to contrast the other side, social anthropology, and to gain more information as a whole. A good topic to focus on is our idea of luxury. What is luxury you might ask? Well, in theory, it started with the feeling to want more; to upgrade from just simple clothing. For the most part the main turning point of the ideas of luxury happened during three distinct times. But what makes us like what we like? And why do we need it?
Most of it has to do with the culture around us. One thing that might be considered a luxury may not be somewhere else. A common factor in luxuries has to do with exclusiveness that can elevate you to a certain statues. Gold, for example is kind of "pretty" but is more exclusive than anything. It then becomes a luxury because it is expensive. Another interesting phenomenon around luxury is the red carpet. In theory it is just another random carpet that happens to be red. But it is associated with famousness and therefore can be considered a luxury, because only the exclusive get to "experience" the red carpet.
While it's hard to pinpoint where exactly these norms started, it is most definitely rooted in social norms and in society. I would assume many luxuries started with the effects on royalty in order to gain superiority over other 'peasants'. In theory, many luxuries are not necessary but have ended up as part of our culture. Looking at something like A/C, many countries don't have them because they are not necessary. In the US though, especially southern states, A/C is totally a norm. It is interesting to compare the norms vs luxuries.
https://culanth.org/fieldsights/series/an-anthropogenic-table-of-elements-1
Cultural Anthropology is the study of cultures in human societies (shocker...). The idea behind it is to contrast the other side, social anthropology, and to gain more information as a whole. A good topic to focus on is our idea of luxury. What is luxury you might ask? Well, in theory, it started with the feeling to want more; to upgrade from just simple clothing. For the most part the main turning point of the ideas of luxury happened during three distinct times. But what makes us like what we like? And why do we need it?
Most of it has to do with the culture around us. One thing that might be considered a luxury may not be somewhere else. A common factor in luxuries has to do with exclusiveness that can elevate you to a certain statues. Gold, for example is kind of "pretty" but is more exclusive than anything. It then becomes a luxury because it is expensive. Another interesting phenomenon around luxury is the red carpet. In theory it is just another random carpet that happens to be red. But it is associated with famousness and therefore can be considered a luxury, because only the exclusive get to "experience" the red carpet.
While it's hard to pinpoint where exactly these norms started, it is most definitely rooted in social norms and in society. I would assume many luxuries started with the effects on royalty in order to gain superiority over other 'peasants'. In theory, many luxuries are not necessary but have ended up as part of our culture. Looking at something like A/C, many countries don't have them because they are not necessary. In the US though, especially southern states, A/C is totally a norm. It is interesting to compare the norms vs luxuries.
https://culanth.org/fieldsights/series/an-anthropogenic-table-of-elements-1
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