The Commodification of Self Response Writing Assignment

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Response: commodification of self
The “commodification of self” concept as discussed by Davis resonates with the way people identify themselves uniquely from other members of the society. In the past the gender roles played a great role in identify of individuals. There were tasks that were considered for male and others for female. However, with the modernisation and the advancement in society, gender roles are no longer unique ways of identity.
Culturally clothes were treated as garments for covering the human body. However, in the current modern world, what one wears, how they wear it and where they wear it has taken over as the key aspect of self-identity. This has increasingly created social paradigms and lines that differentiate different types of people in society. Marketers and brand managers have effectively managed to create unique items that people use to identify themselves with. This has further brought out the issue of social class in society. As Davis puts it, “To commodify is to relate to it as an object that can be bought and sold”. For instance, when we look at people who dress officially very often we relate them to be administrators or people who work in offices. We are more likely to identify rude kids by the dressing of buggy and saggy clothes. Or descent dressing is associated with religion and moral uprightness, but is this true?
In essence material wealth and possessions have been used as objects of achieving identity in the communities we live in. Those who possess cars and live in expensive houses are likely to be identified...