Assignment 1-3-2

The article Res Emptito Ergo Sum: Fashion and Commodity Fetishism, in Sophie Kinsella’s Confessions of a Shopaholic, is about a woman named Becky Bloomwood who replaces her human interaction and social life by spending large amounts of money on material things. Becky’s obsessive shopping habit soon gets her into a huge financial debt crisis. She does not acknowledge her shopping problem instead she ignores the bank letters and creditors and continues spending money. Living beyond her needs, she still does not care enough to minimize her shopping addiction.

Becky only goes shopping to make herself feel happy. She believes that this is the only thing that can make her feel good, loved, and that she has accomplished something in life.  Becky substitutes relationships with material artifacts, ”the tingly feeling a girl experiences when a good- looking young man gives her an appreciative glance is the feeling Becky gets when she sees the window displays at a store.”(Ghosh, 2013) Becky has attached herself to these items as if they interact with her like another human can. Jean Baudrillard argues why Becky may have these problems and soon labeled as a “shopaholic”. He states that “the ideal of consumption is founded on the substitution of the active relationship between human beings by a personalized relationship to objects.”(Ghosh, 2013) Sometimes she will notice that her spending gets out of control, but on the other hand, if she thinks about cutting back she will feel guilty.

These designer products have restricted her from social interactions. Becky’s life becomes possessed by these items. Jean points out that there’s a “myth of Woman” that was created by social media. Magazines always use subtle messages on how a woman should look when it comes to material things and body. He argues that” Becky has already been trained into subscribing to the ideal of Woman, and the advertisements in the magazines…. which will enable her to achieve her desired image.”(Ghosh, 2013) Becky finally came to realization and got a stable job to help her pay off some of the debt.

The author’s main point of this article is to show what kind of effect shopping has on some people. Becky was so out of control with her shopping habits, she went out of touch with reality. Ghosh has clearly and concisely described in detail the affects out of control spending can have on an individual.  This article is very well put together. I think that this is an important article especially because, those who are shopaholics. It is good for those who are because; it can give them insight on what they are doing.  It can prevent them from going on the wrong path of self-destruction and can look towards a different outlet to find self-worth instead of looking for happiness through fashionable artifacts.

 References

Ghosh, S. (2013). Res emptito sum: Fashion and commodity fetishism in Sophie Kinsella’s confessions of a shopaholic. 46(2), 378-393.