Sharon Zukin’s “Julia Learns to Shop”, Essay Example

Sharon Zukin’s “Julia Learns to Shop” discusses the role of shopping and consumerism in social status. Julia shows her knowledge of luxury Italian purses despite her inability to afford most of those types of goods. Zukin relates the story of Julia with the concept of shopping as a learning tool instead of actual consumption. This means that although certain people cannot afford to buy a luxury purse, they can still enjoy learning about the product. Clothing, purses, technology, all of these items are consumer goods that can represent status among cultures. Julia “learned” to shop by studying people. This type of behavior often results in sizing people up based on their clothing, jewelry and other on-person items they may carry. What then happens is placing value on these items in order to maintain social status.

At one point in the discussion, the idea of taste clustering comes up. Taste clustering is when people determine their social circles based on similar tastes. Zukin also talks about conflict in shopping and acquiring material goods. She says that Julia made the distinction between shopping for social significance compared to learning about items to gain cultural capital, and that Julia wanted to make sure she is not seen as a snob. This is because she does not place moral value on shopping and social status, and that she is able to see the difference between needing and wanting, and not being able to afford certain items. Shopping for Julia, and many others, creates inner conflict in consumers because the desire to want nice things also puts too much value judgment into unnecessary material goods.