Kardashian Popular Culture

In today's popular culture it is expected of people to have the newest and most popular items, and this reflects back on one's social status. The message that is being pushed at people is that we need more stuff and the stuff we already have isn't good enough. People watch reality television shows such as Keeping up with the Kardashians and watch people who not only have the ability to own multiple cars and have walk in closets filled with the newest fashions but normalize this behavior and make it enviable. For a person of normal wealth spending thousands of dollars per year for new clothing just isn't realistic, but instead of being content with less clothing (because everything around them tells them they need more) they instead look to
Once stores that offer five dollar shirts exist, it can be hard for people to rationalize spending more for the same style shirt, even if the money would benefit much more people than buying from the giant corporation (where the profits really only benefit the people at the top) selling cheap products. In this documentary, we are witness to the lengths that companies are taking to cut costs, such as; employing people in low developed countries who own factories to produce their product at a very low cost while these factories are filled with people (mostly women) who are paid far below a living wage. Our consumerism is ruining not only the people that live close to home that rely on their skills of sewing to make a living (fewer people buy clothes off of local clothing brands that charge more) it is also negatively affecting the lives of people in countries we have never stepped foot
We as the consumer feel like we are benefiting because we are presented with tons of clothes for a cheaper price, but these clothes often will fall apart and won’t last very long (made from cheaper quality materials) and we will just have to replace these items more often. Due to this, we pay less upfront, but the cost to constantly replace clothing that is falling apart is higher in the long run than paying for higher quality goods at the beginning. We are able to embody the appearance of people who can always afford the latest fashions while thinking that we are avoiding the cost. The people benefiting from these cheap costs are really the rich few; the owners and higher ups of the companies bringing the latest ‘fast fashion’, while hurting the workers of the companies, outsourcing the labor (sewing) to less developed countries where they can get away with poor working conditions and paying the workers almost nothing. This hurts two groups of people, the workers in the developed countries that are protected by wage laws no longer have access to the job due to outsourcing, and the employees in the less developed countries who are forced to work insane hours, and in dangerous working conditions