When I started this course I was definitely very deep in consumer culture. I think I recognized I was, but I just didn't care that much. I knew what ads were sexists or racists, and I knew that especially for girls, advertising was creating an impossible ideal. I guess more than I would like to admit I tried to play the advertisers game, obviously I was loosing, no one wins with them.
I think part of this was probably moving to western Massechuettes. I'm from florida and people are pretty stereotypical there, especially where i'm from. At home, make-up is worn at all times, and we are expected to have "bikini ready bodies" all year long. The car you drive and the clothes you wear are at most times noted by peers. Smith and surrounding area is kind of the opposite of that, and being in this area helped me to move away from the thinking that a persons worth is connected to what they look like and what they own.
Throughout the course I started to realize that I didn't have to let these ads have control over me. This course definitely opened my eyes. To be honest i'm not going to go off the grind or do anything dramatic, like never buy a brand again, but I am more aware of what marketers are doing, and I am no longer impressed by it. Moving forward, I will stay aware of the tricks the advertisers play, and I will try to not fall for them. This consumer culture really is toxic to us, especially to kids, and I hope that it can change. I hope that less people will play into the hands of the advertisers and then maybe we can move past this. I hope that as culture we start to focus less on what we own and more on who we are.
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