This is my draft for essay #6. I put in some notes in italics so you could see where I am going to add more. I had some trouble with this essay, so any suggestions you have would be awesome. I know I need to define "mall culture" a little better in the third paragraph, and I plan on doing it after the peer review. I have another article that I found last night that is about mall culture and fine art, and how the two relate. It's a really neat article, so I will be adding at least a paragraph or two to discuss that. Finally, I couldn't really find much for a counter-argument. Everyone seems to sort of agree that there is a mall culture, so if you have any counter-arguments, let me have it! I have a little bit of an idea for a counter, but I am sort of stuck with it, so I want to see what you guys say before I go with it. Thanks for your feedback!
Lisa Dunbar
Lauren Servais
Engl 1A
8 Dec 2008
Lauren Servais
Engl 1A
8 Dec 2008
Mall America
For intro: where malls originated from (Underhill, 4), consumerism (from fine art of shopping article), and/or the rocks & water quote from “mall together now.”
Most people go to the mall, get what they need and leave, not returning until the next time they need a new pair of shoes or they read in the Sunday paper that Macy’s is having a big sale. These people don’t see the mall as recreational or fun, they just go because they need a specific product or service. Factor out this group of people, and you are left with a different type of population. The people that are left, who are they? On the surface, they are shoppers, workers, and mallrats. Together, they belong to a culture that is widely unrecognized as a whole. Most people do not realize that there is such a thing as “mall culture,” or that it plays such a huge part in shaping us as a society.
There are many parts that make up this mall culture as a whole, ranging from young to old, rich to poor, and everywhere in between. Just like the United States, the mall is a melting pot: so many different types of people come to the mall, and while they are there, they are a part of the whole. There’s the trophy wife wandering around with a Frappuccino and an armful of shopping bags, the exasperated mother who drops her kids off at the toy store so she can do her shopping in peace, and the man picking out a gift for his wife at the jewelry store. Once school gets out, the mall is overrun with teenagers trying on clothes they have no money to buy, and filling their stomachs with sticky-sweet cinnamon rolls. And then there are the “mallrats,” who steal change out of the fountain in the middle of the mall and hang around the front entrance after the merchants have security chase them out. Last, but certainly not least, are the mall employees who are the oil of the shopping machine, so to speak.
Some might argue that there is no such thing as “mall culture,” but in the words of a teenage mall queen, “Whatever. There totally is.” I worked in the mall for ten years; three of which were spent managing a candy store and an “old-lady shoe store,” and seven of which were spent managing a “California Teen Lifestyle” retailer. One might think I am generalizing and limiting my focus to the younger crowd, but in my years of working at the mall, I have realized that the culture includes so much more than just the teenage “valley girls” with their miniskirts and cell phones, and the boys with their baggy pants and noses for trouble.
On the other hand, quite a few of my friends and family agree that mall culture is sweeping the nation. I spoke with some co-workers at “Company X,” my most recent employer, and we came to the conclusion that not only is the mall a culture of its own, there are even smaller groups that make up sub-cultures within the mall. The largest one that comes to mind is the employees. You might, for example, go to the mall and realize that the girl who helped you find an outfit to wear to your cousin’s Christmas party is the same girl who sold you your work shoes at Sears five months ago. Practically everyone who works at the mall knows each other. It’s almost like a community within the culture; some employees become friends, and I have even known married couples who met while working at the mall. Malls create thousands of jobs, and the list is almost endless: maintenance workers, security guards, salespeople, store managers, mall managers, and much more than I could even begin to list right here. It is shocking to think how many Americans would be unemployed without the mall. Now that we have created this culture, it seems to own us.
What makes us go to the mall? For a teenage girl, it’s almost like a rite of passage to go to the mall with her friends. Free from the watchful eye of their parents, the girls try on forbidden bikinis, drink frappuccinos, and flirt with boys. Is this healthy behavior? Shouldn’t they be doing something more wholesome than learning to consume, especially unsupervised? I think so, and I’m not alone. I came across an article written for the New York Times Magazine by Firoozeh Dumas, about her 13-year-old daughter’s birthday trip to the mall, and although she allowed the trip to take place, she “…was not about to drop the girls off by themselves” (Dumas). Not done here…still another quote to add and respond to.
Some people go to the mall for the social aspect, and aren’t even there to shop. The teenage girls get all dolled up like their favorite starlets on the pages of Teen Vouge, and the mall is their catwalk. They strut their stuff, hoping to attract the stares of the teenage boys, who cruise the mall in packs, too shy to break away and approach. Moms pushing newborns in strollers come to the mall because they have to get out of the house, to have social interaction with anyone who speaks more than just baby talk. Old people go to the mall just to talk to someone, because they have no one at home to talk to. I’ve even seen a homeless man in there, talking to the soda machines. An alarming number of people go to the mall just because they’re bored and have nothing better to do. I can’t imagine having that much spare time, but I can’t speak for everyone. It’s almost like the mall has a magnetic pull, people go there and don’t even know why.
In our culture, the mall is a symbol of prosperity, and so if you go to the mall and leave with armfuls of shopping bags filled with goodies, then you must be prosperous. I mean, you can afford all the stuff you bought, right? If your credit card is still working, then no worries – at least until the bill shows up in your mailbox and you realize you are deeper in debt than you thought. So many of us fold under the pressure of the marketing schemes these retailers dream up that we end up broke, or worse, with a distorted body image. Even I almost fell for this a couple of times when I worked at “Company X.” We were given huge discounts on certain outfits so that we could wear them to work and “look the part,” in the hope that our impressionable teen target audience would want to look just like us and buy these exact outfits. There’s even a name for this type of strategy: “Brand Right.” What this means is, if you wear all the “cool” brands, then you, too, are cool. It is amazing to watch people pay to turn themselves into a walking billboard for a brand.
“Branding” is an important part of mall culture. These days, any card-carrying mallrat can take one look at you and be able to tell exactly which stores you shop at, just by the clothes you are wearing. In his book Call of the Mall, Paco Underhill says that “The store names do a good job of differentiating the tribes—you’ve got Pac Sun versus Abercrombie & Fitch versus Against All Odds” (Underhill 161). In my years working at the mall, this was very apparent to me. I’ll come clean on the identity of “Company X” – it’s Pac Sun, and it was directly across from Hot Topic. Most kids who shop at Hot Topic wouldn’t be caught dead shopping at Pac Sun because it isn’t “punk” enough for them, and most kids who shop at Pac Sun would rather die than shop at Abercrombie & Fitch because it’s “too preppy” for them. Suggest Old Navy or American Eagle to any of the aforementioned teenagers, and you’ll get shot down in a second. Why? What on earth is the difference? As an adult, think about which stores you shop at, and which ones you would never set foot inside. It’s the same concept, which Underhill refers to as “retail tribalism” (Underhill 161), and we all participate in it. We choose the tribe we want to identify with, and by what we are wearing, we show the world our loyalty. I shop at Old Navy, but I’d never set foot inside an Express store. I’m just as guilty as any other shopper, whether I want to admit it or not.
Don’t get me wrong – in theory, the mall is a great idea. My mom pointed out that she is drawn to the safety and convenience of the mall. She likes knowing that she can go to one place and get everything she needs without having to worry about driving from one shop to the next. It is one entity, enclosed and safe, where you can get just about anything your heart desires. Under one roof, you can get Craftsman tools, a push-up bra, a motorized robotic vacuum cleaner, 600-thread-count sheets, a lime-green Kitchenaid stand mixer, and a book about Chuck Norris. I’m not fibbing or stretching the truth, I really did see every one of these things on my last trip to the mall. Granted, most people don’t go to the mall looking for any of that stuff, but they take comfort in knowing that they wouldn’t have to run all over town searching for it if they needed it. In some ways I do, too. If I ever need something really outrageous, the mall is always the first place I go, and it rarely fails me.
Maybe the next time you go to the mall, you will read between the lines and become aware of the small parts that make up the mall culture. Maybe you won’t, and you still think there is no such thing. Are you denying it because you just don’t see it, or is it because you are afraid to admit you are a part of it? I didn’t see it at all before I worked there, and now it is all I can see on the rare occasion that I do visit the mall. When I go into the stores and see the energetic young employees, I can’t help but wonder if they see it too; and I look at the shoppers and wonder if they realize they are a part of it.
Works Cited
Dumas, Firoozeh. "Mall Together Now.(Magazine Desk)(LIVES)(Column)." The New York Times Magazine. (July 13, 2008): 66(L). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Santa Rosa Junior College Library. 8 Dec. 2008
Theil, Stefan. "The Fine Art of Shopping; A new museum exhibit celebrates the growing bond between high culture and mall culture :[Atlantic Edition]. " Newsweek 28 Oct. 2002: 86. Research Library Core. ProQuest. Santa Rosa Junior College Library. 8 Dec. 2008 http://www.proquest.com.proxy.www.santarosa.edu:2048/
Underhill, Paco. Call of the Mall. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2005.
4 comments:
1. What is the writer’s thesis? Summarize in one sentence.
Even though some are not aware of it, there is indeed a mall culture.
2. What evidence is cited to prove and support the writer’s thesis? What pieces of evidence are cited from the readings and/or the writer’s observations to support the thesis? You worked at a mall, New York Times Magazine Article, book, Call of the mall.
3. Is the writer’s reasoning/critical thinking provided to explain how the evidence proves and supports the thesis? Yes, you have many great examples, from working at the mall to reading a book about it
4. Does the writer address counter-claims in the essay? Does the writer effectively refute the counter with evidence and reasoning? I think it will be hard to have a counter argument for this. Did you try doing a search on Proquest?
5. What else could the writer cite as evidence in this essay? I am not sure, as you have many great examples.
6. What counter-claims still need to be addressed?
Finding a source that denies mall culture.
Is there any other feedback you want to share?
I really like this essay, you are very convincing and I think that that is what makes this essay so strong. Like I said before, perhaps doing a search or something. Sorry I am really no help in that area.
Nice work!
1. What is the writer’s thesis? Summarize in one sentence:that there is a mall culture and it is influencial to us as Americans.
2. What evidence is cited to prove and support the writer’s thesis?: that everyone goes to the mall but they all fit in steryotypes ie homeless man (hehe),"sybol of prosperity,branding,
What pieces of evidence are cited from the readings and/or the writer’s observations to support the thesis?:personal experince,(Dumas)13-year-old,Underhill 161
3. Is the writer’s reasoning/critical thinking provided to explain how the evidence proves and supports the thesis? you thing about the people and why they go to the mall, what it does to our socitey and why people are drawn to it.
4. Does the writer address counter-claims in the essay? Does the writer effectively refute the counter with evidence and reasoning? no but there may not be one.
5. What else could the writer cite as evidence in this essay?
couter claim if you can find one.
6. What counter-claims still need to be addressed?I guess if maybe you could get a hold of a teenager and interview?
Is there any other feedback you want to share?: I tried to find a counter claim and came up with nada. I really like your paper though! very interesting. I never really thought about a mall culture before you brought it up.
1. Thesis - There is a mall culture
2. Evidence - a couple of examples, but mostly great examples!!!! very vivid descriptions
3. The evidence - shows critical thinking by using real life examples and defining "mall rats" and then using vivid examples... great job on this part
4. Counter claim - it is mentioned that this whole idea may be perception
5. I have a great article for you !!!
I need your email but I will try to post the link it is counter argument
This is the counter article that I found!!!
Hope it helps
Great job even with the burn out factor!
A signal that the mall culture is, like, ending. By: Wood, Daniel B., Christian Science Monitor, 08827729, 3/16/99, Vol. 91, Issue 75
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A SIGNAL THAT THE MALL CULTURE IS, LIKE, ENDING
Contents
Tremors of change
Not just another mall
THAT WAS SO `80S
Dateline: SHERMAN OAKS, CALIF.
Years from now, when sociologists look at the legacy that the Sherman Oaks Galleria mall left to America, they will be able to sum it up in one word: "rad."
For most of the 1980s, the Galleria defined what was "like, totally awesome" and what was "grody to the max" - a Louvre for the lexicon of youth culture. Featured in films such as "Valley Girl" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," this monolithic building nestled in California's San Fernando Valley heralded the suburban mall as the decade's new-order, gathering space for teens to be seen and just be. It replaced that rite-of-passage function of the roadster cruising strips of the '50s and '60s.
Today, however, the mall stands silent. All but a few stores are empty and the rest are holding close-out sales. A victim of the 1994 earthquake and changing times, the Galleria will close April 1 and reopen two years from now in a different incarnation.
Its demise, say sociologists, is a reminder of how much American youth culture has changed during the past decade. Today's teens are gathering in Internet "chat rooms" to sharpen the latest teenspeak and malls themselves are morphing into meccas for family entertainment that include theme parks, ice rinks, and zoos.
"For nearly two decades, the Sherman Oaks Galleria was the mythic locale for the archetype of the high school mall rat," says Andrew Herman, who teaches a course about malls at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. "Now malls themselves are not dead, but instead are becoming multiplex family entertainment centers. Teens do their shopping and conversation on the Web."
One such mall is about an hour's drive West of Los Angeles. At the 200-store Ontario Mills Mall, a new concept called "interactive shoppertainment" specifically targets parents, dating couples, families, and kids. The lure: do everything from ogling bobcats and lizards at an on-site museum to skiing in virtual reality video game.
"Our industry has been stale for a long time," says manager Dennis McGregor. "We are seeking to optimize consumer buying and leisure all at once."
Tremors of change
For the Galleria, the 6.7 magnitude earthquake of Jan. 17, 1994 helped give this trend a nudge. Located only about three miles from the quake's epicenter, the mall and surrounding area suffered extensive damage, driving out residents and retailers.
"New management fixed the place up but it never quite recovered," says Ed Edmunds, who is moving his import gifts store to the Fashion Square Mall, just miles away.
Designers of newer malls are increasingly rejecting the Galleria model, which has no street-pedestrian access, is fully enclosed, and is accessible only through parking garages.
"Anytime the owners came up with anything fancy that would open the place up to the community, the homeowners shot it down," says Edmunds. The compromise: The Galleria will have one floor of restaurants, a second floor of offices, and 18 cinemas.
Despite these scheduled improvements, some in the surrounding community are already mourning the loss of the icon.
"I'm like totally shocked," says Steve Thomas from nearby Chatsworth, who frequently left behind his community's "low rent" malls for the upscale Galleria. "You come over here, it's supposed to be high budget but now it's closing out and like, 'Wow, we'll have to kick it over to Burbank or something, I guess.' "
Not just another mall
To some, the difference between Burbank shopping strips and the Galleria may only be a few more minutes' driving time. But others say the closing of the old Galleria represents, in some ways, the symbolic end to a chapter in American cultural history.
Kevin Starr, California's state historian, says the Valley Girl phenomenon incubated in the Galleria was a product of a softening reaction by women to the hard-edged political activism of the baby boom generation. The new Valleyspeak - from "freak me out" to "gag me with a spoon" - was milder than the antiwar rhetoric and free-love speech of the 1960s. And congregating at the mall was not about dropping out by using drugs or other abusive behaviors but rather more about escaping into a kind of benign, if selfish, consumerism.
"The teenagers who populated the Galleria were staking out a turf of styles, language and behavior that set a trend for a whole generation of Americans," says Mr. Starr. "It was that decade's way for peers to create a separate universe for themselves outside the home."
Broadcast through songs like Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl," the subculture was also female-dominant, says Starr. "The Valley girl dominated the Valley boy in terms of initiative, in terms of making decisions from what to wear and where to go," says Starr.
Though most of America disparaged the common coarseness of the Valley Girl image, Starr says they were models for the triumph of the middle class. "The country sneered at them, at the same time they flocked to copy them," says Starr. "Now they are principals, judges, attorneys."
Now that Galleria is gone, is Valleyspeak gone for good? Says Mr. Thomas: "That, like, totally ended in the '80s."
Fershure.
PHOTO (COLOR): EMPTY: The Sherman Oaks Galleria mall will sonn close
PHOTO (COLOR): LONELY: A few shoppers walk through the Sherman Oaks Galleria mall in California amid sales signs and closed storefronts. Featured in the 1983 film `Valley Girl,` the mall is closing on April 1
~~~~~~~~
By Daniel B. Wood, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
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