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In China, alpha males carry designer purses

latimes.com

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Re: In China, alpha males carry designer purses

#51

Post by drinian »

stcredzero wrote: post #27

This is one of the big rifts between foreign born immigrant Asians and their children. (I'm such a child.) A lot of children of immigrants are embarrassed by their parent's obsession with material things and signaling. In actuality, this behavior is quite similar to the signaling through conspicuous consumption of other North Americans. However, culturally different practices stand out, while the local ways of doing…

Spending months of your salary on a designer handbag, or whatever it is they think the culture values, is not a way to signal anything other than "I'm an idiot."

Re: In China, alpha males carry designer purses

#52

Post by brc »

jrockway wrote: post #44
atgm wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really assume that someone's rich because they have a nice watch, either... or that they're not rich because they're not wearing a watch.

Right, because in our generation, we don't really "get" watches. I mean, I know that there are $20,000 watches in the Universe, but I wouldn't know one if I saw one. So I don't consider it a status symbol and wouldn't pick it up if someone was using an expensive watch as a status symbol. To that generation that "gets it", though, then perhaps watches are status symbols. A status symbol that people have these days is…

Trust me, if you saw a really expensive watch, you'd know it was an expensive watch.

You don't have to know the list price of a sports car to tell it is expensive. It's obvious just from looking at it.

Re: In China, alpha males carry designer purses

#53

Post by nickpinkston »

pasbesoin wrote: post #47
atgm wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that watches are kind of going out of style, with all of the electronic devices people have. Perhaps the US version would be a nice smartphone, a nice MP3 player, and nice, non-Apple earbuds.

Gave mine up after the band broke (yet again) from constantly taking it off to type (wrist rest).

Haha - me too! Are we just too busy (lazy?) to fix it?

Re: In China, alpha males carry designer purses

#54

Post by cma »

ars wrote: post #4
cma wrote: post #2

"That figure is just 7% in the U.S." Should set off some bullshit flags on their methodology for classification.

Were you expecting higher or lower? I was expecting closer to 0, unless they include things like messenger and laptop bags.

lower

Re: In China, alpha males carry designer purses

#55

Post by fanboy123 »

atgm wrote: post #25
fanboy123 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually I would think the US version would be a nice watch. The article seems to stress that it is a status indicator for business purposes.

Except that watches are kind of going out of style, with all of the electronic devices people have. Perhaps the US version would be a nice smartphone, a nice MP3 player, and nice, non-Apple earbuds.

Really expensive timepieces should have gone out with the quartz watches that came in during the 80s. They haven't because some of the rich and powerful use an inferior technology (from a timekeeping perspective) to show how successful they are.

While hackers may just use their phones it is unusual to see a wealthy banker, talent agent or lawyer without a nice watch. I would assume it is more prevalent in jobs that require a lot of signaling for negotiation.

Re: In China, alpha males carry designer purses

#56

Post by stcredzero »

drinian wrote: post #51
stcredzero wrote: post #27

This is one of the big rifts between foreign born immigrant Asians and their children. (I'm such a child.) A lot of children of immigrants are embarrassed by their parent's obsession with material things and signaling. In actuality, this behavior is quite similar to the signaling through conspicuous consumption of other North Americans. However, culturally different practices stand out, while the local ways of doing…

Spending months of your salary on a designer handbag, or whatever it is they think the culture values, is not a way to signal anything other than "I'm an idiot."

How about 3 months of your salary on a small stone of no special rarity or particular utility, just because an international cartel succeeded in telling people they should? The entire industrialized world engages in this foolery.

This roundly shows the hypocrisy of those from the west making snide comments about Chinese engaging in signaling. It's a part of North American culture to engage in such signaling as a matter of course. The majority of all retail establishments would lose a big chunk of their profits without such tendencies. It's the same sort of thing as people criticizing ghetto kids for buying Nike shoes. I wonder how many of those critics save enough for their own retirement?

Re: In China, alpha males carry designer purses

#57

Post by drinian »

stcredzero wrote: post #56
drinian wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spending months of your salary on a designer handbag, or whatever it is they think the culture values, is not a way to signal anything other than "I'm an idiot."

How about 3 months of your salary on a small stone of no special rarity or particular utility, just because an international cartel succeeded in telling people they should? The entire industrialized world engages in this foolery. This roundly shows the hypocrisy of those from the west making snide comments about Chinese engaging in signaling. It's a part of North American culture to engage in such signaling as a matt…

What makes you think that the same Chinese who base their self-worth on Coach handbags don't also aspire to DeBeers diamonds? I stand by my comment, but doubly so because China is far from an industrialized nation. The people buying these things can't even drink their houses' tap water.

Re: In China, alpha males carry designer purses

#58

Post by atgm »

fanboy123 wrote: post #55
atgm wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that watches are kind of going out of style, with all of the electronic devices people have. Perhaps the US version would be a nice smartphone, a nice MP3 player, and nice, non-Apple earbuds.

Really expensive timepieces should have gone out with the quartz watches that came in during the 80s. They haven't because some of the rich and powerful use an inferior technology (from a timekeeping perspective) to show how successful they are. While hackers may just use their phones it is unusual to see a wealthy banker, talent agent or lawyer without a nice watch. I would assume it is more prevalent in jobs that r…

I guess I don't hobnob with the wealthy enough.

Re: In China, alpha males carry designer purses

#59

Post by hetman »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #28

Wait, other countries and cultures don't adhere to the United States finely ingrained, unforgiving gender stereotypes? Let's have a laugh, they have girly-men. Sigh.

It's amazing how often we take for granted that many cultural habits are nothing more than exactly that. Instead there's this tendency to assume they result from some sort of greater underlying truth.

The reversal of colour gender association in the mid 20th century is a great example which is often very surprising to people.

Re: In China, alpha males carry designer purses

#60

Post by [deleted] »

teye wrote: post #18

The 20-year-old office clerk at a Beijing cosmetics manufacturer knows it could set him back more than $1,000. He'll have to save for months. But he said it would be money well spent. "As a man, you must have one of those bags," he said. "It will bring you status, dignity and boost your image." Petrifying though that may be, that's only months. We saddle ourselves with six years of payments for the status symbols we…

[deleted]
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