Show me what you wear I'll tell you who you are

Caramel is a 2007 award-winning Lebanese film. The director, Nadine Labaki is also the main actress in the film. According to IMDb, a popular online database of information affiliated with visual media, that Caramel won five awards including the Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards and was nominated for five others.



The film features the daily lives of five different Lebanese women. Layal, Nesrine and Rima work together in a beauty saloon. Jamal, a woman in her forties is a regular customer of the saloon. Throughout the movie, we see her trying to make herself look younger and convincing herself and everyone around her that she could still be a part of the advertisements’ world. The fifth character is Rose, an aged woman who never got married because of her devotion to take care of her mentally disabled sister, Lili. Rose finally gets to find the love of her life and yet she chooses her sister over her happiness once again.



Throughout the film, we see the direct confrontation between tradition and modernization in different scenes. This is manifested in the opening scene where Layal was making (home-made) Sukar (sugar), a traditional means, which is used for waxing. Then, right after that scene, we see that the saloon has a lot of modern equipment.



The choice of music in the film also emphasizes the clash between tradition and modernization. We see Layal driving her car ¬– a symbol of modernization – while listening to traditional, old Lebanese songs. The wedding song Layal and Jamal were singing to Nesrine in the saloon as a way to celebrate her upcoming wedding. In addition, the music that was played during Nesrine’s wedding was consisting of Mawwals – songs that are typically played in traditional Lebanese weddings. The music in all these scenes bring out the role tradition and culture plays in these characters’ daily lives.



The interior design and the décor in the different houses displayed in the film also demonstrate the clash between tradition and modernization. These houses played an important role in giving the audiences specific ideas about the characters. The architecture of Bassam’s house, Nesrine’s husband, was very traditional with the penthouse and the well. On the other hand, Salah’s (Layal’s married boyfriend) house, we see the aquarium and the modern furniture. One can immediately notice that modernization is the emblem of a highbrow culture in Lebanon. How your house looks like or what car you drive are expressive of which class you belong to, the elite, educated class or the traditional middle-class.



Fashion is also a part of this picture of tradition versus modernization. We see the younger characters more associated with modern clothing. Rose and Lili represented the older generation with their old-fashioned skirts and dresses. On the other hand, we see Layal being the most fashionable among the five women. Fashion seem to signify someone’s status in this movie as well – the more modernized clothes; the higher social class. Upper class people are the ones who wear stylish and elegant clothes.



One can see how music, furniture, fashion are used in movies to indicate of the clash between culture and tradition on the one hand and between modernization and westernization on the other hand.

Glass Ceiling barriers Can Be Broken!

When sociologists study gender, they focus on male-female differences in behavior and appearance that have been socially created. Sexism has brought many inequalities to women, especially within areas of education, work and politics. By sexism, I mean the belief that one sex- and by extension, one gender- is innately superior to another, justifying unequal treatment of the sexes. The concept of gender stratification becomes evident, as there tends to be unequal access to power, prestige, and property on the basis of sex/gender.



The notion of glass ceiling could be the reason for gender inequality. In this case, glass ceiling is an invisible barrier that keeps women from reaching the highest ranks of jobs or industries. This may be the case with some women, but not with all women, certainly not Mercedes Duerineckx. She is the founder and CEO of the International and well known, Art Wanson Gallery. She has created a luxurious platform for all art expressions, under the trademark of excellence, tradition and exclusivity.



Women tend to face gender discrimination within higher education, but Duerinckx didn’t. She got her Business Administration degree in Tourism.



Duerinckx’s education and Art Wanson Gallery is not her only accomplishment. She has been awarded businesswomen of the year 1992 in Morocco, Founder and CEO in real state industry 1985-1992, and the executive member of Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Tanger.



She said that growing up in a multicultural family has helped her become who she is today. Duerinckx was born in a Spanish family in Morocco and later on moved to Spain and France. In sociological terms, she was raised in a highbrow culture, with a diverse cultural background.

Everyone wants to be The Joneses

In this blog post I will be talking about conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure in the movie, “The Joneses”. In this movie a self-marketing unit working on increasing the revenue of other companies hires a fake family to promote for their products. The Joneses, who are living the American Dream, come to this neighborhood with the company’s products, fancy cars, clothe. They have to live in a fancy house and get the job of making others want the products they have done. Throughout the movie, we see conspicuous consumption appear when The Joneses wear and use purchases such as phones, jewelry, food, ect, making people around them impressed.



From the readings and especially the movie we watched previously, “Six Degrees Of Separation”, we always see how highbrow culture consumers tend to sell their life style to people of lowbrow culture. Yet, in this movie, we see fake, high social class family trying to sell their lifestyle to their upper class neighbors. “If people want you, they want what you’ve got”, and according to that The Joneses manage to be the most popular and wanted people in the town by making connections with store owners, throwing parties and making friends, impressing them with the things they own and make them want to own those things as well.



The increases in revenues of these companies are measured by numbers, calculations and graphs. Each member of the fake family is asked to get the highest numbers possible. The fake family did not display class and status through the things they have, yet, they also practiced high-culture pastimes as we see the man of the fake family playing golf, and play classical music.



In short, the movie, “The Joneses” shows us how people of highbrow cultures live, and the effect they can have on each others’ decisions. As known such movies are pointed to people of lowbrow culture, but in real life such life style affect people of highbrow culture too.

Conspicuous Consumption in Sociology

I agree with Karl Marx that class conflict is the engine of social change and historical development. You can find many examples that serve as a proof of Karl Marx’s theory, whether it was here in Qatar, or any other part of the world. In a democratic society where social mobility is possible, people in lower classes work hard to earn the best education to later get a great job and be part of the highbrow culture.

Particularly in Qatar, people are in a constant struggle to improve their social class. They would do all it takes to “up-grade” their status. Some families would go as far as taking massive loans to purchase expensive cars that they obviously can’t afford. Here in Qatar, people indulge in conspicuous consumption, a sociology term that means that they purchase something in an attempt to display high status or class through the consumption of highbrow culture, luxury goods and services.

One cannot believe the lengths some people will go to just to show off their new house, car or even something as simple as their cell phone. How often do you see a person walking while holding his/her blackberry instead of keeping it in the bag or the purse? I’m guessing that you witnessed that a lot. Although the reasonable thing for a person is to keep his/her cell phone in the bag, these people will never quit showcasing their blackberry mobiles whenever they get the chance to!

I have to mention that this sort of action does not show that you belong to the upper class or you’re filthy rich. No, this just screams to me that you’re a poor or a middle class person who probably used up most of your savings just to purchase this blackberry of yours, which clearly indicates that you’re not used to buying luxurious things because people who can afford luxurious do so with ease. People who belong in the upper class probably won’t struggle financially this month just because they purchased a simple phone that only costs something around or even less than 2400 QR. People who are filthy rich have more money than they could count. My advice to such people is as follows, people if you want to brag or showoff then at least do brag about something that says ”I’m rich” not something that screams “I’m dying to look rich”. Of course ideally, people shouldn’t brag, but at least it would be more understandable if a guy bragged about his new Bugatti or new villa that is located in Palm Jumeirah or something.

Another example that shows the effects of conspicuous consumption is the sudden huge demand on the Mercedes-Benz G55 in the Gulf region, after the ruler of Dubai Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid appeared in a national event driving a G55. Many Emiratis and citizens of neighboring countries wanted to own a G55 to demonstrate to others that they don’t belong in the lowbrow culture because they can afford to buy a Sheik’s car.

Cultural Omnivores and Class: A New World of Universal Consumers

We are all consumers of culture. However our interpretation, reception and experience of various types of culture vary according to several factors, mainly differences that are socially constructed. These “socially constructed” differences create social classes, and reinforce the boundaries among them. No cultural object or practice is inherently sophisticated or “high brow” and similarly neither is essentially “low brow” or common. Instead, cultural tastes, standards, practices and experiences of those in the “upper class” become the society’s highbrow culture. For example, the fine arts consumed by the affluent classes, becomes the elite, sophisticated “highbrow” cultural practices that are distinguished from or “higher” than those practices of the lower and working class such as a variety of music genres like rap and hip hop, sports and recreational events like camping, boating etc.



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Opera, fine arts, classical music, fine dining, symphonies, playing golf, collecting priceless antiques and abstract art and reading books for pleasure, are all linked to the upper class, highbrow culture.

On the other hand, fast food, gossip magazines, pop music, hip hop, sports such as baseball and basketball and other cultural products that have “mass appeal” are usually considered lowbrow.

These change over time. The boundaries between them blur, and the variation in consumption of culture from these two categories becomes more prevalent. Many families and homes today exude a wide variety of cultural consumption ranging from the elite highbrow symphonies to the rap tunes on their ipods. From decorating with abstract art and antiques in their homes, to ordering fast food take out and eating in front of the TV as opposed to eating at a fine dining restaurant or a neat dining table setting at home.



We are exposed to a wide variety of culture, and nowadays, belonging to a certain “class” does not necessarily dictate exactly what kind of music you listen to or what other cultural products you may consume. Although belonging to the upper social class may result in an inherent cultural capital, it does not limit your knowledge of other lowbrow popular culture or even the practice of it. You can listen to a wide variety of music, watch a variety of films, go to a variety of events, participate in different sports, and collect various kinds of art. The tolerance for a wider variety of cultural products is increasing and hence the number of cultural omnivores that experience and practice wider forms of culture, is rising. It is seldom that I come across someone who has just classical music on their mp3 players, or one genre of films in their DVD collection, or who just likes football, or only plays chess, or only goes to symphonies and watches classical Shakespeare plays in elaborate theatres. People belonging to the upper class are likely to engage in activities affiliated with the lower class and vice-versa.


I can see my own "cultural omnivoreness" in my consumption and practice of culture at home and outside. My sister and I play classical Tchaikovsky and Beethoven tunes on the piano, and also play popular music like soundtracks of movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter. My home is decorated with antiques and classical paintings and collections of historic pieces, “fine” china, and crystal.









Last summer, I attended a music concert for one of the most popular Lebanese singers in Lebanon, in my hometown in the mountains, Ehden. The artist's name is Najwa Karam, winner of over thirty music awards.
Today her music not only appeals to Lebanese people but Arab listeners worldwide listeners. Although Najwa Karam’s first album started with just Lebanese traditional/folkloric songs, her artistic identity and music albums then developed to include more romantic and contemporary themes and beats, appealing to a broader “modern” audience. Her latest albums fused Lebanese tradition with Arab pop. Although most of her albums to date are classic in style, Najwa’s music appeals to a wide range of Arab listeners and classes. This was evident in the concert I attended. People from all parts of Lebanon, and across the world especially diasporas travelled all the way to Ehden in the mountains to attend this concert.



There were people from all social classes, and backgrounds, elite to working lower class, different seating for different classes, and people from all parts of Lebanon travelled all the way to Ehden in the mountains to attend this concert. But still as soon as Najwa started singing there wasn’t a sense of segregation of the classes but a huge mix of cheering fans, who ultimately all like the same music. I am not a great fan of traditional Lebanese music, but a fan of Najwa Karam’s music, I don’t listen to all traditional Lebanese mucis, but only to hers, and her music is just another color in the rainbow of genres and styles of music in my song library. Her fusion of classic with contemporary Arab pop, can be a reason for its popularity among a wide range of listeners high and lowbrow consumers, which makes the artist herself, first a cultural omnivore, a consumer, interpreter and receiver of high (classic music) and lowbrow (pop music) culture.



Furthermore, I also take part in cultural events like the Palestinian Night in Education City, dressed in the traditional Palestinian abaya, and attend “highbrow” plays like the Sound of Music and symphonies in Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto where I would be dressed differently, as the setting suggests. Lowbrow Palestinian night filled with cultural folk dances, traditional food, informal atmosphere, and charity sales is a big contrast to the “Queen Elizabeth” theatre’s theme, ambience and “class”. My far-ranging tastes and consumption of art and music, suggests I am indeed a cultural omnivore like many I know and interact with.



So what is the effect of cultural omnivores? How does this manifest in the hierarchy of cultural consumption? If all music and all art forms become digestible by almost everyone, what’s the point of classifying them? If the boundaries are to be obscured, and classes blurred, does this mean it will become more challenging to identify and sustain class boundaries if everyone’s cultural consumption no longer reflects certain standards, tastes or practices?