Functionalism and Consumerism - Essay Sample

Functionalism is a sociological school of thought that stresses how human behavior is governed by social structures, which are based primarily on shared values and that contribute to social stability. It holds that social phenomena persist whenever they contribute to social stability. According to functionalists, the ebb and flow of fashion increased in the 20th century. Functionalism offered the way fashion trends worked. Based on functionalism theory, fashion trends come and go since it allows inequality to persist. The main appeal of wearing expensive and new fashion is to distinguish oneself from people who are not well off. Fashion therefore forms an essential social function. By enabling people of different social classes to differentiate themselves, the order layering of the society is well preserved. Today, people have also moved to consume luxury commodities, which seek to make a living better and create classes in the society. In the past years, only resources that were considered basic needs were acquired, for example, clothing, food, and shelter. However, today there is a new habit of increasing the consumption of commodities past the basic need portion. This culture is not going to change despite the challenges and unethical behavior that comes with it since the society prompts them to do.

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Consumerism has been part in my life because of the constant habit of purchasing new goods and services. During my 12th birthday, my parents bought me an expensive car that scant the attention to the true need that makes it incredibly wasteful. My birthday was therefore celebrated as part of consumerism because of the purchase of the car, a Honda fit, with little attention to its actual need, product origin, durability, or the effect on the environment. Buying me a car was driven by many ads that are designed to show the desire of following trends and a feeling of satisfaction due to the acquisition of the gift. My family believed that people are only identified with whatever they own. The more stylish and fashionable things my parents could buy for me, the more worthy I was going to become. My parents sacrificed significant income and time not only to buy the car but also support the manufacturers of the Honda fit. Thus, Americans are not only judged by the content of their character but also through what they possess. As a consumerist family, we are not worried about the results of buying an expensive car as long as it justifies our monetary satisfaction. The aim was to consume more to compensate my inner anxiety, loneliness, passivity, and vacuity. Honda Fit manufacturers developed the small, cute, and fun car and through advertisement, my parents saw it as the best birthday gift for me. Materialism and overconsumption remain to be seen as an epidemic because of the need of my family to buy more material goods to satisfy our ego and reach a state of completeness and happiness. The buying habits continue to become perpetual and routine. Thus, the freedom of satisfied greed becomes the meaning of life. This lifestyle is wasteful destructive to our society and wasteful to our ecosystem.

Functionalism perspective considers a family as a system of different parts that also depend on each other and perform specific functions. Through structural functionalism perspective, culture bonds people together. This meets the needs of human beings. Consumerism makes Americans economy healthier through mass consumption. Thus, functionalism in this context focuses on buying the car and consumption. The United States as one of the strongest economies enabled people to buy expensive products for socializing and stabilizing one's personalities. This made it possible to express who we are through the choice of buying a Honda fit as a birthday gift. The family as a fitted pre-industrial society was responsible for buying the birthday present. My parents performed an important function of meeting my emotional needs and stable satisfaction. By driving the Honda fit, I was going to make a statement to my friends about who I am. By being individualistic, I could express myself through my possessions. As the society change, a family structure that fits that society has to function to perform that change.

In conclusion, functionalism expresses my family as a part that is held together to contribute to the stability of the whole family. By expressing to the entire society who we are through the choice of buying, a Honda fit as a birthday gift. Functionalism in this context only justifies complacency and the status quo in my family. According to functionalism, my parents only exist to carry out a particular role in my life. Without such functions and responsibilities, sticking together as a family would have been difficult as new needs emerge and evolve with new structures created to meet them. Thus, agitating for change remains undesirable since the society will always compensate in a natural manner for any issues that arise. I certainly believe that the culture of consumerism cannot just disappear magically in my family since the consumerist mindset continues to linger in our mind. However, we should shift direction gradually, as we need to shift the current economic crisis to liberate American economy from the obsession of consuming goods to justify our complacency and the status quo and rethink what to live a good life means. My family needs to shift away from consumerism to something else that can bring change to the society.