Buying In - (Page 36) 36 rob walker pointed out back in the 1970s, even the most rebellious subcultures are on some level consumption based, grounded in the world of leisure rather than work. One of the original Zephyr crew has said that their objects—surfboards, then skateboards—always had symbolic power: They were “totems. Functional artifacts.” Such an object, wrote Hebdige, becomes a means of communicating meaning, even (or maybe especially) if that meaning is a variation on or subversion of the object’s original, intended purpose. The “most mundane objects” can be subverted and “take on a symbolic dimension”—like a safety pin or a skateboard. Or a red hat. And thus the extensive line of Red Hat stuff, from Keds-made shoes to pricey jewelry to a best-selling book and even a lifestyle magazine. There are many ways to resolve that tension between wanting to feel like an individual and like a member of a group. Religion, the military, work, and even politics offer such opportunities. But the “Beautiful Losers” crowd and the Red Hat Society offer examples of very different ways to do something that appears quite similar—using symbols of leisure activities and material culture to help us feel as if we have resolved the tension between individuality and belonging. identity leisure In the marketing world, the idea that shared consumer tastes add up to something like community is a pervasive one. Brands like Apple and Harley-Davidson are forever being deconstructed and picked over to try to figure out what it is that gives them such a loyal, cult-like following—what it is that makes their consumption bleed over into something that, at least, resem-
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