Sociology 2172A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Consumerism

• School: Western University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: Sociology 2172A/B
• Professor: Gale Cassidy

Document Summary

We have private trouble but we have to look at the public issues: good example: obesity around the world = #1 health and social problem we say you have to exercise more and eat less, the problem is our society is structured in a ways that make it easy for us to be obese (restaurant meals, everything is larger, walking less etc. , obesity is a societal problem, not individuals. Shopping used to be write down things you want go to the merchant and give it to them and then they get all the stuff for you (bought only stuff you needed) this changed with the creation for department store (huge department stores precursor to malls: department stores were the first places where women could just hang around and not get in trouble & was socially acceptable they were still considered property of husbands, here we start to see shopping as a leisure activity not just getting things you need.