A year ago I was taking up Comparative Literature in graduate school, new to the idea that capitalism is at the root of everything that is wrong with the world. I used to spend hours reading the works of people that kept me fueled with righteous anger – lots of stuff about how our educational system fails to teach us critical thought so we can spend the rest of our lives as mindless office drones within in the web of global capitalism. I vowed that I would resist the trappings of my bourgeois existence and spend the rest of my life writing critical papers and passionate treastises, occasionally turning up my nose at my bourgeois friends who choose to stay safe in a bubble of false happiness filled with cheap China-made objects.
Fast forward to the year 2009. I quit graduate school, got a full-time freelance job, bought a ridiculously tiny condo unit in a building that hasn’t been built yet, started an online store, and began a small but fairly healthy obsession with makeup and fashion. How did this happen? I simply woke up one morning and realized that financial independence would open more doors for me than my silent and largely ineffective protest against consumerism. (Most of the decisions that transformed my life pretty much start out that way, me waking up and realizing things.) I told myself that I would still keep up my rigorous reading habits and never become like one of those vapid girls who think life is all about accumulating mass-produced goods. In the end, the increase in my spending power made me more materialistic than I had hoped and transformed me into one of those “bourgeois” people I swore I’d never become.
It’s strange to start out a shopping/fashion/beauty blog with such a confession, but there’s no better way to explain why I chose to call this blog I Am Bourgeois. It’s not a pride statement, nor is it entirely an act of self-deprecation. I suppose it’s more like an embarassing admission. I still feel guilty about turning my back to the fiery ideals I formed not so long ago, and I constantly worry that I might be turning into a total ditz (it’s been a long time since I read a non-fiction book). People are always telling me that I should use my internet famez for something more socially relevant, but I’d really rather talk about pretty things than try to make people see socio-political events my way. So I thought I’d start this blog as a sort of chronicle for my newfound interest in fashion and makeup, and maybe help people figure out the best places/brands to spend their money on while I figure it out myself. Yes, I know that I am forever starting blogs and abandoning them, but until I feel the need to shun material goods once more, I’ll probably be keeping this one and updating it as often as I can.
So yeah – I am bourgeois, but that doesn’t necessarily make me a shallow pro-capitalist zombie. At least, I’d like to think that it doesn’t.
It’s funny how life works. I was a complete jock back in college, and my idea of dressing up was *not* rolling up my black sweatpants up to my knees. -_- I guess more spending power opens up a lot of doors for people. There are a variety of reasons to submit to purchasing lovely shiny things, however, and yours is a good one. :) Best of luck with the blog!
Lauren! Welcome to the shallow world of beauty and fashion. Not. I’m glad there’s going to be one more decent beauty blog out there for me to read. (cause I’m too lazy to keep writing in mine, God knows how much material I have but no time to actually write about them).
I’m sure you’ll do well. And, I highly doubt you’ll ever turn into a shallow ditz whose life revolves around makeup, fashion, and pretty things. You’re much too intelligent for that and won’t fall into that trap. :) best of luck dear! :)
Hello Lauren,
I know your mother, and that’s why I got to see your blog. Nice! Liking fashion and make-up are not the same as giving in to the consumerism in the world. Fashion and make-up are inventions of the human race which serve a purpose, and there is nothing wrong with them. What is shallow is when one’s whole frame of reference is fashion, make-up or other pretty things, to the exclusion of other things. To be conscious is not to be drab. Socially conscious people should look nice, so that people will listen to them, so that people will identify with them, so that people will see that it is possible to have fun while being conscious.
Good luck with your blog.