| ▲ | simonw 6 hours ago |
| I would say that wearing a sweater knitted by one's grandmother is its own kind of status symbol. I'm more impressed by that (someone having a grandmother willing to invest that much effort in a gift for them) than someone spending $1000 on an item of clothing. The fact that those items took a long time to make is part of what makes them status symbols though, because if you pay a lot of money for something that took no time to make at all (see most NFTs) you look like an idiot to a lot of people. |
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| ▲ | ghurtado 5 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| > status symbol. This sort of thing was done at a time when everybody did it, and now that it's not done, nobody does it No kid ever said "did you see the sweater that Timmy's grandma knitted for him? That kid is so cool! " Mostly because they all had grams sweaters as well. I don't know what term you were looking for, but a handmade present for someone dear is about the furthest thing from a "status symbol" that I can think of: - it can't be bought - it can't be transferred without losing almost all value (ie: it's only valuable to you, or at most your family, eBay doesn't want it) - it provides no improvement whatsoever in one's social standing |
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| ▲ | NiloCK 5 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | What are you referring to with the phrase "status symbol"? I can't connect it at all to your listed points. An Olympic medal is about obvious a status symbol as I can imagine but it can't (meaningfully) be bought or transferred. The status signified with a knit sweater is membership (and good standing!) in a caring family with elders not yet fully subsumed into their phones. People, acquaintances and strangers alike, frequently comment on the knit socks I often wear, ask after who made them, and all of a sudden we're on "how's your mom" terms. | | | |
| ▲ | simonw 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | I don't care about the opinion of kids. I'm also completely unimpressed by someone wearing a Rolex though, so different mileage for different people. | | |
| ▲ | ghurtado 5 hours ago | parent [-] | | You should be able to understand the definition of a common term such as "status symbol" though. Understanding words does not require being impressed by anything, nor caring about the opinion of kids. | | |
| ▲ | simonw 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Different mileage for different people. | |
| ▲ | daveguy 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | If most people are thinking "whoopdedoo... you clearly have more money than sense" when they see your status symbol, is it still a status symbol? | | |
| ▲ | fluidcruft 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Status symbols signal different status in different contexts. Some contexts (mostly lower middle class and below) are impressed by Rolex watches because they are expensive and the struggle for money forms a collective experience. The old rich doesn't give a shit about Rolex watches beyond noticing the newb rich using them to tell on themselves. | | |
| ▲ | daveguy an hour ago | parent [-] | | And some people just don't give a shit about a fancy watch no matter how much money they have or don't have. |
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| ▲ | Avicebron 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | It depends, if someone fundamentally believes that having more money than someone else means that person is of higher status, then it is. If people don't consider that someone with more money is of a higher status then symbols of that wealth aren't meaningful. I think a lot of people have an ingrained belief that "more money == more status" |
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| ▲ | cineticdaffodil 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| To be worthy that much time is the statussymbol of love. Its a rare thing, money can't buy. Somebody gifts part of his finite time on the planet to you bundled in an artifact. |
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| ▲ | titanomachy 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| I like the sweater, and some people like you might recognize it as special, but it doesn't have the universal cachet of a Rolex or something. It's also a bit chunky and funny-looking (but I guess so are some Rolexes). |
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