IIt was a wag who remarked that it is easier to attain a status than to keep it. A young man of ordinary means when catapulted to high office had no peace till he filled his wardrobe with shirts and trousers cut in the latest fashion and owned a scooter or car.
He believed he had no status in the eyes of the public without these acquisitions. It mattered little to him whether he could regularly pay the hefty EMIs or not.
Time was when one could command status in society without being affluent. A humble post in government service carried considerable prestige.
The revenue official on his rounds, followed at a respectable distance by his attendant wearing a red cross belt, used to be received with great honour in the villages he visited.
A government pensioner commanded much respect among the person’s relatives and friends.
On getting an executive job in a leading private company, the story goes, a lad prostrated himself before his aged grandmother to receive her blessings. The old lady, the wife of a revenue inspector to whom status alone mattered, enquired why the youth did not try to get a clerk’s job in the local taluk office.
Ostentatious display of status has been prevalent from early times. This reminds one of a bridegroom of an earlier generation who by his gesticulations was never tired of attracting the attention of his friends and relatives to the wristwatch and gold ring which his father-in-law had gifted him. In modern times, people choose to display their material possessions on platforms such as Instagram where the number of likes serves as a measure of success and importance.
Despite the inherent desire for status in everybody, most of the lower middle class and poorer sections of society do not evince much interest in it or its symbols.
There are quite a few assistants in an office or a bank who have happily allowed their enthusiastic juniors to climb up the ladder lest they should forgo certain fringe benefits such as overtime allowance or hardship allowance.
For matinee idols or any other celebrities, the high status they enjoy is not an unmixed blessing. An evening constitutional on the beach or in a park is taboo to a celebrity as he or she would collect a legion of admirers creating a headache to the traffic cops and leave the onlookers wondering what happened to the person’s car!
Status-conscious individuals strive to have an impressive job title, wear branded clothes and expensive watches, possess a variety of gold and diamond jewellery and live in spacious villas in posh localities. However, things signalling one’s social status vary across cultures and countries. In the West, for example, using luxury items apart, the ability to shop in more expensive stores even for day-to-day needs and owning a holiday home are expected to bolster one’s social standing.
Strangely enough, “working from home” and busy lifestyles have also emerged as status symbols.
In short, a status symbol is about having what others can’t have.
As a result, it is always in a state of flux. A cellphone which was considered a prestigious possession in India a little over three decades ago is less distinctive today because of the large-scale availability of inexpensive models. Landline telephone, refrigerator, air conditioner, and automobile which were once considered status symbols are now accepted as commonplace in everyday life.
It is heartening that currently the global tide of conspicuous consumption — once referred to as keeping up with the Joneses — has started moving towards eco-friendly products and brands that support sustainability, turning away from several status symbols of the past.
It is good news that global consumers are inclined towards giving priority to protecting the environment, improving health care and reducing poverty, over flaunting expensive traditional status symbols.
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