Project Space Exercise 1

Project Space Exercise #1

Reading the Text Questions:

1.     What does Norton mean when she claims that the suburban shopping mall appears to be a public place but in fact is not?

-        Norton means that although it is a seemingly obvious public place where anyone can go to and walk around and shop at for hours, there are a lot of rules and regulations in place at malls. The managers and owners of malls have complete authority over what advertisements can be there, what stores are there, what they sell, how they can display things, and so on. Other things not permitted in malls are freedom of speech and assembly, which means controversial displays by customers or stores are not allowed. So in conclusion, she is saying that despite the popular view of malls as an easy place where anyone has the liberty to gather, they actually have quite strong constraints on the public’s freedoms that many people are often blind to.

2.     What is Norton’s interpretation of Ralph Lauren’s Polo line?

-        Norton addresses the familiarity of the Ralph Lauren brand to people of all ages and describes a window display Ralph Lauren’s Polo line as, “an embarrassment of semiotic riches.” She believes that the complete vintage, luxurious, and distinguished image of the polo player, the horses, and the large broad lawns draw in the upper class by representing this timeless, classy, Ivy League image. The people who see the plaid prints and old western feel easily organize these cultural texts and form their own views as to what image the clothing line creates for themselves. The self that each clothing line depicts in an ad is what draws each person to that store to buy clothing from that line or brand.

3.     How is shopping a subversive activity for women, according to Norton?

-        Norton sees shopping as something as a rebellious activity for women because the woman who is shopping for pleasure is escaping the confines of her home and is taking time away from her husband and children and is using it solely for herself. She is exercising her freedom of authority to buy what she pleases, spend as much as she pleases, buy as much as she pleases, shop wherever she pleases, to create her own identity, and to engage with women instead of obeying the social order that she must be with her husband to bring her happiness.  

4.     How do mail-order catalogs create communities of shoppers, in Norton’s view?

-        These catalogues group certain types of people together by identifying the varying interests that are associated with their products in their catalogues and describing what the buyer/reader wants and who the buyer/reader is. Also they create shared mailing lists, which group together multiple related catalogues to send to people who have distinguished their identities that relate to those brands. These same people who continue to order from the same weekly or monthly catalogues, or even those who simply receive them and look over them, are all part of the same community of shoppers, in Norton’s view.

5.     What are the political messages sent by the Home Shopping Network, as Norton sees them, and how are they communicated?

-        The messages sent by the Home Shopping Network, according to Norton, that connects capitalism and democracy are that you can buy as much speech as you can afford and that you are recognized by others in accordance with your capacity to consume. These messages of consumption as an American activity are communicated through their simple interest of patriotism as shown with the red white and blue motif shown in their set designs and animation designs they create on your TV, and the intently hung up photo of the statue of liberty in their presented office.