Column: Study abroads also provide study of self
It’s with great sadness that I’m writing my last column for The Daily Gamecock.
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It’s with great sadness that I’m writing my last column for The Daily Gamecock.
Students need to break down arbitrary social categories
This semester, I’ve taken a senior seminar about suffrage and women’s rights, and I have been fortunate enough to meet and interview incredibly influential feminists from the women’s movement in South Carolina.
As an exchange student from England, I’m often reminded just how far I am from home when I log into Facebook. Recently, my news feed was infiltrated by endless amounts of #nomakeupselfies, the latest Internet sensation to sweep across the U.K. It wasn’t until I mentioned it to my American friends that I realized the campaign hadn’t made it across the pond.
During spring break, I took the opportunity to visit one of the most historic and political destinations in the U.S. I bypassed the alluring Florida sunshine in favor of a cultural stay in Washington. As a history student, walking around such a legendary place brought some of my favorite parts of the past to life, landmark by stunning landmark.
Atheists’ attacks on religion unnecessary
Self-defense classes worth time investment
It’s the million-dollar question: Can you want what you already have? I watched a TED talk this week that discussed the relationship between love and desire. Psychologist Esther Perel argued that modern relationships face difficulties because love and desire are in direct opposition with one another. While love is about having, desire is about wanting. Desire is excitement, mystery, adventure and risk. Love, on the other hand, is driven by the very ingredients that stifle desire: dependence, reciprocity, security, predictability, permanence and protection. According to Perel, the secret behind leading a healthy, passionate relationship is about learning how to reconcile these two conflicting human needs. Watching this made me think about desire in a broader sense. Desire is about wanting something you don’t have because it looks attractive from a distance. Not only is desire a part of modern relationships, but it pervades modern-day society, too. As individuals in a capitalist society, we are constantly bombarded with advertisements, billboards, TV shows, music videos and infomercials telling us that what we already have is not enough and convincing us to chase after the next consumer product. Did you really need to upgrade to the latest iPhone 5? It’s difficult to draw a line between desire and necessity because we all use a different yardstick to measure success. I’ve often heard friends say things like, “I’ll know I will have made it when I can afford to buy a Chanel purse,” or “As soon as I get my hands on an Aston Martin, I’ll be happy.” But shouldn’t the primary driving force behind success be a sense of personal achievement rather than indulgence in material goods? If material goods become symbolic of success, then happiness will always be comparative. That is, people will only be happy if they have the latest products, and they will look to what other people own to determine their self-satisfaction. You’ll always want the next big thing or compare what you have to everyone else. Such ideas connect with what Karl Marx called “commodity fetishism” in the mid-19th century. Marx professed that commodities accumulate self-sustaining exchange value that encourages consumers to evaluate goods based on the status they represent, rather than their value. Consumers stop judging products based on practicalities and start looking at branding and status instead. Following Marxism to its furthest conclusions, Marx argued that consumers themselves become commodified by desire, valued only as producers and purchasers within an economic system. Although many would argue that such a theory is confined to a dark and dusty corner of history, I think that many of Marx’s points have value (excuse the pun) in modern society. We are at risk of becoming defined by what we buy and what we wear rather than staying grounded in ourselves in the first place. An enormous factor that makes it difficult to want what we already have in modern society is the media. Rather than creating products that have use value, the media invents problems in order to create desire. Take, for example, the cosmetics industry. The ideal consumer recognizes a new desire to conform to societal standards of beauty and invests in products that are supposed to eradicate the “unwanted” — whether it’s wrinkles, body fat or gray hair. Women of the 21st century are brought up to believe that they are projects for perfecting, rather than naturally beautiful, strong and worthy. I saw a Facebook meme recently that read: “If tomorrow, women woke up and liked their bodies, imagine how many industries would go out of business.” But I find this to be a severely rose-tinted view of the relationship between women and the media. It suggests that women have inherent body insecurities that the media has learned how to exploit. Instead, I think the meme should read, “If the modern media and cosmetics industry had never existed, imagine how many women would like their bodies.” Whether it’s accommodating for passion in modern relationships, investment in consumer goods or the pursuit of the “perfect body,” the chase after desire plays an undoubtedly large part in the modern world. Perhaps the answer to the million-dollar question is one of moderation. It’s OK if consumer products are part of the reward — but don’t let the never-ending chase after desire let you lose sight of your end goal.
No matter how acclimatized I may have become to the delights of the South, some cultural differences between student life in Leeds, England, and in South Carolina continue to absorb me. When I found out I’d be studying abroad in the states, one of the most common questions friends asked was, “What are you going to do about drinking?” Despite having enjoyed the good, clean benefits of a comparatively dry six months here, the prospect of turning 21 this week has never seemed more enticing. A large part of student life in England revolves around drinking. Ever since I turned 18, it has always been ingrained in my social life.
Standards unattainable, should be rejected
This week, Hungarian singer Boggie released a music video that seeks to demonstrate how dramatically Photoshop can transform an image. In the video, Boggie sits in front of a camera, singing her song, while her entire profile is gradually morphed by the latest Photoshop technology.
Snowden revelations one of many concerns
Students should try new ideals, see what fits them
Victim blaming, trivialization of sexual abuse must stop
Good memories made without alcoholic haze
Halloween provides a welcome opportunity for individuality
If ever I needed a reminder that I’m studying abroad in the deep South, last night it hit me loud and clear. Sitting in USC’s enormous old basketball stadium, the Carolina Coliseum, I watched the evening’s entertainment unfold. This week is Homecoming Week: a string of events hosted to foster a sense of school spirit and community on campus. The Homecoming theme this year is “The United States of Carolina,” a patriotic nod to the U.S. and South Carolina. So all the acts took to the stage at the Homecoming Showcase with more national pride and Appalachian effervescence than ever.
Since becoming an exchange student at the University of South Carolina, I’ve noticed profound differences between student life in England compared to the states. There’s been talk of a tobacco ban on campus, but no one has really been sure whether it’s already implemented or if it’s a definite proposal for the near future. Then on Tuesday, students and staff received an email from President Harris Pastides that confirmed our suspicions and brought the ban to fruition.