Week 2

Beverly Hills: Rodeo Drive

Week 2: Observation by car

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For my first field visit, I chose a place that attracts visitors’ from around the world. Rodeo Drive is located in Beverly Hills and it a world famous shopping venue. The street is lined with expensive designer stores, most of which I can’t even pronounce. It is highly visited by tourists, who can always be spotted gawking with their large cameras. Although, the main customers of these stores are the elite of Los Angeles, who find paying $500 for shoes a worthwhile expenditure. The division of labor as discussed by Emile Durkheim in his book titled The Division of Labor in Society  can be observed in this location. The class distinctions are great between those who work at these establishments, and those who patronize them, a perfect example of stratification.

 At first, it may seem that this shop lined street is an example of consumerism at its height. Yet, the people who shop here are not coming just for the products, they are here for the ambience, the atmosphere, and the service provided by the workers.  Essentially they are here for the shopping experience. Perhaps they are here to assert their own position within their class, using status symbols to affirm their position. These individuals are participating in “cosmopolitan consumerism-characterized primarily by the purchase of novel and often expensive foreign products” (Olin, Kling and Postner), which explains why most of the stores on the street are international designer brands.

At Rodeo Drive, there is also an interesting middle ground, the category of people that cannot afford to shop here, but that can afford to travel here and enjoy the space as visitors rather than consumers. As I drive through, it is these people that I see the most of. The people attracted to the space as a result of its reputation are perhaps here to observe those who actually shop here. The elite class may be observed as  setting the expectations for culture. An odd blend of those who belong, those who wish they did, and those who are just coming in to work to pay the bills are the types of people that can be observed on Rodeo Drive. This mix of people present are representative of different classes and races, providing our first glimpse at the inevitable interaction that people within the city must have despite their social differences.