Social classes are communities of people grouped by their common social status. Social class was once a popular characteristic of segmenting people but characterising someone by their social class has lost some value as it is a lot more complex to determine someone’s social class today. Some theorists however saw the benefit of using social to effectively segment people. Henry (2005) believes people’s decision to purchase products and their taste is greatly influenced by their social status. He believes social class is a characteristic that can be used effectively for the examination of consumption and taste patterns. Bourdieu (1984) has a similar take on the influence social class has on taste. “Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier”
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Where habitus is the embodiment of habits and dispositions, cultural capital refers to what clothes you where, what skills and tastes you acquire, etc. that you pick from being part of a certain social class. It is down to your parents who decide whether cycling will be part of your life at an early age. Cycling is taught as a leisure activity and is part of growing up for any social class. It is later in life that certain benefits of cycling or tastes for the sport of cycling differentiate those who cycle. For instance, cycling may become a keen interest for some people and it would be interesting to see if others who experienced the same cultural capital as them share their taste for …show more content…
The concept of ‘fair play’ relates to cycling today. People are simply cycling for the benefits it brings like convenience and health. They don’t need to invest a substantial amount of time and money in buying the most expensive bicycle and gear or watching competitive cycling on television. What results from different attitudes towards cycling is a number of sub-groups within the sport. Steinbach et al (2011) to a certain extent found a number of different ‘types’ of cyclists through the perceived opinions of their interviewees. They see ‘the kind of person’ who cycles as someone with such distinctive attributes as an environmentally friendly attitude or someone who wears the clothing associated with cycling (Steinbach et al. 2011, pg. 1129). These attributes can be directly related back to the economic and cultural capital that people possess.
Bourdieu (1978) touches on the probability of taking part in sports declining as you get older. With cycling it could be argued that as you get older the chances of cycling like you always have may change significantly but your taste or attitude towards cycling may not change. It is the variables around you that may change your decision to cycling like moving to a new house or getting a new
Where habitus is the embodiment of habits and dispositions, cultural capital refers to what clothes you where, what skills and tastes you acquire, etc. that you pick from being part of a certain social class. It is down to your parents who decide whether cycling will be part of your life at an early age. Cycling is taught as a leisure activity and is part of growing up for any social class. It is later in life that certain benefits of cycling or tastes for the sport of cycling differentiate those who cycle. For instance, cycling may become a keen interest for some people and it would be interesting to see if others who experienced the same cultural capital as them share their taste for …show more content…
The concept of ‘fair play’ relates to cycling today. People are simply cycling for the benefits it brings like convenience and health. They don’t need to invest a substantial amount of time and money in buying the most expensive bicycle and gear or watching competitive cycling on television. What results from different attitudes towards cycling is a number of sub-groups within the sport. Steinbach et al (2011) to a certain extent found a number of different ‘types’ of cyclists through the perceived opinions of their interviewees. They see ‘the kind of person’ who cycles as someone with such distinctive attributes as an environmentally friendly attitude or someone who wears the clothing associated with cycling (Steinbach et al. 2011, pg. 1129). These attributes can be directly related back to the economic and cultural capital that people possess.
Bourdieu (1978) touches on the probability of taking part in sports declining as you get older. With cycling it could be argued that as you get older the chances of cycling like you always have may change significantly but your taste or attitude towards cycling may not change. It is the variables around you that may change your decision to cycling like moving to a new house or getting a new