That's not true anymore.
Now just beer itself, there's so many different kinds of beer, and
each one is a way of distinguishing who you are in society.
It's slotted into a particular social demographic that may have to do with
profession and race and age and gender.
If you like Rogue River beer from Oregon or
some micro-brew, maybe you're more likely to be a hipster,
creative class, maybe 20, 30-something person.
Whereas if you drink Bud, you're more likely a working class, or maybe suburban
person who's not trying to be on the edge of post-hippiedom or whatever.
Even within the beer market, there's all these distinctions that can be made.
Distinction to go back to Bourdieu's concept.
This takes us back around to the fitness this revolution because one of the things
that happens in our exercise choices is that we locate
ourselves within the hierarchy and patchwork quilt of society.
In general, if you're into fitness and you're going to the gym and
you're taking these classes, you're more likely positioning yourself and
getting positioned as middle class or
upper middle class more likely, white collar then blue collar.
This has lot to do with you know the demands of different jobs.
If you been out ranching all day or throwing stuff into a pick up truck or
you're a Latino guy who works on a construction site,
you're not gonna spend your free time going to the gym to do Pilates and
move your aching muscles and body more.
Or if you're a fast food worker flipping burgers all
day on your feet at Burger King, again, you're likely just not to have the energy,
among other things, to go and do the whole gym thing.
The gym thing is partly,
very much connected to white collar work, which where you sit at a desk, or
on your computer, and you want and need that feeling of moving your body.
Already, doing the fitness thing is tied up with social distinctions and
tied up with white collar identity in America.
Then even within the fitness craze,
there are also forms of social distinctions that are being made.
If you do yoga, which I’ve been doing lately, which believe me, I need it.
I'm incredibly inflexible and I had all these back operations so
I've been doing yoga.
Yoga is more the post-hippy, a little new-agey,
maybe, Whole food shopping, it's probably the Prius driving people are all in yoga.
Again, gross stereotypes but if you've been to a yoga studio and
heard namaste and all that stuff, you have a sense of what I'm talking about.
Whereas, if you do cross fit, like my wife does,
that's more associated with police, and military or police wannabe,
military wannabe, hipsters who want to be like bad dudes with big muscles and
wear tight t-shirts and stuff and the whole sweaty gym thing.
CrossFit is a different demographic from the yoga studio or
capoeira which my wife also teaches capoeira.
That's a more multi-ethnic with some like African diasporic elements and
some hippies and then some other people and stuff.
Each of these kinds of forms, these fitness choices are about
Bourdieu's concept of distinction, and distinction in society.
There's a quote I love from Roger Kaiwa,
where he says, tell me what you play, and I'll tell you who you are.
