I hate Havaianas.
Seriously.
Oh yeah, before I actually get into the meat of this entry, I just want to say that this is purely my opinion, and I am not endorsing for or against any product. I don't even know just how wide the readership of this blog is, so I can't really say just how many people will be affected by the stuff I put in here. Anyhow, that's the purpose of blogs anyway, right? For a person to put his/her thoughts into writing, and possibly for the consumption of other people?
Now that that's out of the way...
I really, seriously hate Havaianas. Whoever thought of importing them here in the Philippines should be sent to Brazil. Or maybe, made to wear Spartan or Rambbo rubber slippers for the rest of his miserable existence - let's see whether his toes will shrivel up and fall off just because it's not imported.
I guess my anger towards Havaianas is not so much against the product itself, but what it stands for, especially since it's brought here in the Philippines. Think about it. Almost two-thirds of the population in the country struggle daily just to bring food to their family's table, and the amount that they spend for their daily staple isn't even a quarter of what the price of a pair of flip-flops are. What used to be the poor man's footwear has now turned to be a status symbol.
Now, I would get it if people buy Havaianas because it's the only brand that provides the size needed (I know someone who does that, because other flip-flops companies do not make the slippers that size), or if the quality of the product is that excellent, but as it happens, it's not. It's practically the same quality of rubber that you can get for other flip-flops that cost about a sixteenth of the price of Havaianas. What you actually pay for is about two inches of embossed rubber, and that's that. You shell out hundreds, even a thousand pesos for that, money that could have fed a family for three days, I kid you not. For what? As a status symbol? So that people can say that you have the money to burn for a pair of rubber slippers? Why would you want to do that, especially here in the Philippines where even the size of your eyes is sufficient reason to be kidnapped for ransom? I'd say that you're courting trouble if you do that.
All this consumerism got me thinking: is this really what we prioritize nowadays? A friend once said that it's not so much as what you're wearing as who you're wearing, and the evidence of that is seeing people traipsing about the runway wearing the who's-who of the fashion industry. The funny thing is, a lot of times we go and choose these stuff just because of the name and not because we actually like it. It's the satisfaction of knowing you fit in with people who possess the same things as you do, or at least the silent gloating we do just because other people are green with envy because they can't have what we have. I recently saw this TV ad of a popular RTW store, and I was disappointed with what they were promoting. Although a part of the message was actually pretty good, the next wasn't. A line from the ad goes something like: "Looking good is not bad.In fact, it's what breed friendships." Oh, come on. What are you saying? That just because you can't look good means you can't have friends?
We put so much emphasis on material things that we forget who our focus should be: our Lord. You put so much weight on what other people will say about us that we forget that we are special as we are, the way He made us, and not because of what we may have. May we find fulfillment with Him.
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5 comments:
That is so true. This is what critical (marxist) theorits are trying to raise: hegemnony that is both ideational and material. To some extent, it is true that globalisation makes us desire "global product" even more.
However, apart from being just a political view, we must never forget that a person's worth is not dependent on how he is clothed externally. Rich or poor, we are all the same in God's eyes.
And no, I refuse to believe that being blessed on means being materially blessed. I myself can attest to that
Me, I personally hate the fact that you pay a lot of money just to buy a pair of rubber slippers with tiny Brazilian flags on them and nine letters! Grrrr! You can buy the exact same pair (sans the flags) in department stores for less than P100 pesos! Grrr! I even heard a story of a girl who looooves her pair of havaianas with Swarovski crystals! WTF?!?!
*breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out*
ok, i'm good now :) amen dichie! to be blessed does not mean having all the valuable tangible objects in the world. Blessings come in all shapes and forms, like Soul Sisters *hugs*
Agree! Ticks you off noh? I mean, people like them.
I don't exactly blame the rich for being rich. I complain about their apathy and their lack of desire to really "broaden their horizons". They're stuck in their comfort zones.
Sure they see "poverty" around them - on TV, radio and newspapers - but their tremendously different lifestyle make it so difficult for them to understand what it means to be poor, or what it means to live on subsistence.
Nways, this entry echoes the Sin and Coversion piece in 151. I forget who wrote it. It's one of my favorites. The one that says the poor cannot wait for us to change our lifestyles. The best!
Haha! Finally was able to go online.:D Yay!
Anyhow, a phrase that stuck to my head first time I heard it is the line, "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer" (Fine, I read it in a fantasy novel, but that doesn't degrade its meaning). It really stinks that people go about flaunting what they have, bragging to anyone and everyone within hearing distance just how they are privileged enough to buy this or that thing, when more than half the population is starving. Sure, a large chunk of those who are well-to-do come by their wealth through no fault of their own, but that doesn't really cancel out the fact that more and more, we become stuck to an increasingly consumerist world. Sure, they can go and say "Kawawa naman the poor people" until their lungs burst, but unless they do something about it, their pity will amount to nothing. The problem is, a lot of people don't even take the effort to even feel sympathetic to the poor, because they are too busy being selfish and concerned about their own situations. What other people are saying becomes the standard not only on what to have, but it also extends to self-worth. Being blessed doesn't only mean material possessions. In fact, the Bible itself says, "Blessed are the poor, for they will inherit the kingdom of God (Mt 5:3)."
On a related note, check out this link: http://www.philstar.com/philstar/LIFESTYLE200509123706.htm. It just proves my point that people, even Filipinos, are getting way too fixated on material things.
It is sadly American consumerist culture that permeates the world.
Most people are just unable to be critical of this phenomenon. They take it as the natural/normal of the day.
Marxista talaga tayo, shobe :) Read Gramsci - he relates this thing you wrote to culture and hegemony
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