Luxury Shopping in the Post Covid World
Shopping at the mall last week, I noticed that masks are evolving from a virtue signal to a status symbol. Stores that are “on trend” with the instagram generation force the mask issue while more traditional brands let it slide.
This was not just any mall, It was Bal Harbor. To those of you not familiar with Miami/South Florida this is one of the most exclusive and expensive shopping destinations in the country, if not the world.
Some stores asked us to put on masks and others didn’t. My girlfriend and I followed common sense and did not wear masks unless forced to. Overall people in the mall were 50/50 in masks as they walked through the open air area.
We got off to the right foot with a visit to Salvatore Ferrgamo. Not only did they not push masks, they even offered us prosecco (even though they regretted to inform us it had to be served in a plastic cup). The helpful salesman showed us their products in a friendly and not overbearing manner. Cheers to them!
The thing is, Ferragamo is not cool right now. Looking around the store most of the other customers seemed to be Spanish grandamas. They weren’t in a position to snob us and press masks.
Gucci, on the other hand was.
Right now Gucci products, from purses to sandals, are super trendy. Celebrities and rappers love to show off their GC logos. There was a line at the store we chose to wait in. 15 minutes later we made it to the front and were told by a brusk doorman to “Put on your MASK!”
After being allowed in, we made it to the second line. There we sat with a small group of hopeful shoppers waiting for a meeting with a salesperson to take our money in exchange for overpriced goods.
Then came the straw that broke the camel's back. My girlfriend stood up to look to see if they had what she wanted. Quickly, the Gucci gestapo told her to SIT DOWN because of COVID! We both Stood up and left.
Virtue Signaling vs. Status Signaling
Now we get to the main point. The culture around masks is mutating from virtue signaling to status signaling.
Virtue signaling is an attempt to show your inner morality through some sort of external display. Pretty much everyone can agree that wearing a mask outside does nothing, but people still wear them to show solidarity with the lockdown cause. They are using masks to show their moral superiority.
More than that, they are using it to exert social control. Being able to scold you for being “anti-social” and not wearing a mask gives them power they may have never experienced as a member of the proletariat herd.
This is the essence of Nietchze’s slave morality. Nietzche writes, “every poor devil finds pleasure in scolding – it gives him a little of the intoxication of power. Even complaining and wailing can give life a charm for the sake of which one endures it: there is a small dose of revenge in every complaint, one reproaches those who are different for one’s feeling vile”.
This self conscious desire for revenge is what created mask shaming. Now I think it is being carried forward and made permanent by a desire for higher status.
Gucci was not saying they were morally superior to us, but that they were SO exclusive they could force us to jump through hoops to buy their products. Most of the people in that store would do whatever it takes to gain access to the status associated with Gucci’s goods. The COVID-19 risk was no greater here than across the mall at Ferragamo, the difference is Gucci was in a position to ask us to do whatever they wanted no matter how irrational.
The Two Concepts are Interconnected
Virtue signaling and status signaling are two sides of the same coin. This subtle difference, however, represents a dangerous hardening of these irrational ideas.
Virtue signaling comes from the weak mass of people, while status signaling is attempted to join the strong. It shows membership in the “great and the good” of society.
Not wearing a mask has become its own signal as well. Anti Maskers are showing that they see through government lies.
Instead of shame, the “great and the good” are using people’s desire to be seen as high status to convince them to keep their face covered. In marketing terms it is evolving from a push motivation to a pull motivation.
This is reflected in American politics. Donald Trump never wore a mask while Joe Biden always wears one (even though he is vaccinated). Masks have become a totem of status and power over others, not just a sign of solidarity with the slave class.
This distinction may seem subtle but It is Important.
Smart and sophisticated urban people wear masks, stupid rural bumpkins go naked faced. Masks are worn not only to shame non conformists but to signal membership in an elite and enlightened group.
Why Does It all Matter
Virtue signaling is often transitory while status symbols can stick. People tend to get sick of virtue signaling and often move on to another cause while status signaling is more insidious.
Virtue signaling is at some level connected to a cause or idea attempting to make the world a better place while status symbols are about dominance hierarchies in society.
My fear is that masks will become permanent because the “great and the good” make it a social norm to wear them. Covid will go away, but masks will remain as the acceptable standard of behavior for civilized people.
“OMG, he didn’t even have a mask on, DISGUSTING!” People will explain with the same contempt the use for people who don’t wash their hands in the bathroom.
To have access to financial and social capital you will be forced to abide by these newly established norms.
The pressure will not be directly from the government but from civil society. We already see this with woke culture. To engage with institutions in the modern world you must bend the knee and kiss the ring of political correctness. This is about power dynamics, not any real social justice cause.
I fear masking will follow a similar pattern. Something you are forced to do as a necessary, if not entirely sufficient, precondition to be part of American and global society.
This is the dystopian future it seems liberals and the media are pushing for. It just gives them one more complex totem to signal their unique status among the vast unwashed herd.