Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror

Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror

Consumer behavior has a general effect on the world’s economy. Recent trends in the economic practices of the global economy have mostly been influenced by consumerism and economic policies nations practice. Consumerism is highlighted as the practice of consumer demands affecting the types of products required in the market thereby creating almost new industries. Jia Tolentino demonstrates the role of consumerism in driving global economic changes in her article Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-delusion. The caring economy, on the other hand, is regarded as the practice of embracing economic policies which do not advocate for personal gains among individuals, but of the general society. Equality in social benefit is highlighted as stemming from economic activities whose results should be shared among every member of the nation instead of benefiting only a few people in a community setting. Naomi Klein portrays instances of a caring economy through her article; This changes everything: Capitalism vs. the climate. The paper discusses problems identified by both Klein and Tolentino in their articles,solutions proposed meaning of caring and self-care economies, and the difference between capitalism and consumerism as brought out in the two essays.

Tolentino describes the self-care economy as that steered by social pressure to push individuals towards achieving specific standards. It is depicted by the act of people striving to conform to emerging social trends. As a result, people are forced to consume certain economic commodities, which in turn give rise to a new industry in the economy. She offers a perfect example of the beauty industry among women. According to Tolentino, the perception that women should portray some specific qualities mostly associated with beauty and power has led to the emergence of several industries specifically tailored to meet their beauty desires. The need for women to adhere to specific social attributes has been driven by the notion of what an “ideal woman” ought to look. The desire to conform to the ideal woman’s qualities has, therefore, made most of them engage in activities meant to bring out the values prescribed by society. Tolentino’s statement that “the beauty ideal is pleasurable (p 12)” demonstrates the kind of expectations women have developed about their personality. Examples are seen in them, perfecting their bodies to appeal to the world’s desire. Entrepreneurs have, therefore, tapped into the market gap to fulfill the rising need of women’s desires to offer them products which they view as necessary in facilitating the kind of transformation they need. For instance, barre classes have surpassed Yoga as women see them as much effective in allowing them get the type of physique they want.

Tolentino, however, points out that the desire to conform to society’s demands as elicited by the self-care economy has led to a series of problems. Self-care is driven by people’s notion to realize an increase in marginal utility from their consumption. It is the quest to realize many benefits that make a person conform to the desires of the world leading expensive lifestyles. Tolentino points out that organizations who have realized about the emerging trends have taken advantage of it and priced their products and services high above the tnormal market pricing. She states that despite the expensive nature of such services or products, people still prefer to consume them simply because they allow them to meet their own desires as well as the societies’. Tolentino offers an example of the barre exercises whose pricing is twice that of past exercises like Yoga. The high number of people engaging in barre classes despite the pricing is influenced by their quests to get the kind of physique and body attributes such as good breasts and butts they desired. Another problem of the self-care economic practice is that it leads to individuals exhausting their resources to attain their specific goals. Tolentino provides the case of people draining their energy through signing up for expensive exercises that require them to engage in tiresome physical activities routinely. Her claims are seen in the statement they were now occupied by inexhaustible but ephemeral beauty work, spending huge amounts of time, anxiety and money to adhere to a standard over which they had no control (Tolentino p 11).”

The ideal solution to the self-care consumer pattern as prescribed by Tolentino is to allow people to live their lives naturally. People should be made aware that each of them has a unique attribute that separates them from the rest. In this manner, they will be able to recognize that no one needs to conform to society’s demands, which pushes them to incur a lot of effort and resources trying to be like others.

The caring economy, as brought out by Naomi Klein, is one in which economic benefits realized in the society are shared with few members. She points out that instead of everybody benefiting from commercial activities within their country and the world at large, only a few individuals tend to gain. She points out that the desire for human beings to advance their social welfare has seen them embrace acts that seek to exploit others. A caring economy, therefore, is one in which every citizen should receive equal benefits from the economic proceeds. The government ought to put in place measures that ensure that resources are nationalized and that any profit arising from them are channeled back to the society. The economy should be caring in the sense that it allows safe economic practices that do not only focus on material benefits but also looks at how the social life of the citizens can be improved. Enhancing society’s welfare is seen in acts such as an economic environment which prevents pollution and advocate for better pay for workers. Klein’s statement “countries are responsible only for the pollution they create” (p 7) shows how nations that focus much on economic growth destroy the environment. Lack of pollution, for instance, is seen as an act of care as it does not only focus on the economic benefits but also forces people to ensure that no harm is brought to society.

Klein offers several solutions to the problem that emerges from a caring economy.  Some of Klein’s solution for a caring economy are also the perfect answers to the challenges that arise due to the self-care touched by Tolentino. One such solution is for people to consume less. Consuming less products and services is highlighted as relieving a lot of pressure from the economy to produce more. In turn, it reduces the number of resources that would have been used for production. Klein point out that “consuming less, however, means changing how much energy we use: how often we drive, how often we fly, whether our food has to be flown to get to us, whether the goods we buy are built to last or to be replaced in two years, how large our homes are (p 11).” Less production means less pollution, thereby allowing the government to protect its citizens from hazardous production environments, thus signifying an element of care. Accepting less consumption will solve the self-care economic problem where people strive for commodities that are perceived valuable, thereby leading them to rush into acquiring them to fit into societal demands. Another solution is for people to consume green. Klein uses green consumption to demonstrate the practice of engaging in consumption activities that demand products and services that are environment-friendly. Green consumption is portrayed as an ideal answer to the self-caring act of people striving to conform to other consumption habits. It allows them to exercise their natural consumption behaviors, such as using commodities that boost natural beauty. Lastly, expanding the economy is viewed as an ideal solution that will allow people to realize more gains. An expanded economy translates to increased economic benefits distributed to the citizens, thus raising their social welfare. A growing economy is also highlighted as an answer to self-care as it will increase the number of industry stakeholders, thus reducing the price of commodities.

The concepts of capitalism and consumerism have been touched on in the two articles. In Tolentino’s Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-delusion, consumerism is highlighted by the spending pattern of the society. It is depicted by people’s quest to conform to society’s consumption activities. The desire for an individual to attain specific personal attributes which he or she perceives to be admired by the community leads people to consume products that help them achieve such goals. For example, the development of the beauty industry arises from increased consumption of beauty products, especially among women as they perceive looking good is something expected of them. In Klein’s essay, consumerism is portrayed by the free nature of markets, which allows organizations to produce products that they perceive are demanded in the market. Also, Tolentino’s essay depicts elements of capitalism in the sense that no government regulations exist to restrict competition and pricing in the beauty industry. Capitalism in Klein’s article is demonstrated by her talking of the destructive nature of free trade markets. She points out that the existence of free trade economics has allowed people to establish large businesses solely to realize more profit. It is the desire to achieve an increase in profits that has led to increased production intensities, which pollutes the environment. Also, the desire to control industries as depicted by Klein has led to a few individuals benefiting from the nation’s economic resources.

Works Cited

Klein, Naomi. This changes everything: Capitalism vs. the climate. Simon and Schuster, 2015.

Tolentino, Jia. Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-delusion. Random House, 2019.