Anne Norton Signs Of Shopping Summary

Buying an Identity:
A Summary of Anne Norton’s “The Signs of Shopping”
Shopping is an important part of American culture. Anne Norton outlines this in her essay “Signs of Shopping.” In a country in which people seek to be as unique as possible, Norton points out that people shop to find identities; she explains this by stating certain clothes carry an identity, women tend to be a bigger part of the American shopping culture, and that shopping from home still has the same effects as shopping at the mall.
Norton explains that by buying clothes or other commodities, you are buying an identity. In other words, identities can be commodified. An example that Norton brings up is the looking into the storefront of Ralph Lauren. She claims “Everyone, from the architecture critic at the New York Times to kids in the hall of Montana high school know what Ralph Lauren means” (88). What Norton means by this is that Ralph Lauren carries a persona of a wealthy individual that lives a luxurious life. When someone wears Ralph Lauren they are wearing an identity of an upper class individual. When people walk around the mall and look into storefronts, they see more than just the garment for sale, they are seeing the identity it promotes.

Additionally, Norton also states that women tend to spend more time in the mall than men.

In the traditional family where the wife was a stay-at-home mom, most women went shopping to get away from their family for a while. Norton states that shopping “provided an occasion for women to spend long stretches of time in the company of their friends, without the presence of their husbands” (88). In other words, women liked to shop because they wanted to relax and socialize with their friends without their husbands. Because of this, women were subjected to the title consumers. By spending time at the mall, females are being immersed into the American culture of shopping and understanding what identities go along with each garment or

commodity.
Norton also addressed the shift in shopping patterns in American culture from leaving your house and going to the mall to staying at home and ordering from catalogues. Norton says that the same communities that people find at large shopping centers are found in catalogue mailing lists. She notes, “the constructed identities are reified and elaborated in an array of semiotically related catalogues” (91). For example, if you buy a spade or seeds from a catalogue, you will likely be identified as a gardener and thus be mailed more gardening catalogues (91). Rather than buying an identity in a public mall, you are buying it in the comfort of your own home.
While I agree with Norton’s point of shopping as a search for one’s identity, I don’t understand her attempt at a feminist statement with women and shopping habits. She argues that women assert their independence by choosing to go shopping with other women but independence that relies on another person’s support doesn’t seem to be independence. However, I enjoyed Norton’s point that shopping is a search for one’s self. While I never really thought about it before, we all go through different phases of life, those of which are often displayed by what we choose to buy and wear. I found Norton’s essay to be engaging and interesting.