Sociological breakdown of good tastefrom @maisonrickie

Transcript

Good taste isn't what you think it is. This is a follow-up on a previous video I made talking about how the upper class will always be moving the goalpost in ways to benefit them and taste may be their most powerful tool. French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu called this the cultural arbitrary, which is getting at the fact that there is no inherent, no objective reason why certain cultural forms are considered superior to others. The example I used in a previous video was that classical music is not objectively better than pop music. That French cuisine is not objectively more sophisticated than soul food. But the deeper you look, you realize that these hierarchies are real and have real consequences. But they're socially constructed. How does that make sense? Well, it's because we believe these hierarchies to be natural, that they're self evident. But the only reason why this is the case is because the people who benefit from the system have made their preferences seem like universal standards, successfully turning arbitrary taste into legitimate culture. Let me give you an example using the elevation of French cuisine. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the French aristocracy developed an elaborate culinary culture. Complex sauces, precise techniques, formal service, and the cuisine became associated with power and sophistication. But there was nothing inherently superior about French cooking techniques. Italian cuisine had its own complexity. Chinese cuisine had centuries of refinement. But France had cultural dominance in Europe at the time. Thus their fashion set trends. Their art defined taste. French cuisine became haute cuisine, literally high cooking. It became the standard by which all other cuisines were judged. And once that standard becomes established, it becomes self perpetuating. Chefs train in French techniques. Serious food knowledge means knowing French terms, French preparations, French wine regions. The arbitrary becomes legitimate, and once it becomes legitimate, it stops looking arbitrary. Or just key claim in this context is that there is no universal best. There are no transcendent aesthetic values, both of which are controversial tier. That there are only socially constructed preferences that get elevated to universal standards by those who have the power to do so. And the coolest part about the cultural arbitrary is that it allows those in power to shift what's tasteful and what isn't. Often in ways that retroactively delegitimize the people who learn the old codes. You bought a logo belt from a designer brand? Well, I hope you kept the receipt because now things have pivoted to quiet luxury. And by the time you've caught up, things will shift again and you're left holding the old codes which now mark you as behind. It's a cruel game that's being played and in a future video I plan on touching what this means for our current society and why or if this stuff even matters in the first place. So if you want that video be sure to like and follow and leave me a comment below with your thoughts.