How and Why Is A Particular Social Group Presented in a Certain Way?
In the article, “Meet The Millennial 1%, Young, Rich, and Redefining Luxury”, Forbes Columnist Larissa Faw takes a look at a group of young people she refers to as the Millennials. A millennial is anyone aged 18-30. Faw takes a look at the affluent members in the millennial category and compares them to their not as wealthy counterparts. Through use of statistics, and language, Faw is able to portray the millenials in a way that informs her audience about the millenials and their lifestyle, both the wealthy and less wealthy.
Faw’s target audience consists of those interested in affluent lifestyles and those trying to obtain such a lifestyle. Faw is able to appeal to her audience through different examples of the wealth that a portion of the millenials possess. Her portrayals of their affluence are made more potent when compared to the millenials that don’t happen to be as rich as the top 1%. The beginning of the article states “Two Millennials walk into a bar wearing denim jeans, Converse sneakers, and carrying iPhones. They are identical except for one factor: one makes more than six figures a year, while the other is unemployed and lives at home.” In those sentences, Faw is able to do a lot. She lists brands and items familiar to those classified as milliennials like Converse sneakers and iPhones. She makes it clear that while they may appear the same in terms of appearance, the difference lies in the amount of money that they’re bringing in. The use of brand names also shows the importance that millennials place upon certain brands.
The disparity between the classes under millenials is further examined by Faw as she writes “Affluent Millennials may outwardly resemble and purchase the same brands as their less-affluent peers, but their adventures must meet their upper-class lifestyles”. Here, she is trying to pinpoint the exact difference between rich and average millenials. The reader who is curious about the lifestyles of these people craves such information. Faw uses real-life situations to examine the differences between millenials based on class. Using the music festival, Bonnaroo as an example, Faw writes “Millennials, regardless of socioeconomic status, attend the music festival Bonnaroo.” With Bonnaroo established as a common meeting ground for millenials, Faw then shows the difference between the rich and non-rich when she writes “non-affluent guests stay in basic tents and use communal showers, affluent Millennials pay more for the VIP experience with a gourmet private chef and golf-cart chauffeur service.” Use of the word “basic” shows that the less affluent millennials are having an experience with no perks and no frills whatsoever. She uses “VIP” to create an air of exclusivity around what afflu...
