‘Another Day, Another Demand’: How Parents and Children Negotiate Consumption Matters
This paper discusses the various kinds of pressure placed on children to consume and how their parents view and deal with this. It focuses on the consumption of clothing, the marketing of ‘fashion’ to youngsters and the commercial opportunities presented to children to construct a particular image of themselves through their choice of attire. Related to these issues are the range of constraints placed upon children's consumption as they desire to seek independence from their parents yet remain embroiled in their social networks where they seek belonging, conformity and inclusion. Leading on from this, the paper goes on to explore whether and to what extent children's increasing engagement with consumer culture affects the parent-child relationship.