Sibley's object relations theory has led to much pondering on my part...so I enjoyed reading Teresa's perspective on how feelings create boundaries, divisions, and geographic groups of all sorts. This is my reply: (her blog can be found at http://findlostangeles.blogspot.com/2012/10/blogging-social-difference-in-la-week-3.html?showComment=1351899841303#c2541051214074584351)
Although answers may seem
more satisfying than questions, I appreciate that your blog provided me with
more questions to ask…even if there is no immediate answer to find. I have
never been to Palos Verdes Estates, but from your pictures, I can sense the
extravagance; the views are unending and the proximity to the ocean borders on
unfair. The residents must be without a care. As we discussed during lecture,
the households in Los Angeles with higher incomes tend to be located in higher
elevations or near the coast. By comparing the unspoiled view of the privileged
Palos Verdes community to the not-so-breathtaking view of urban sprawl in the
distance, you emphasize an interesting point; the poor or “underclass” do not
have the same access to beauty and purity signified by the water; for many, the
ocean is a place to be peaceful and to cleanse the mind or soul. Nature
connotes purity, whereas the city is often perceived as a place of vice, crime,
and defilement, expressed by Sibley in “Mapping the Pure and Defiled.” Therefore,
you nicely illustrate a distinction similar also to that described by Engels in
“The Great Towns” as he contrasts the filthy, dark slums with the “brilliant”
shops up above—dark versus light, and dirty versus clean. The grime is not in
the elite’s line of sight. Is this because of selfish greed as Engels would
argue, or a natural result of humans’ tendency to see themselves as civilized,
and others as “unclean” or uncivilized?
Does achieving
status in society reinforce an individual’s positive identity and cause
boundaries between “us” and “them” to become more strictly enforced? You effectively
relate Sibley’s object relations theory to the potentially exclusionary
practices of the elite residents of Palos Verdes: “It’s not clear, however, if
the residents of Palos Verdes Estates are purposefully trying to exclude lower
classes of less ‘perfect’ people, but I don’t think that this matters.” I would
agree that the intention may not be entirely a conscious one, but nevertheless signs
of social inclusion and exclusion are arguably more visible in cities where
people (at first) are concentrated and social boundaries for each individual
must be slightly redrawn as one adjusts to the environment. Like you note, the
separation of Palos Verdes’ inhabitants from other, less well-off communities
may be an “implied consequence of living on a limited expensive real estate,”
but even so, it a map-able representation of physical and social boundaries
that reinforce the geographical division of different socio-economic groups.
It is impossible to know whether or not the residents of
Palos Verdes feel threatened by poorer or “less-civilized individuals” without
probing their conscious and subconscious mind. Still, your observations about
the luxurious cars parked outside the enormous houses point out that “they are
effectively apart from any culture of crime or vandalism, most usually seen in
areas of poverty.” This again reminds me of the quote I included in my last
post about Wilson’s underclass
definition. Wilson characterizes the stereotypical beliefs of what underclass denotes in modern society,
including that they are often people who are “engaged in street crime and forms
of aberrant behavior.” The image I get after reading your blog reminds me of how
I picture the Ziggurat of Ur, positioned above the entire city (with the best
view of the entire city), signifying its prominence. Palos Verdes does not seem
to be a main “center” by any means, as you mention, but it is a “valuable” region,
hinting at the power of the higher social classes.
Thank you for your post, I found it quite insightful,
weaving in the readings well with the information you gathered! I hope you find Lost Angeles…
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