Author: Will Straw
One of my new found past-times is record listening. Inspired by my Dad's collection of vinyls I have really started to enjoy listening to records of some of my favorite classic rock and even contemporary artists. Would I call myself a collector? No. If I had the money could I see myself collecting? Absolutely. So what is it about collecting records that appeals to people, particularly men, today? Straw says that though conclusions have not been drawn as to the cause of collecting as a masculine tendency, it is still important to note the role collecting plays in structuring relationships between men.
"To collect is to valorize the obscure." Although records no longer have much value in our society, people can certainly find more obscure things to collect.
Jean-Francois Vernetti of Switzerland has collected 8,888 different 'Do Not Disturb' hotel signs from 189 countries across the world since 1985. I'll let you decide the obscurity of that collection.
The largest collection of clocks belongs to belongs to Jack Schoff who has amassed 1,094 different clocks. Obscure, yet still pretty cool in my opinion.
My favorite portion of Straw's article was when he talked about "hip" and "nerd" identities. In terms of the accumulation of knowledge, which is a common function of masculine-collector-identities, the difference lies in how they show that knowledge. "Hip" identities are marked by the apparent instinctuality of that knowledge, where nerds clearly cultivate knowledge intentionally.
Discussion Questions:
- If knowledge is something which should be disguised and down-played in order to be hip, how do you think that effects the transfer of knowledge or lack-there-of?
- What examples are there of an item which can be "collected" by a man, but would be seen differently in the possession of a woman?
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