Depictions of Home within American Cultural Artifacts:
1. Title Sequence Image from the ABC comedy Modern Family (Notice the home in the background)
2. "Home" button (outlined in red) on Firefox Internet browser's toolbar
3. Dollhouse toy made by the Fisher-Price Company
4. Gingerbread house kit made by the Wilton Company
5. Greeting card to congratulate someone on their new home
7. Home logo next to exclusive home offers for readers of the October 2014 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine
8. House Hunters Television show on HGTV. Here is the link to the show's website:
9. Pins from Pinterest tagged using the word home. Here is the link to the page:
10. A drawing of "home" by Everett, 6 years old
Discussion of Home Artifacts:
In the articles that we have read on the subject home, we find that authors have many different concepts of home. Dayaratne and Kellett (2007, p. 54) gave a brief summary on the wide range of literature that examined the concept of home and its considerable meaning. It’s says “most significant of these research outcomes is the acceptance that home is central to the human experience of the world and that a ‘sense of home’ is an essential component of one’s being. Although there is considerable cultural variation, it has been argued that there is no other concept so widespread and easily understood by all people as ‘home.'" On that note, we can glean that the concept of home is something everyone strives to have. Further, that the concept of home should fit how American culture defines it.
Several of these depictions of home demonstrate a clear standard of the 'ideal' home in terms of meanings that we associate with home. The various depictions on Pinterest, the houses shown on “House Hunters,” the Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and the Modern Family home all show upper-middle to upper class homes. This manicured, single family home, “idealized” image is further reflected in other media, such as children’s toys (as seen with the dollhouse & gingerbread house) and as far as basic icon imagery (as seen on the magazine posting & browser icon). Everett’s drawing of ‘home’ even reflects this iconic ‘home’ image. Further than just addressing the physical structure of this ‘home,’ this representation also depicts a status or socioeconomic ideal that relates to this structure. We see Valentine’s (2001, p. 72) elements of home, shelter, hearth, heart, privacy, roots, abode, and paradise, throughout the artifacts.
The physical structure of home comes in many shapes and sizes. A home could be a large three-story structure sitting on a vast parcel of land or simply a small studio apartment clustered in the middle of a city. After examining portrayals of the home found in cultural 'artifacts,' it is clear that the 'ideal' home in American culture is a large, multi-story suburban structure situated on a private plot of land. In front of the home, a small well-kept yard, usually led to a porch containing chairs for the family to congregate on. Shutters often surrounded the windows adding to the aesthetic beauty of the home. Throughout each of the artifacts examined, the home was shown as a single-family entity. The home was not part of a complex system of other living spaces, nor was it physically connected to other homes via a wall or otherwise. The home was simply an individual structure physically separated from other homes by space. Images of the home depicted a private space cut off from the public eye. The artifacts suggest that the 'ideal' home offers privacy from others and also a safe environment to raise a family. This idealized vision of home in American society is similar to the view held by children in Archambault’s (2012) article. In the article, many of the children depicted their ideal home as a large structure in which they are able to have a room of their own. The children also expressed the need for a private yard in which they could freely partake in activities. It is clear through the examination of the artifacts as well as the children’s responses in the article that a large home containing space for a single family to safely raise children is valued as the ideal living arrangement.
Status and wealth is a unifier when it comes to the 'ideal' home in American culture. The single family home is the home that we’ve come to know and expect. Additionally, wealth is overwhelmingly evident in these actual depictions of homes. The homes we see in these examples are large, they have green yards, and in several cases look very updated and modern. Several of these examples demonstrate diversity when it comes to race, sexuality, and family structure. In House Hunters, the single person looking for a home is a medical doctor. The couples are nearly all heterosexual. There is racial diversity evident. Despite all this, what is most noteworthy is that these home-buyers have the freedom and ability to choose a home that meets their own ideal. This, in addition to their generous budgets, is evident that wealth is a necessity to achieve one’s ideal home. This importance of wealth to a home relates to Valentine’s (2001) observation that consumption and design are critical to modern western notions of home. The Better Home and Gardens magazine and Pinterest both promote consumption in the ‘quest’ for designing the better, more ‘ideal’ home.
With regards to identity and social relations, these depictions vary slightly. The examples where people are represented clearly show an identity for those associated with these idealized homes. The social relations revolve mainly around couples or families with children. It’s also worth noting that several of these depictions of home don’t show people at all. This could be playing into the audience’s own projection of themselves on these ideals. Although in most likelihood, this self-projection probably includes a family or partner since that’s what society has brought us up to expect in a home as evidenced by Valentine (2001). Gender roles and social structures have been reinforced in various aspects of western culture. It interesting that the image of the opening credits of Modern Family that we chose shows the most ‘typical’ family (closest to the 'ideal') of the show, being the nuclear family with a mother and father. The other branches of family on the show vary in age (between partners), ethnicity, and sexuality. This conscious decision to choose the most ‘ideal’ family shows that even we fall victim to the socialized ideal of the family and the home.
Also on the topic of identity, gender is evident in several of these depictions. The most glaring one is the gendered expectation that the home is the business of women. This is evidenced most clearly in the dollhouse packaging where just young girls are depicted playing with the dollhouse. The packaging is also quite ‘girly’ and there is nothing that would indicate that boys would play with this or any gender neutrality. The greeting card also has a sort of ‘feminine’ aesthetic to it. These depictions align with the gendered spheres theory outlined by Domosh and Seager (2001), where they describe that traditionally the home is the separated (‘private’) sphere of which women are expected to tend. This justifies the dollhouse being for girls and the greeting card targeting a female audience. These overly gendered examples make sense in that they compliment the vast history of ‘home-gendering’ in western society, which Valentine (2001) outlines in her article.
The process of home is evidenced throughout several of the artifacts. The acquisition of the structure of home is demonstrated in the example of the greeting card, the Better Home and Gardens advertisement, and in the links to DIY/remodeling in Pinterest. The gingerbread house is actual physical construction of a house too. The dollhouse also allows for interactive personalization of the home. This interactivity of home and ‘owner’ exemplifies how home is a ‘territorialized space’ that becomes a home by the actions of those who reside within it as described by Wise (2000, p.301). However, contrary to Wise’s argument in his article, none of these depictions of home really outwardly demonstrate the home has being a place of resistance or stepping outside the norm.
Diversity of "Home" Campaign Overview
Based on our examination of American culture depictions of ‘home,’ where we have showed numerous similarities between each home artifact, our campaign decided to focus on the structure and location of home. The artifacts above consistently reflect a cookie-cutter, 'ideal' home. Thus, we would like our campaign to bring about awareness that a home can come in numerous sizes and shapes, as well as different locations than the 'ideal.' We are constantly reminded by images we see that the ideal ‘home’ comes in a pristine large house with white picket fences, filled with beautiful things and situated in a suburban community, where there is low crime rate and good schools in the area. We are told that is the ‘home’ we need to strive for. Anything less than that perfect house is failure in society’s eyes.
We want our campaign to push past that image and bring awareness that an ideal ‘home’ does not have to fit into society's expectations. Thus, we will expand the idea of home past the normal social, economic, and geographical standards that had been constructed overtime in American culture. The new meaning of home will include various locations outside the suburbs and homes of people with other socioeconomic statuses aside from the upper-middle class. Home can come in all different shapes, sizes and locations for many types of people. Our campaign wants to showcase that you do not need that perfect house with all that material things in the suburbs to have a perfect home for you.
In the articles that we have read on the subject home, we find that authors have many different concepts of home. Dayaratne and Kellett (2007, p. 54) gave a brief summary on the wide range of literature that examined the concept of home and its considerable meaning. It’s says “most significant of these research outcomes is the acceptance that home is central to the human experience of the world and that a ‘sense of home’ is an essential component of one’s being. Although there is considerable cultural variation, it has been argued that there is no other concept so widespread and easily understood by all people as ‘home.'" On that note, we can glean that the concept of home is something everyone strives to have. Further, that the concept of home should fit how American culture defines it.
Dayaratne and Kellett’s (2007, p. 58) article draws in 5 motivations for home-making. They are:-
1. The desire to own through the acquisition of a piece of ground.
2. The desire to acquire and conform to popular images and conventions.
3. The desire for social acceptance, social respect and personal dignity.
4. The desire to order and orchestrate space to fulfill household needs.
5. The desire to form a community.
Motivation 2 and 3 are central to our campaign. We wish to gain more acceptance of what stands as the normal convention of the home. This is crucial because we understand that the ideal ‘home’ should not be carbon copy for everyone. When there is a certain expectation, there is a risk of misconception and failure. Archambault’s (2010) article articulates that in his interviews with refugee children because the children have been expecting a proper house or ideal ‘home’ based on the society norms; most of them were disappointed when the house they received, as it did not live up to their expectation or even the location where it is situated. With our campaign, we hope to stretch the imagination beyond the cookie-cutter image of home that we have been bombarded with. We want to say it is all right not to have that house in the suburbs. We hope by expanding the definition of home to other sizes, spaces, and locations Americans can focus on what they want in a house and what suits their needs and budgets. Further, we want all Americans to be proud of whatever space they call home without fear of judgement and ridicule from other members of society.
In order to spread our growing message of what 'home' is, it is crucial for the Ad Council to pick up our idea. If the company were to pick up our campaign, we would create more posters and ads that help to expand one’s definition of home in both meaning and geographic location. As explained earlier, many American citizens only imagine the 'ideal,' large, suburban home filled with loved ones and lots of material items. Our campaign wants to debunk this myth of home by expanding the idea of 'home' to include all types of homes that do not meet the standards of an 'ideal home.' Not only will the 'new types' of homes have different shapes and sizes, but they will also be located within other areas of the nation. Further, our research has shown home does not necessarily need to be a shelter, it can be a community or somewhere outdoors. Therefore, our team will work with the Ad Council to find images of 'home' that do not fit the 'ideal' as set by American culture and society. Four non-traditional images of home will be placed in an ad. Each image will be in black and white to show the equality of each home. Further, an outline of the 'ideal home' Americans normally picture will overlap all four images to show these non-traditional homes are indeed a place one can call home. Finally, our campaign’s slogan (“Home comes in many shapes, sizes, and spaces”) will be placed on top of these images. Here is an example of one of our poster ads:
In this particular ad, there is an image of a row home, a tent situated outdoors, a dorm room, and a trailer. It is our goal to expand the public’s definition of a home in the hopes all people’s homes will be accepted by our society rather than judged next to the 'ideal home.' This way people can focus on their lives rather than worrying about obtaining a home that meets society’s expectations. It is important for our society to accept these new images of home, so no one will feel the pressure to conform to society's ideals, especially when they do not have the finances to reach it. A home should only have to meet the needs and wants of those within the space, not the expectations of others.
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