The Meanings of Cars

Our society values cars on so many levels. First of all, we see them as a necessity for transportation. Most of us don’t live in walking distance of everywhere that we need to go and public transportation is not always considered. When we think of transportation the first thought we have is a car, it is the easiest and fastest way to get anywhere. This is not what I thought of when writing this blog. The first thing I thought of was how the car represents a right of passage. In our culture a car represents freedom. We look at it as a separation from our parents, that we are able to go wherever we want whenever we want. Of course this is regulated by laws and parental rules, but we don’t think of that when we get our first car. A car is important in our lives, we always remember our first car. We see this right of passage as a symbol of independence. Since you can begin to drive at the age of 16 but cannot be completely independent from your parents till you are 18, having a car and driving is a way of establishing some sort of independence and responsibility without having the full experience.
Not only are cars a right of passage, but they are a status symbol in our culture. Everyone knows which cars are expensive and which are not, and judge the person driving the car by that price tag. Everyone is always trying to buy a more expensive car, and I understand the quality of the car is better, but when you get up to the $100,000, that’s ridiculous. This shows that people are willing to spend that much money on a car, because they know it will gain them respect, whether it be from themselves or others. Some people spend hours on their cars making sure they look perfect, because they feel it is a reflection of themselves.
Cars also relate to space in our culture. Many people extend their personal space to their car, as I described in my earlier blog “Personal Space”. We decide who we let in our car, what we put in it, and design it to look exactly how we want it. I wouldn’t let a stranger get inside of my car, I try to keep my car clean, and I generally only have certain things inside of my car. I get embarrassed when my car is dirty, I feel like it reflects on myself. My car, this thing on wheels for TRANSPORTATION, has so many other meanings in my life.