In yoga classes, colorful athleisure wear is lined up. Each outfit differs not only in appearance but also in price. The price of each outfit is either suspiciously cheap or ridiculously expensive. The materials also vary from cheap fabrics to high-quality rubber. Regardless of the price or material, yoga-goers buy new athleisure wear every two weeks. These people are the target customers of Jojomon, a luxury athleisure wear company, and the company’s employees push themselves to the limit to continue promoting yoga wear. All to make a profit and avoid bankruptcy.
JoJoMon is a fictional company, but similar companies do exist.Yoga Play On the surface, the play, which opens this spring, may seem like a basic tale about yoga. But beneath the layers of satirical comedy,Yoga Play The play makes the audience question, “Do I really need what I buy?” Criticism of consumerism is only a part of the themes that the play deals with. From the idea of authenticity to people being consumers of culture, the play encourages the audience to think about the facets of consumerism and its negative effects.
Sukanya Chakrabarti, associate professor of theatre arts in the Department of Film and Theatre, directed “Yoga Play” at SJSU this spring. Photo by Josefina Valenzuela.
“Yoga Play” The main character, Joan, is on a mission to save Jojomon from bankruptcy after its CEO is hit with a major scandal. Joan epitomizes the ideology of capitalism and consumerism. Summarizing Joan’s role in the play, lead student actor Lydia Hadley (25, Theatre Arts graduate) explains, “She is trying to find every way to keep her customers loyal to the company and get more consumers to buy her products. She is very much focused on the mindset of ‘how do we sell’.” Through Joan’s mindset, the audience is able to understand in a simple way how capitalism and consumerism work. Something that is essentially simple, wanting to sell a product, suddenly accumulates over time, creating the never-ending cycle of consumerism we know today.Yoga Play Sukanya Chakrabarti, associate professor of theatre arts and director of the School of Cinema and Theatre, said corporations prioritize profits above all else and don’t care about the negative impact they have on people, the environment, and society at large. Consumerism is ingrained in our society, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing individuals can do to stop it from getting worse.
Needs and desires
When things are advertised so often, it’s hard to avoid joining in consumerist habits.
Chakrabarti speaks on the issue: “On the day you are thinking of buying a bag, you might be bombarded with advertisements for bags. You might resist for a day or two, but eventually you give up. It becomes a kind of mind game in the current climate of consumerism.” Accessibility and ease are fundamental elements at the core of why consumerism is so rampant in today’s society. Purchasing products is almost forced upon the general public. Wherever you go, you are being sold advertisements for the latest trends. This ease makes it even harder to avoid unnecessary purchases.
“Some products are so cheap that it makes it even harder to say no. If you don’t have any money, if you have at least $2, you can at least buy this product,” Hadley said. Cheapness sometimes outweighs necessity in people’s minds, leading to people splurging on things they don’t actually need.
Individuals cannot take full responsibility for their own spending habits. Shopping with your card has never been easier. Want to wear the latest trendy clothes? Just enter your card number and have the clothes delivered to your door. Don’t want to bring just any yoga mat to class? Go to your nearest athleisure store and swipe your card. You can buy anything you want at your fingertips. As Chakrabarti explains, “Consumerism literally means the ability to consume. Consumption is primarily through purchases, but also includes the consumption of goods, products, and culture.”
Chakrabarti further explains, “Capitalism has engineered the world around itself. It is fuelled by the desperation of workers in the developing world, which is why it’s such a vicious cycle that it’s extremely difficult to break.” She elaborates that workers in these countries need jobs, and capitalism and consumerism provide them. This creates a never-ending cycle where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, all so they can buy the goods that suit their needs.
How to make it
“Yoga Play” was performed at SJSU’s Hall Todd Theatre in March 2024. Photo by Josefina Valenzuela.
Even when trying to shop ethically, it can be hard to tell which companies are abusing their power over their employees and producing unethical goods. In the play, it is revealed that JoJoMon’s athleisure wear is produced in sweatshops in Bangladesh that employ child laborers. Chakrabarti and costume designer Courtney Flores acknowledge this issue, especially when it comes to students at San Jose State University. It’s not uncommon that students are most drawn to fast fashion because it’s affordable and trendy. Fast fashion is the height of consumerism because it relies on mass production at a low cost at the expense of others. However, this is why these goods are so cheap and more affordable for low-income students. Flores says, “You can’t blame students. They’re trying to live within their means and buy what they can afford. If they can’t afford expensive clothes, they don’t expect to be able to.”
But being aware of which companies you buy from is one of the most important steps to avoiding consumerist habits. “Question the product before you buy it,” says Chakrabarti. “Is it produced sustainably? What are the principles that the company follows and upholds?” Students and consumers as a whole often don’t question the products they buy because they are affordable. But Chakrabarti urges students to be more mindful of the companies they support. “Be conscious of where my money is going. Is my money supporting a company that is very uncaring about production, or is my money going to a place that is producing sustainably?” Doing some quick research into whether a company is harming the environment with its production or using sweatshops for faster production can stop you from falling into the cycle of consumerism.
While it may be difficult to avoid, Chakrabarti stresses the importance of being mindful of what we buy and what we support. “Of course we need products. We can’t turn a blind eye to how we participate in this consumer culture. But what I am suggesting is to pay more attention to our habits.” In addition to this, she encourages the use of a need-based model rather than a desire-based model. Something as simple as asking yourself at least once if you really need this before buying can make a big difference in your buying habits. “Yoga Play The fact that their athleisure wear is produced in sweatshops raises awareness as a key element in avoiding the traps of consumerism: researching companies and brands before buying can help you avoid supporting companies that use unethical production methods.
Flores had the idea of sustainability in mind when creating the costumes for the play. SJSU’s Department of Film and Theatre has a costume vault that stores all the costumes used over the years. By remaking old costumes for students and selling or donating old costumes that the department no longer needs, the department actively tries its best to avoid falling into the cycle of consumerism.
“We try to reuse and repurpose as much as we can from our inventory, but if we don’t have a certain size or style, we’ll buy it from outside,” Flores explains. Flores says the department does its best to buy sustainable clothing, making sure the sites and companies they buy from produce clothes that can be worn for years. Hadley says the department frequently holds sales of unwanted clothing throughout the year. Sometimes, for items that only fit one person, like Hadley’s shoes, students can take them home. The School of Film and Theatre aims to be as sustainable as possible when it comes to the materials they use in their productions.
“Yoga play” Essentially, the play invites the audience to reflect on their behaviour regarding consumerism. The play does not directly tell the audience what is bad or what is good. “The play does not make a moral call on these issues,” Chakrabarti explains. “Rather, it invites the audience to think about the issues.” As the audience broods towards the end of the play, Raj, another main character, tells them in his final monologue: “Stop buying things. You don’t need a yoga mat! You don’t need expensive pants! Every time you buy, you stop listening to yourself. And if you can’t hear, you can’t feel. And if you can’t feel, you’re living your life in a dream.”
