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托斯丹·凡勃伦:有闲阶级论·摘录 51

托斯丹·凡勃伦《有闲阶级论》· The Theory of the Leisure Class · 投资

The requirement of vicarious consumption at the hands of the wife continues in force even at a lower point in the pecuniary scale than the requirement of vicarious leisure. At a point below which little if any pretense of wasted effort, in ceremonial cleanness and the like, is observable, and where there is assuredly no conscious attempt at ostensible leisure, decency still requires the wife to consume some goods conspicuously for the reputability of the household and its head. So that, as the latter-day outcome of this evolution of an archaic institution, the wife, who was at the outset the drudge and chattel of the man, both in fact and in theory--the producer of goods for him to consume--has become the ceremonial consumer of goods which he produces. But she still quite unmistakably remains his chattel in theory; for the habitual rendering of vicarious leisure and consumption is the abiding mark of the unfree servant.

出处: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/833
定位:Excerpt 51 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录

白话

即使收入低到请不起人替自己过有闲生活,妻子替家庭炫耀消费的要求仍然存在。在那些几乎看不出刻意浪费、也没有明显休闲意图的阶层,体面仍然要求妻子 conspicuously 消费一些物品,以维持家庭和一家之主的声望。于是,这个古老制度演变到今天的结果是:妻子最初是男人的苦力和财产,为他生产消费品;现在她成了他生产出来的商品的仪式性消费者。但她在理论上仍然是他的财产,因为习惯性地提供替代休闲和消费,正是不自由仆人的持久标志。

上下文

凡勃伦讨论妻子在炫耀性消费中的角色,揭示其从生产者到仪式性消费者的转变。

今日一问

你家的消费决策中,有多少是为了“体面”而由某个人默默承担?

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