No longer is the bogan confined to decorating their home with HSV wall clocks and novelty stubby holders featuring grammatically reprehensible, jingoistic humour about beer guts, ageing, or alleged sexual prowess.
The 21st century has seen the bogan home politicised by the upwardly mobile sentiments of the female bogan, who is now pursuing new goals in the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and dining room. Unfortunately for the male bogan, these goals do not provide opportunities to validate the assertions printed on his carefully selected stubby holders.
They are the new goals of the suburban aspirational class so elegantly segmented as Howard’s battlers, and what better way to announce one’s entry into the knowledge economy than by purchasing a Buddhism-themed figurine, statue, or water feature from the garden section of Kmart. The female bogan is then able to experience an increased sense of affiliation with thousands of years of learning, sacrifice, and suffering, conveniently distilled into a domestic decoration that will go well with the new cushions. Fortunately for the household, the female does not expect the rest of the family to understand the philosophy behind the iconography, largely because she doesn’t either.
Much like the destruction of Polar Bear habitat being wrought by the seemingly unstoppable march of global warming, the female bogan’s bold new foray into exotic symbolism has forced the traditional male to retreat to the rumpus room. There, he is constructing a final battle line near the entrance to the room, comprised primarily of the stubby holders, and a scale model of a Bathurst-winning Holden driven by the late, great Peter Brock.
Comments RSS
Trackback
Out of some great posts, this one is the pic for mine.
I happen to know a couple who have bought a new house and have taken the Buddha theme to the next level. I went to Bangkok during the Songkram festival earlier this year and I saw less Buddha icons than what this couple have jammed into their house. Do they know anything about Buddhism? Do they fuck! They just happened to go to Bali a year ago and have decided Buddhism is ‘really cool’. What a wonderful example of spiritual enlightenment.
Wow you have some intelligent friends – most Balinese people are actually Hindu not Buddhists!
What about the male bogans essential item of homeware? The $1000 bbq! Or worse, the $4000 bbq! Suckers, it’s a bbq!
Whilst true, I think this is one area that overlaps with a number of other different sub-cultures.
I can think of worse furnishings. At least they have a theme and if meditation means emptying your mind the bogans are on a winner.
Less affluent bogans still shop for painted-plaster figurines of Dragons and wizards at pharmacies. If they really want to splurge, they’ll make sure the figurine contains plastic gems for the eyes.
You are so cruel but you are so right! LOL
I hate Buddhism…nothing cool about it, it is about standing aloof from suffering and doing nothing about it because it is karma and needs to be experienced.IVe seen some horrible things in buddhist countries, badly mangled children and animals left to suffer…..why do people get into this religion so much, do they even know about this aspect?
Jenki, this is where I agree with you. Buddhist monks often live in golden temples whilst the rest of their countrymen suffer, then they preach the relinquishment of “materialism”. The same goes for this new western obsession with hinduism, but don’t realise that some sects perpetrate some horrendous practices for example the casting out widowed women.
Maybe the person who do not know anything about buddhism is you Jenki cos it seems like you only judged thing from little experiences of your own. I’m an australian who has lived and worked in buddhist countries for numbers of year and have experienced Buddhism culture myself. Before you cast judgement on other cultures, you would be well advised to do your homework. Buddhist philosophy does relate individuals predispositions to Karma, this does not reflect a lack of responsibility or empathy on those changed with looking after sick or disabled people or animals. What you have written is more likely to reflect the relative economic conditions and welfare capacity between Australia and the Buddhist countries you visited. In fact, if you spent a little more time there with your eyes and ears open you would observe that people in Buddhist countries generally have stronger family and community values than in western countries.
Quite misinformed there jenki… Buddhism says that ur suffering is due to ur karma yes… but it says that NOT trying to help others who are suffering will only bring more bad karma. Even if someone is suffering because they’ve done something terrible Buddhism teaches that you should still help them.
Yes Buddhist countries tend to be poor… but thats most of the non-western world!
Nothing cool about Catholicism either – what with some priests molesting the children and all.
Hate to burst your bubble there Ivana but I have been told from a Thai who is Buddhist that Child Molestation by Buddhist priests/monks is also a problem in Thailand.
Australian Labor Party website
What,
When did the American Native Indian decor go out of fashion.
Dam . . . time to replace the dreamcatchers
LOL !
Ah yes, the dream catchers, in commies and tattooed…….lol
please this is a site for people who hate bogans. 99.9% of the web is bogan so please go there to post
Hmmmm
I actually AM a Buddhist. And a blonde white girl.
I hold myself aloof from bogans because I didn’t have to go to Thailand and gawk at statues to become a Buddhist. I actually went to my local Buddhist community and started meditating.
When this trend was first picking up I used to go to people’s houses, see a little Buddha statue or three and think “Oh, I didn’t know this person was a Buddhist” and file it away as a positive sign, only to find out that nope, just a bogan.
On Friday the 28th of may ,my son comes home and describes a conversation he had with an American Exchange Teacher.She wanted to know what was the difference between a Bogan and a Feral.She was apparently confused by these references in essays her students were passing up.My son being the student voice,got asked his definition!He was in at the school library and wasnt even from her class.So they had some time googling various examples.I think she is better informed.
[…] because the 2 metre space between the McMansion and the back fence is entirely occupied by a Buddhism-themed water fountain and a 16 burner barbecue so powerful that it needs to be bolted into the pavers to […]
[…] because the 2 metre space between the McMansion and the back fence is entirely occupied by a Buddhism-themed water fountain and a 16 burner barbecue so powerful that it needs to be bolted into the pavers to […]
‘comprised primarily’
better write gooder grammer like, if ya gunner slag off bogans ay.
It’s ‘composed’, not ‘comprised’.
Were you abused as a child by a mullet wearing red neck with a flannel shirt and a packet of Winfields in his sleeve.
Perhaps your parents are stereotypical bogan types and you are ashamed of them.
I am sorry for your issues with bogans as they appear to run deep. I would suggest some counselling. Maybe some bogan therapy. Maybe then you will come to embrace your inner bogan ways.
My brother has just finished a little Buddah temple in the back yard. He did a great job and you could shoot a reality TV elimination night episode in front, but I had no idea what it was all about – till now.
Thanks TBL – bringing famillies together.
There’s this house that’s had 3 sets of people in it, the first lot were faux libtards I say faux because they sent their kids to an expensive protestant private school and longed for a 4WD, they had these annoying buddhist statues and shit outside their house, then they move and a couple of bogans move in and they keep this buddhist shit around, he was even kind enough to give me a death stare. Then some Asians move in and they’re the ones who got rid of it all!
If you put a Christian cross outside your house everyone thinks you’re a nutter, but if you have some Buddhist stuff you’re kind of worldly.
I just can’t imagine why anyone would give you a death stare Martin!
I used to cop more, when I was really skinny. The bogan is tough and good and does rool work. For $500 an hour, for fixing ya dunny. Maybe I should get a lobotomy so I’ll fit in better.