7
Street roots
Nov. 11, 2011
A freewheeling discourse on the five-finger discount
BY THOMAS VINCENT
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
Z \K ,
true confessions time. Have you
I 1 ever thought about pocketing an item
in a store and walking out without
paying for it? If so, you might see a
reflection of yourself in the pages of Rachel
Shteir’s latest book, “The Steal: A Cultural
History of Shoplifting.”
“She is carrying many bags. There is a
bulky, dark garment bag, either navy blue or
black, which looks like it is stuffed with
clothing, and a red rectangular shopping
bag. The woman is also carrying a tote bag
and two purses, a
white one and a
turquoise one. Her
thin face might
register trouble — fear
or guilt or sadness —
it is difficult to tell
because the
surveillance video
does not have good
resolution.”
Shteir is no
The Steal: A
stranger to
Cultural History
controversial topics.
of Shoplifting by
In her previous two
Rachel Shteir
books, “Striptease”
and “Gypsy,” she
delved deep into the
history of the “girlie show” and presented a
look into the lives of those who populate
that socially illicit world. In “The Steal,”
Shteir turns her literary lens towards the
modem cultural ill known as shoplifting.
While as a scientific study the book is not
exhaustive, the author does a very credible
job resisting tabloid-style titillation, instead
choosing to present shoplifting as a complex
social issue full of subtlety and nuance: “I
am. inveterately curious about the
boundaries cultures establish: the lines we
draw between civilization and barbarism,
madness and sanity, the appropriate and the
inappropriate.” The author’s motivation for
writing the book is not merely to present a
series of show trials of celebrities with
sticky fingers. Instead, her aim is to “bust
myths,” to “overturn common wisdom” and
to examine “the complex and often
contradictory things shoplifting stands for.”
The most contradictory thing, according
to Shteir, is the difficulty even experts have
coming up with a satisfactory definition for
what shoplifting is. As the book points out,
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P H O T O IL L U S T R A T IO N
throughout its history, shoplifting has been
classified in turn as a crime, a disease and
even a means, of .social protest For Shteir, ,
this essential ambiguity is rooted in
shoplifting being anathema to social
discourse. “Even in our loquacious age,
shoplifting produces squirming. Stores
dislike talking about i t Retail security
experts are reticent about their techniques
... although most secrets can be gleaned
from the Internet”
The contradictions and stigma attached to
shoplifting have produced a veritable
labyrinth of social science remedies. “Just as
experts can’t agree on why people shoplift,
they can’t agree on how to stop i t There are
behavioral schools of thought Others put
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While much of the book’s focus is on the
individuals who engage in shoplifting and
the negative impacts the act has on their
lives, Shteir does give examples of some of
the other costs as well: “Stores measure
shoplifting ... as a percentage of profits.
Profit margins can be thin: Supermarkets
operate on margins between 1 and 5
percent, which means the theft of one $5
heirloom tomato from Whole Foods can
require sales of up to $500 to break even.”
Regardless of how one feels about Whole
Foods’ pricing policies, few will argue that
the net effect of shoplifting on society is
anything but negative. “Stores stockpile
surveillance and antitheft devices, ensuring
that going to the mall will soon resemble
enduring TSA procedures at the airport”
Shteir even raises the.specter of mortality,
noting, “Chasing shoplifters, store detectives
some of whom have no more than a few
days of training — have killed them.”
One of the more interesting topics in the
book — and one that will no doubt grow in
relevance as the gulf between rich and poor
widens — is the chapter covering the
“yippie” movement in the 1960s and 1970s
that viewed shoplifting as a political
statement But, as the author wryly notes,
though revolutionary paeans such as “Do
It,” “The Anarchist Cookbook” and Abbie
Hoffman’s “Steal This Book” presented
theft as “an act of revolutionary love,” such
rationale for illegal activity is often tough to
maintain when the Doc Marten is on the
other foot. “After someone broke into his
apartment, Jerry) Rubin wrote, ‘In
advocating stealing as a revolutionary act, I
guess I didn’t make clear the difference
between stealing from General Motors and
stealing from me.’”
The questions raised in “The Steal” are
deep and profound. For example, if a
starving man steals a loaf of bread, is that
the same as a bored and confused housewife
who lifts a designer scarf and some
eyeliner? And what about the undeniable
racism embodied by the discriminatory
“shopping while black” statistics that
minorities know all too well?
“The Steal” is a fascinating read. Weaving
statistics and history together with
interviews, anecdotes and even literary
references, Shteir has produced a book that
makes it hard to ignore shoplifting. If you
like meaty dinner conversation, this one will
give you large’ chunks to chew on. Perhaps
the best way to sum the book up is with the
author’s own words: “Shoplifting has been a
sin, a crime, a confession of sexual
repression, a howl of grief, a political yelp, a
sign of depression, a badge of identity, and a
back door to the American Dream. The act
mirrors our collective identity, reflects our
shifting moral code, demonstrates the
power that consumption holds over our
psyches.”
Originally published by Real Change News,
Seattle, Wash.
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