To really hate the term "lifestyle"

[Lucyellensmum95]

WTAF is a "lifestyle" anyway? It is always sold as something we should aspire to. "lifestyle magaines" i mean, really? Do we need to refer to a magazine to know how to live? Are we to follow like sheep - what lifestyle exactly should we be aspiring too? Do I have to have Cath Kidstone stuff dotted around my house? Wear Boden? Go to costa coffee? Do wholesome family things at the weekend whilst still maintaining my individuality and quirkiness?

I had a friend who used to bang on about "lifestyle" all the time - "oh, but we have a really nice lifestyle at the moment" Really?? REALLY?? Yes your house looks like something out of Country living magazine/Home and Gardens and you have the right clothes but are you really happy? Turns out she wasn't but thats a whole other story.

I was reminded of "lifestyle" by an add for a housing development in greenwich, which they have christened "The lifestyle quarter" it has a picture of a modelesque type woman, interchanging with some metropolitan scenery - Do me a favour!!!

What does it even MEAN?

So, What does it mean to you?

When i hear anyone say anything about lifestyle - i think "trying too hard"

Just me then - seems everyone else is too busy enjoying their "lifestyles" to comment

It is identity - it is about the tribe you see yourself as part of.

I don't fit neatly into any category but it does not annoy me. Why is it bothering you so much?

YANBU at all. It doesn't really mean anything, it's a sort of advertising invention to make you buy things (which is really what those 'lifestyle' magazine/newspaper supplements are about).

The other context in which it always mildly irritates me is when it's used by people about to relocate to Australia who bang on about the lovely outdoorsy lifestyle, as if under the impression that jobs, chores, commuting etc magically don't exist in Australia, and people just wander about surfing and putting steaks on the barbecue.

I don't have a lifestyle, I have a life.

It doesn't bother me, i just think its a pile of wank ;)

Anyone else?

I thought you were going to say you don't like the term 'benefits lifestyle'. I don't know what that means either.

ive never heard of that :) but no, thts not what i meant :)

YANBU.

I also detest the use of "healthy" or "unhealthy" when used to describe anything not related to actual health.

On the Radio 4 comedy "Old Harry's Game" Satan defines a 'lifestyle' as "what rich people have instead of a life."

Have personally hated the word for many years, at least since I saw it used on billboards to market houses and flats - "Buy our flat - Get the lifestyle." No. It's a small flat in a crap location. Fuck off.

Someone once said that we have "a lovely relaxed lifestyle".

It translates to "we are a load of lazy slatterns, the only reason our house hasn't been closed down by environmental health is because we have a cleaner, we bumble along without any kind of "project" ongoing (except a vague "declutter" one that we have had since 2002), and neither of us even try to take an evening class mainly because there isn't one in collapsing in front of the telly with some Dairy Milk!"

ShellyB,

I used to love the overhead sign in our local Tesco's that directed people to "Healthy Cereals" as opposed to all the others, until some miserable sod noticed and changed it.

I live in a very popular seaside town, infiltrated by second home owners who want to buy into a "lifestyle" sisyphus - you are right, fuck off indeed

There is a lovely line in one of the Adrian Mole books when his friend says to him something like 'you keep trying to have a lifestyle aidy, the rest of us are just trying to have a life'
I liked that.

P.S. Sorry for the bad language - I've had a shit day. I'm also on the wine - you might have noticed. I don't usually talk like this. Yes I do.

When my children and I were being stalked and harassed by a neighbour I took the matter to the local council's ASBO officer in the first instance. After hearing my concerns the council officer told me that it appeared to him that these were just "lifestyle differences".

I politely pointed out to him that if the neighbour owned a salamander and I owned a giraffe, it would be a lifestyle difference - calling small children "fucking cunts" was not.

The look upon his face was priceless.

Ever since then the word "lifestyle" has made me feel quite stabby. :D

Lifestyles are rather nice, I think. Unfortunately though I generally find that I am too busy to fully immerse myself in one.

Mummytokatie I think we should start a new "Lifestyle" magazine. It would have photos of people watching telly, chocolate wrappers on the floor and close-ups of clutter with dust on it.

You can use my home as a "Readers' Projects". We have some fabulous stains on our carpet and our windows haven't been cleaned for several months.

You could have specials on "What's in the box" - where you randomly open a box of clutter or even a tub from the fridge.

It would be like Kim & Aggie porn.

excellent iea wondering, that sounds just like my "lifestyle" but maybe we could rename it "slutstyle"?

Slattern Homes and Gardens

I love Slutstyle!

Maybe there could be a "Slutstyle fakers" section. Where you get to look around the house and decide who really is a lazy slattern and who is just pretending.

"Conversational Mandarin" on the bookshelf? "FAKER"
Bathroom that has actually been done up rather than just vaguely muttered about for 6 years? "FAKER"
Lift up the bed and discover a load of manky tissues, 3 condom wrappers (despite the wife being 8 months pregnant) and two squashed novels? "SLUTSTYLE"

Lifestyle in the media is a bit of a shit marketing buzzword.

But when actual proper people use it they mean things like work/life balance, leisure pursuits, disposable income and so on- what other word are you supposed to use to describe the way you live? 'Life' doesn't quite fit if you're comparing the way you can live in two different countries.

You could offer free vouchers for Oxfam (bricabrac department).

I could write a report called "My Flylady Hell".