Sociology
The Cultural Logic of Kitsch and Its Class-Based Evaluations
Quick fact
In the 1970s, sociologist Pierre Bourdieu found that taste in art, music, and decoration reliably tracks social class, with upper classes preferring abstract and 'difficult' works while working classes prefer figurative and emotionally direct ones—such that a judgment like 'that's kitsch' is often a marker of the speaker's social position, not an objective verdict.
Why this is interesting
We're taught that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but is a velvet painting of Elvis any less beautiful than a Picasso? Why does one hang in a museum and the other in a garage?