Abstract
In present day families a car fulfills utilitarian functions: it enables them to get to work, to drive children to school, to go on holiday, etc. However, the car has long ceased to be perceived, if ever ascribed to this function, as an object serving an efficient moving from “point A to point B.” The car has several symbolic meanings: the car may be a symbol of the economic status, a symbol of power, a reflection of one’s lifestyle, and so on. The aim of this article is to characterize the symbolic meanings of the car, its practical applications, as well as other functions of the car in the present day family. My theoretical considerations are primarily conducted in reference to the literature on sociology/anthropology of objects, sociology of the family as well as cultural gender studies. The article also presents results of the analysis of the content as well as the semiological analysis of advertisements of SUVs placed in official webpages of motor car concerns in Poland in 2014. Key words: car, family, symbolic meanings of car, utilitarian functions of car, advertisement
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