Social Class Vs Doing Class

Differences in our social network are a little more evident considering Malcolm’s network included his friends teaching him illegal tricks to advance, while my friends taught me lessons. When thinking sociologically one can see both Malcolm and I have met people that want to help us get on track one way or another. Another concept that can be applied to both our lives is Doing Class. Doing Class is defined as engaging in behavior at the risk of class assessment, positive or negative. Malcolm and his mother, a housewife, and father, a minister, spent their lives in the lower class. Living in the lower class prohibited Malcolm from having a say in society, or being looked up to by his friends. On the other hand, this lower class lifestyle allowed

I grew up with two parents as doctors so everything I did was expected to be an upper-class act. This can be positive and negative at times. Of course this led me to continue in school and meet the right people to further my education and future. This also led me to make mistakes that are otherwise not accepted by my parents or the upper class society I lived in. I’m not able to be somewhere without guardian knowledge of my whereabouts, and I’m always given a curfew. Opposed to Malcolm and how he was able to move from place to place without his parents. For example, over the summer I had a job and no academic obligations, so my summer was going to consist of building friendships and relaxing, at least I thought. Of course, my senior year of high school my parents still decide to give me a curfew. This took a lot away from me meeting people because majority of parties were at night, and I was not able to attend due to my parents rules, because they thought I would be held negatively accountable for partying and that would reflect on

While Malcolm was in school he strived to be top of the class, he wanted to be looked up to by his classmates despite his skin color. He accomplishes this goal and the teacher, Mr. Ostrowski, is aware of it. He uses the tools around him: books, elders and anything he can get his hands on, to gain knowledge. However, Malcolm’s motivation ended there when Mr. Ostrowski tells him he will never amount to an upper-class profession, and should stick to lesser occupations like Carpentry. Another way Malcolm presents himself to others is by wearing a zoot suit and getting a conk. He decides to change his clothing because he wants to make the statement he can afford fancy clothing and look handsome if he wants to. He gets the conk to resemble a white man because the conk resembled acceptance; no longer be inferior to white