Social Status It’s Just Me Does anyone really have one specific class which they fit into? Different activities and things we do put us in many different classes. For example, if your in a prole class and you ride in a limo on prom night are you then considered to be in the middle- to high-class range? No, either you or your parents just thought it would be nice if you could take a limo instead of taking the family minivan. On the other hand, what if you are upper-class and you normally drive a McLaren F1, but it has to be put in the shop and you temporarily have to drive a Kia, does this drop you into a lower class? It shouldn’t. No one participates only in activities that fit into one specific social class. Through my occupation, housing, leisure activities, clothing, and the reading of Paul Fussell’s book entitled Class, I have been able to come to the conclusion that I am high-proletarian to middle-class. My current occupations include teaching assistant at Royal Oaks Elementary School, student aid at the College of Sequoias Agriculture Department, and volunteer caretaker at Linwood Gardens Convalescent. I got my job at the elementary school through the COS career/transfer center. I chose to work there because I love working with kids. I get to help them learn lots of different things from their ABC’s to reading. Fussell states that, “the wider the difference between one’s working clothes and one’s ‘best,’ the lower the class.” (45) I wear T-shirts and jeans to work, and there is a very wide gap between T-shirts with jeans and my “best,” which would probably be one of the three dresses I own that isn’t formal. This would probably put me in the low-prole class. Working at the Ag. ... ... middle of paper ... ...tates that, “When proles assemble to enjoy leisure, they seldom appear in clothing without words on it.” (56) I can say that about 80% of the T-shirts I wear have words or logos on them and about 60% of my tank tops and sweaters have words on them also. With these I would either wear jeans or a pair of athletic striped warm-up pants. I have worn formal dresses a few times; to Proms, Homecomings, and Winter Formals. The last time I wore a dress was about two years ago. In conclusion, I have already stated that clothing is the most important factor used in judging someone’s class status. If we are destitutes or top-out-of-sights, we are still people. We all have different thoughts on life, and we all have different views of classes. There is no right way to class another person, because then your making an assumption that you rightfully can not make.
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, has many social class conflicts presented in the book. The main thing that Steinbeck concentrates on is the fact that if a man had land he had a name, he had a purpose. Though some men in the 1930’s were living in poverty and having to struggle to provide for their family, they still had a place, their land kept them grounded, they didn’t feel like they were ultimately losing everything. Steinbeck tells a story about a family that got their land taken away from them and their struggle to continue on with their lives.
Historically it has been viewed that one's place in society is fixed. This concept included the notion that not only was it impossible for one to move up in society, but also that it was difficult for one to move down the social ladder. The American dream, of course, promotes the idea that one can move up in the social ladder. However, many fail to realize that one can plummet from highest social class to the bottom, without even realizing how or why. John Cheever's The Swimmer, examines and reveals this problem through conflicts of attitude between the narrator and the viewpoint character, Neddy Merrill. The narrator conveys the attitude that social status is fleeting through the use of irony and shifts in time. Neddy's attitude, however, is to cling to his social status through denial, over-rationalization and an arrogant sense of invulnerability.
What comes into my mind when thinking on how to categorize those people that belong in the middle class, I look at such things as education, race, family, income, gender and how many people are in your household. I look at it as those people who are making between $40,000 and about $85,000 to be in the middle class while the next step would be the upper middle class and then to the upper class. Maybe I am wrong here, but like I said before, everyone wants to have that “I am middle class” attitude. The most recent Census Bureau survey data shows that the share of households with incomes of $75,000 or more has doubled in the past 24 years. Other studies, however, discover that more people who depart the middle class move down than up, at least temporarily.
William Shakespeare, in his play The Tempest, uses social order, with particular reference to 17th century gender stereotypes to explain the nature of the main character, Prospero. Prospero is master of the three other main characters, with whom he shares very different relationships. Miranda, his daughter, represents the stereotypical "submissive female" of Elizabethan times who didn't resist; she accedes to everything Prospero says. As a result, Prospero exerts a sort of passive control in relation to Miranda, easily exercising power over her. Caliban, on the other hand, represents the complete opposite of Miranda, fitting an unbridled male role that represents deviation from power. Because of Caliban's digression, Prospero commands him with sheer anger and contempt, an aggressive form of control. Fitting between the roles of Caliban and Miranda is Ariel, Prospero's servant. Ariel, a spirit who is never assigned a gender, represents the middle ground between male and female and is thus treated by Prospero with a mixture of aggressiveness and passiveness. This assertive control results in a paternalistic relationship between Prospero and Ariel. Despite these differing relationships, Prospero utilizes each and every character to reach his ultimate goal: the advancement of his political position in Milan.
Social class is a system of social stratification, the hierarchy creates specific types of social inequalities. Social inequality refers to the existence of social inequalities created such as ownership, types of occupation that creates differences in wealth, income and power, while social stratification refers to the existence of social groups. Class can be arranged to economic factors such as income, education, wealth and other factors at work. Poverty remains high and could argue that true poverty cannot exist in a country as rich as the United States. It is clear that poverty has an impact on certain groups of people, while other groups have it easy, but poverty is often associated with something low education, poor health and social inequalities groups. Nearly a quarter of less than high school (23.6%) education live below the poverty line, while 3.6% of people with tertiary education live below the poverty line (U.S. Census 2007). The assumption that poverty is something that adds to increasing educational opportunities for the poor and education overall, suggests that it is very difficult to get out of poverty. You can see some similarities between health, poverty and employment status. The results of poor health, poor health contributes to poverty, and the difficulty of working full time. These are all things that come to be in a state of poverty.
Social class has existed in our society since its foundation. Working class, middle class, upper middle class, or upper class, whatever your standing, social class can affect your place in society. Social class can be defined by where you live, who you talk to, where you get an education, even by the clothes you wear. These may not be definite determinants of social class, but categorization of people becomes easier when looking at these factors. In previous papers, I have claimed that social class is a result of capitalism. Though, I still believe this to be true, there are many factors that can affect social class and vice versa. Theorists have looked at different aspects of how these can affect social class. In my paper I am going to explore capitalism, stratification, racism, segregation, and education and their relationship with social class and how this can cause social conflict; I will have a primary focus of how Weber, DuBois, and Marx views this relationship.
Social status has played a major role in many different aspects of life practically since the beginning of time. Social status acts as a label for one’s predicament of living. Such a label directly affects day-to-day tasks, opportunities, and interactions. Generally, how we perceive others is a determining factor for the value we place upon them to our lives. For this particular study, I will be focusing on how social status affects dating/relationships. Dating is the basis of any intimate relationship that can potentially lead to a long-term arrangement such as marriage and pro-creation.
In January 2013 a prominent national US newspaper quoted former Secretary of State, Condolezza Rice, “It doesn’t matter where you come from, but where you are going.” However, In “The Land of Opportunity,” James Loewen discusses how significant inequality is in America. The social class that you are born into will influence your outlook on social class and will also be the social class you stay in (Loewen, 1995. 322). Your social class will determine the opportunities available for you including health, fitness, nutrition, education, SAT scores, medical resources and more (Loewen, 1995. 321-322). Loewen also proposes that the education system in America does not incorporate a proper analysis of our social class (Loewen, 1995. 323). It is necessary for students to be realistic about social inequality because it is linked with history. As students, we are socialized from an early age to believe in the American Dream through media and our loved ones. We were raised to believe our merit determines our success. In reality race and ethnicity, class, and gender play vital roles in determining where an individual ends up in life. The following articles raise inconvenient facts that go against the American Dream.
In modern society these 3 traditional social classifications, working, middle and upper class are outdated, fitting less than 40 percent of the United Kingdom's population. In April 2013 the British Broadcast Corporation introduced a new model for social classification, within the United Kingdom. Social class and socioeconomic groups traditionally have been defined by income, occupation and ed...
businesses do not see T-shirts as an acceptable form of attire. Although it may be a casual dress day, clothing should still be neat, clean, and pressed. Clothing should not be offensive, tasteless, revealing, or sloppy. If an employee feels he or she might be underdressed, he or she probably is.
There are two major concepts that fall under social structures, first is status and the second is roles. “ Socials status is simply a position that a person occupies in a social structure” (McIntyre P 121). Roles are defined as “ the sum total of expectations about the behavior attached to a particular social status” (McIntyre P 123).
Social stratification refers to the division of society into a hierarchy of unequal social groups. (Ken Brown, An introductory of sociology, p393)
Atonement is set in England during the 1930’s in which during that time society was highly influenced by very segregated social class, in the novel both characters Cecilia and Robbie are the most affected characters by this segregated social class. Social class is one of the big themes in the novel “Atonement” it helps establish the background and foundation of the whole plot. It adds to the conflict the characters deal with throughout the novel. Social class is an example of social structure; class deals with the shaping of a cultural group who share many similar qualities as in race or economic standing. Social class also shapes the way people interact with each other, in other words how they interact with different social groups that already been established. This is demonstrated by even though Cecilia and Robbie both went to Cambridge together they never became friends because of the obvious social separations.
Human nature is not simply a measure of our human tendencies. It is both individual and collective. It does not explain why events happen. Instead, it explains the subconscious of each individual in the instant that events happen. The social order that best fits human nature is one where the informed opinions of everyone creates decisions and causes action. Madison’s argument for and against factions, Aristotle’s idea of ultimate happiness, and Locke’s concept of popular government and human rights all offer a significant component to the larger concept that is human nature. While some may argue that we will only fully understand human nature when we are met with death, still we can begin to capture a slight understanding to what governs human nature and the political order that helps it grow.
Before I read the chapter on social class, I thought social class was a category about people who are put into class by how much money they make; you are either poor or rich. However, there is much more regarding social class than I had originally thought. Social class it separated into a four tier criteria. Beginning at the bottom is the “lower class”, or “underclass” which is referred to by poverty, homeless, and unemployment. This class, usually hasn’t finished high school, doesn’t have medical care and can’t afford sufficient housing. Many people mischaracterize these poor people as mothers who abuse the welfare system by baring several babies that they can’t afford and fathers who are able to work but do not due to drug addiction or their