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Social class and poverty
Social class and social inequality
Social class and social inequality
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Shameless: U.C (Upper Class) While you are aimlessly scrolling through Netflix deciding on which TV show you are going to binge watch next, Shameless U.S and U.K will grab your interest. This popular drama demonstrates some of the real life struggles of poor families whilst making you laugh and delivering a serious message. Nothing compares to the real life examples of the lower working class of the world; how they are slaves to our economic system. The true shame lies in how the media misrepresent the working class. Kimberley Barnes reports. The door slams closed. After an unruly ten hour shift, Fiona puts on another work uniform to attend her next job. Hopefully she will earn enough for groceries next week, as she plans what shifts she has …show more content…
Cast of Shameless (L-R): Debbie, Fiona, Liam, Frank, Lip, Carl and Ian In Shameless, there are many examples of the terrible treatment of the working class. Frank Gallagher is a perfect model. His character leads the typical stereotype of a homeless, drunken criminal who abandons his family, leaving his oldest daughter to take care of them. Because of his alcohol abuse, he is a regular member of the local bar called “The Alibi”. Whenever he enters, he is met with abuse and judgement from people around him. Even the bartender Kevin does not converse with him, just pours his usual drink. In Frank’s case, he is not only judged for being poor, which is unfair. He is judged for being an alcoholic who cannot take care of his children. This is a result of stereotyping and using the negative image society has of the lower class to portray his character in a certain way. However, his kids are cursed with the family name of “Gallagher”. They are known as the broken family with a terrible father trying to fend for themselves. They are bullied and seen as lower than the rest of …show more content…
We unconsciously, but sometimes intentionally, discriminate against these people because of what they are wearing or how much money their family has. These judgements are unfairly destroying our already damaged society. How are we meant to work together and be a peaceful society if we are being fed negative and inaccurate representations, which cause us to discriminate against them? However, the representations presented in Shameless are helping this group. The TV show provides insight into the cruelty and unjust actions against the working class. Especially since this show is so popular, there has been some societal change in treating the lower class differently. I wish I could say the same with how they are represented in the majority of media. There is still a long way to reaching a place where the lower class are not misrepresented. A part of the problem is how they are portrayed in the news. Not just on TV, but articles describing the link between lower class and income and crime rates. This implies that people of the lower class are all criminals, encouraging others to immorally look down on
“My name is Sadie Frowne. I work in Allen Street (Manhattan) in what they call a sweatshop. I am new at the work and the foreman scolds me a great deal. I get up at half-past five o’clock every morning and make myself a cup of coffee on the oil stove. I eat a bit of bread and perhaps some fruit and then go to work. Often I get there soon after six o’clock so as to be in good time, though the factory does not open till seven.
As Kendall notes, “the media portrays people who produce goods and services as much less interesting than those who excessively consume them” (429). Viewers want to be entertained, and simply just don’t care about the struggles of the working class. They overlook “low wages (and) lack of benefits” (429) because through caricature framing the media sways people to believe works to be stupid and reckless. Using this frame, they created people such as Homer Simpson, showing people that the working class doesn’t deserve raises, better healthcare, or any such luxuries because they can’t think for themselves. If that wasn't bad enough, the media often characterizes all workers as wanting to transcend their class (429). Through shows such as Extreme Makeover, they depict people who want to spice up their life and improve themselves as people, and that they need help to get to the next level. The media has undercut all of the hard work of this class, and has made people believe that the working class is unavailable, dumb and needs help to be their best self when in fact they are what allows for the success of
The first way that Frank overcomes adversity in his memoir is when he gets a job as a paper delivery boy to help support his mother Angela and his siblings because his father drinks away all of his money at the local pubs. “Mrs. O’Connell gives me telegrams to deliver to Mr.Harrington, the Englishman with the dead wife that was born and bred in Limerick…” (326). This quote tells of how he has to work and do work that he really does not like to help out his family and their situation. Frank is overcoming adversity by providing for his family and saving money to
Ruth Stein: Ruth is the mother of Meredith Stein, Frank’s girlfriend that was killed in the accident. After her daughter’s death she had a heavy and unforgiving heart, but as the story progressed, Ruth was able to forgive and was one of Frank’s biggest supporters. She wrote on a blog as “anonymous” and told people that they should not be so hard on Frank-- he is paralyzed for the rest of his life.
Other than trying to make it day to day at their company Frank is one of the things these three ladies have in common. Frank is their sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical, bigot of a boss. He lusts after most of the women under his authority at the office but has taken a special liking to Doralee, who despises him. Though despicable as a man he has just been promoted to Head of that division. He has a loving wife who ends up divorcing him to be with one of his associates. He gets another promotion and has to leave the country, he is never to be heard from again.
In "Class in America", Gregory Mantsios says that "when politicians and social commentators draw attention to the plight of the poor, they do so in a manner that obscures the class structure and denies any sense of exploitation." Based off our readings, class discussion and films, income inequality is known to be erased or ignore. Our society frowns upon the expression of income in our daily conversations, as it could be seen braggy or a complaint depending on your status of income. Because it's frowned upon to talk about, the topic of income inequality becomes erased or ignored. In addition, income inequality in America's class structure can affect people's ability to reach their American Dream.
The show Shameless is about Frank Gallagher, who is a single father with six children. His wife Monica suffers from mental illness and drug addiction left Frank and the family to fend for themselves. Fiona (23) is the oldest followed by Philip “Lip” (20), Ian (18), Debbie (15), Carl (14) and Liam (4). The Gallagher’s are a very close knit family. The family resides in one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois. They struggle to make ends meet. The house that they live in is very small and barely accommodates the family. There is little to no privacy for the family members. Food is always scarce and unhealthy consisting mostly of carbs and fats. The house is powered by electricity that is stolen from the neighbors. The family is deeply affected by poverty, abuse, mental illness and other dysfunctional
He uses every single penny they have at the pubs. It drives Frank mad and he loses all respect for him. Frank completely loathes his father when he upsets his mother. He makes her angry, which Frank cannot stand. “My heart is banging away in my chest and I don’t know what to do.
The media portrays the upper class as something to strive for. Obtaining wealth and material possessions will bring you a happy life. The only way to get ahead is to emulate the rich and powerful and to live vicariously through them (Kendall 316). The media’s emphasis on the upper class takes away from people living life for themselves. Instead, they are persuaded to obtain a lifestyle that is realistically out of their means. Kendall states, “Largely through marketing and advertising, television promoted the myth of the classless society, offering on one hand the images of the American dream fulfilled wherein any and everyone can become rich and on the other suggesting that the lived experience of this lack of class hierarchy was expressed by our equal right to purchase anything we could afford”. Exaggerated views of the rich and successful in America are largely portrayed via television. Which gives a false idea of what happiness, wealth and material possessions can bring (Kendall 317). The poor and homeless are at the bottom of the class structure and are often overlooked, ignored and only portrayed as deserving of sympathy. They are stereotyped to be people who have problems such as drugs or alcohol (Kendall 318). Kendall goes on to explain that the middle class is considered the “working class” and are
are being portrayed, is the way they really are. Particular groups of people are though, shown in a
Shameless is an American TV series based on the self-destructive and dysfunctional family of Frank Gallagher, a single father of six children. The program is set in Chicago and illustrates a story of an alcoholic father who spends his day getting drunk, while his kids learn to take care of themselves. Fiona, the eldest daughter, takes responsibility upon herself at the age of 15 to become the caretaker of the family both physically and financially. Although the Gallagher’s do not have the structure of a nuclear family, they still hold the functionalist perspective of having a matriarchal family system, with the sister leading the family. They fit with the functionalist theory, however not in the generic stance of having a mother and a father
Living in poverty and not being able to meet basic needs leads the characters to result to desperate measures such as stopping Frank McCourt’s education and taking a job to support the family. Frank is forced to take the job mostly because his father is an alcoholic and uses all the dole money and his wages to buy beer instead of feeding his family. Frank describes this pattern of drinking away the money by saying " When Dad comes home with the drink smell there is no money and Mam screams at him till the Twins cry."(42) This situation lasts until Mr.McCourt leaves to work in England and is never heard from again which forces Frank to take a job at fourteen years old. Frank takes on the role of the head of the family proudly and comments " Its hard to sleep when you know you know the next day you’re fourteen and starting your first job as a man." (p.309) Frank’s ability to provide financial stability leads to greater comfort and living conditions for the family.
Frank often finds himself forced to stay late at the office, swamped with work. One night when Frank is working late, Cathy decides to bring his dinner. She walks in on him kissing a man. Frank confesses having "problems" as a young man, and agrees to sign up for therapy.
Crime and criminalization are dependent on social inequality Social inequality there are four major forms of inequality, class gender race and age, all of which influence crime. In looking at social classes and relationship to crime, studies have shown that citizens of the lower class are more likely to commit crimes of property and violence than upper-class citizens: who generally commit political and economic crimes. In 2007 the National Crime Victimization Survey showed that families with an income of $15000 or less had a greater chance of being victimized; recalling that lower classes commit a majority of those crimes. We can conclude that crime generally happens within classes.
Viewers of this show believe this information to be completely accurate, for they hold little or no knowledge about that particular group. Though the stereotypes shown on TV are usually misrepresented, they are quite well accepted by the audience as the truth.