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How the media can influence society
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Every day, by going to our modest men's businesses, we meet and interact with the World. It is composed of men's in dark suits, driving large black cars, those who remind us that they are better because they own materials that we don't have and earn more money than we will ever see. Then, we meet homeless people, outside, sitting on the ground, begging for money in order to buy food, remembering that there is always worse than our case. In the midst of all this, we are there, the middle class.
According to Business Dictionary, social class is "a status hierarchy in which individuals and groups are classified on the basis of esteem and prestige acquired mainly through economic success and accumulation of wealth. Social class may also refer to any particular level in such a hierarchy. Generally, we differentiate three main social classes : the working class, approximatively 60% of the labour force ; the middle class, about 36% and the capitalist class about 2% of the labour force, they own more than 40% of the total income. In United
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They regroup the television, the radio, and newspapers. Aware of the power they have on us, media influence our thoughts, our acts, and our ideas in order to serve their interests. It isn't the purpose of this essay, but it would certainly not be too complicted to demonstrate that medias have a close link with politicians and that each one serve the interests of the others. Diana Kendall, in “Framing class : Media representations of wealth and poverty in America” (“The meaning of difference, pp 448), denounces the way the media influence our thoughts related to the poor class. Media give a wrong representation of the poor, this leads us to stigmatize and create stereotypes, often unfair. Moreover, they spur men to categorize people and create social construction about them, we tend to think that rich are better than us and that we have to stand back of poor people or
Professor at Baylor University, Dianne Kendall, in her essay “Framing Class, Vicarious Living, and Conspicuous Consumption,” published in 2005 touches on the fact that what we see from the media is a humongous influence on how we define social classes and argues that the media tends to trivialize issues of class and to downplay the existential problems poverty entails. Television shows such as “Family Guy”, and “Keeping up with the Kardashians” use frames to alter how we perceive social classes, whether it be for good or bad. These frames, in turn, affect how we think about class divisions and economic inequality, how we relate to the affluent and the poor. Class representations are filtered through a number of frames, which are organized hierarchically:
According to Gregory Mantsios many American people believed that the classes in the United States were irrelevant, that we equally reside(ed) in a middle class nation, that we were all getting richer, and that everyone has an opportunity to succeed in life. But what many believed, was far from the truth. In reality the middle class of the United States receives a very small amount of the nation's wealth, and sixty percent of America's population receives less than 6 percent of the nation's wealth, while the top 1 percent of the American population receives 34 percent of the total national wealth. In the article Class in America ( 2009), written by Gregory Mantsios informs us that there are some huge differences that exist between the classes of America, especially the wealthy and the poor. After
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.
America is divided into two main groups, rich or poor. There is some grey area among these groups which is referred to as the middle class. The problem with the middle class is that most people think they belong in the middle class because they do not want to associate themselves with neither rich nor poor; there are stigmas attached to each side of the spectrum.
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
The only type of media left out of Loewen’s article is social media and the younger generations are major consumers in the twenty first century. Watkins article uses the specific social media platforms Facebook and Myspace. Facebook typically had white users that were considered middle class. However, Myspace users were usually Black or Latino and came from the working class. People use social media to interact and trends of social stratification are apparent. TV is not interactive so the division of classes should not be as obvious, but “Poor people are more likely to watch TV.” (Loewen, 204). Hooks feels that “Television shows and films bring the message home that no one can truly feel good about themselves if they are poor.” (Hooks, 434). He uses Pretty Woman as evidence for this and says that the show portrays the ruling class or rich as “generous, eager to share, and as unattached to their wealth in their interactions with folks who are not materially privileged.” This sends a stronger message than interacting with others of a social media because it is not reality. TV can really send the wrong message to the poor or the rich. The privileged may get the idea that they have to take care of the poor, when the poor are hardworking people with values and morals just like the rich. From this the poor may see themselves as not as competent in society. Hooks mentions that self-esteem issues
‘Self justification involves denigrating a person or group to justify maltreatment of them’ (506). ‘ The poor are blamed for their problems; stereotypes of the homeless as bums, alcoholics and drug addicts, caught in a hopeless downward spiral because of their individual pathological behavior are omnipresent in the media’ (318). By continuously portraying those who have less than the socially accepted norm the media creates a climate in which those who are struggling to survive are dehumanized and this depiction creates a self justifying culture of prejudice against these people. ‘The media socializes us to believe that people in the upper class are much better than we are. The media also suggests that we need have no allegiance to people in our own class or to those who are less fortunate’ (316). ‘Research has found that people who extensively watch television have exaggerated views of how wealthy most American’s are’ (317). Parrillo defines frustration as a result of relative deprivation, or lack of resources compared to others in society and since the media promotes the idea that many Americans are living the economic stratosphere of the rich it is not surprising many Americans feel frustrated with their current socioeconomic position (510). Prepared with the knowledge of
Social class is a group in society having the same economic status as one another. Class could
Social class is a group of people who rank closely in property, prestige, and power. Within these social classes exist some properties of class level that are characteristic of their ranking. The first of these is property. Property consists of furniture, jewelry, bank accounts, and other materials that can be quantified into monetary value. (Henslin, 2014)
Divisions within the social stratum is a characteristic of societies in various cultures and has been present throughout history. During the middle ages, the medieval feudal system prevailed, characterized by kings and queens reigning over the peasantry. Similarly, in today’s society, corporate feudalism, otherwise known as Capitalism, consists of wealthy elites dominating over the working poor. Class divisions became most evident during America’s Gilded Age and Progressive era, a period in time in which the rich became richer via exploitation of the fruits of labor that the poor persistently toiled to earn. As a result, many Americans grew compelled to ask the question on everyone’s mind: what do the rich owe the poor? According to wealthy
The class system places the individual in the social system based on his achieved status. This status is earned or chosen. This includes educational level, careers, and spouses.
By focusing on those who have taking advantage of others, some chose to believe poor people deserve to be poor due to media perceptions, the assumption of those in poverty not working hard enough, and through government aid. The media plays a large role in shaping society’s view of the world and those involved in the society. This especially effects those living in poverty. There is a strong stigmatism on those living in poverty.
What is social class? It is a term used to describe a large group of people who share similar social or economic positions in society based on wealth, income, job status, education, skills or power in the political sphere. Class is not just about what you own or earn but also who you know. Class affects not only how we feel about ourselves, but how others judge and consequently treat us. Those at the top of the class structure, the elite, have more power than those in the middle and even more power than those at the bottom who are of lower class. Education is a highly valued commodity in our world. In his commentary on society Freud, claimed, “ No feature, however, seems better to characterize civilization than its esteem and encouragement
Prior to this class, the issue of classism was never vital to me. I understood the gap between the underprivileged and wealthy people, but not the cause of it. This seminar taught me the structure of the social class in our lives. The first video of the class revealed a person’s concrete perception of a culture, as it relates to class. Chimamanda adichie, from the 1st Ted talk video, explained how her Nigerian heritage was viewed differently in the western culture. They assumed that all the people living in the country were low-class citizens with no property. These classist norms contribute to stereotyping among individuals.
Middle class is defined in different ways by different people. For example, Easterly describes middle class “as those lying between the 20th and 80th percentile on the consumption distribution” (Banerjee and Duflo 5); or Birdsall, Graham, and Pettinato says this class “as those between 75 and 125 percent of median per capita income” (Banerjee and Duflo 7). In America, people are divided into classes by many factors. The most popular factors are income and education. For income, people in this class make less money than upper class. Pew 's analysis in the article of Philip Bump says that middle class “holds less aggregate income than the upper class”; this is true. However, people in this class have better jobs and salaries than poor class. The working poor tend to have less stable jobs than their middle class brothers. Because of the temporary nature of these jobs, they have a