Stratification is defined as “A structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society” (Witt pg238).
The documentary “Class Dismissed” examines how television portrays the minorities and working class people. It argues that television stereotypes and misrepresentations help to both create and reinforce negative perceptions of the working class. The documentary also discusses how advertisers have huge power and are able to redefine the meaning of the American Dream and search for a better life through commercial television.
The documentary illustrates how social class is experienced in our society. It lays emphasis on the fact that the working class in the United States is a stigmatized
Writer Gregory Mantsios in his article “Class in America”, talks about these things, and how wide the gap is between the rich and the poor and also discusses how the rich continue to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. Mantsios gives his readers the profiles and backgrounds of three hard-working Americans, two of them are white males, whose family background as well as education played a role in their success, while the other person is a black woman who is just above the poverty line despite her work as a nurse’s aide. Through these profiles, Mantsios article shows exactly how sex, race and shows how your parental and educational background of a person can play a role in the things that you achieve. Mantsios also talks about one’s performance in school and the level of school completed can suggest whether or not class that person may belong in.
They have their ups and downs, struggling to define who they are, in an often cruel society (Davis, 2009). The two main themes found within the documentary focus on strife in their current lives, and the potential for a better future, both of which relate to our class
In the opening of this documentary, the first shots are of the beautiful buildings, expensive cars, and even white-gloved doorman standing outside, all of the materialistic things. This is the life that most wish to live. The media even will try to persuade people that this is the “dream”, the life that everyone works towards and wants to live. In reality though, can most people even consider this goal attainable? This is the question that director Alex Gibney visits and revisits multiple times within this documentary. Light is shed on the gap between the rich and the poor and how the gap has been widened by the political manipulations of the country’s wealthiest citizens. 740
The essay "Class and Virtue" by Michael Parenti offers an analysis of several TV shows which are based on stratification issues. The essay highlights that the entertainment media shows that the lower class is not adequate in contrast to the upper one. With the help of such shows as Treasure Island and The Three Faces of Eve, the author gives examples which support his statement. What is more, he also applies his statement concerning social groups and virtue to gender and race by such TV shows as The A-Team and Pretty Woman. Besides, he assumes that virtue is more likely to be attributed to those
In the second reading title “Framing Class” by Diana Kendall the idea of class is described as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Diana focuses on the idea that the media shapes the way we view class. The media
In the article Media Magic: Making Class Invisible, Mantsios speaks about how the social classes are placed upon the society, and how mass media plays a role towards the individual’s perspectives within our surroundings. Mantsios explains the class effects of a person’s life changes, such as the inequality of rich and the poor from the representation of false truths from “daily newspapers, magazines, movie studios, and radio and television outlets in the United States” (Mantsios, pg. 92). Advantages were usually directed towards the higher class, as their status and access to resources were usually the center of attention when it came to favoritism from the media. The idea which the media “provided hype for individuals who have achieved “super” success” (Mantsios, pg. 96) as individuals praise the idea of the 1% upper class by “making it all on their own ” along with the acknowledgment of being wealthy is to be accepted.
In Walter Kirn’s essay, Class Dismissed, he argues on the point that he believes senior year is “not an indulgence but an entitlement...in which [seniors] crave tradition. [For some] it amounts to a fidgety waiting period that practically begs for descents into debauchery and concludes in a big dumb party under a mirror ball that spins in place like the minds of those beneath it.” He goes further into bringing up the economic benefits and how it was a way to “shave off millions from the cash-strapped state’s expense sheet.” In some ways, yes, senior year could be considered a waste of time and be better off non-existent. Although, I do not believe that you should spend what would be your senior year in high school, in freshman year of college.
Q: How does being working class shape your identity? Although one may not think about their class everyday it does affect who you are, the things you do everyday, and how you act. For example, in Under the Feet of Jesus, the characters are farmers and are clearly on the lower end of the class spectrum. Although they don’t think about their social mobility everyday I believe that their families “working class” title has a huge effect on each of their identities.
Though there may be little to no exposure to these ideas in the classroom, students will encounter them as they consume mass entertainment media. Social class disparity has long been a reoccurring theme in film. Adolescents and young adults
It is believed that there is a tension between social classes in America. Typically, people of lower classes choose to imitate those of higher social status. As a result, advertisers have a tendency to take advantage of this tension in order to profit from people of the lower and middle classes. In "The American Upper Class," G. William Domhoff says that "exhibiting high social status is a way of exercising power" (Domhoff p.34)," which is something important to all social classes. According to Judi Puritz Cook, author of "Consumer Culture Sales Discourse," advertisements in print as well as in visual media seem to create "the promise of status mobility through consumption (Cook p.373)." In the article, Puritz explains how television
The axis of inequality that will be focused throughout this paper is the social class. Social class is defined as a group of individuals who are categorized according to class (i.e. poor, middle, and upper) due to their income, wealth, power, and occupation. Social class is socially constructed by the way we view how much income and wealth a person possess (Ore, 20011a, 10). In reality it is much more than that. According to the text, poverty is not only the shortage of income, but it is the rejection of opportunities and choices that leads a person to a standard way of living (Ore, 2011a, 10). Stereotyping also contributes to it being socially constructed. These stereotypes influence us by defining who is who based on their principles in each class category. This can cause some to feel worthless.
The media carries a significant role in the distribution of information in American society. The American populace rely on entertainment and news networks to properly feed them updates on science, politics, celebrities and so much more. The media has this kind of power due to the fast pace way of life Americans live as well as their inability, or lack of want, to read pure and unadulterated academic articles on any given subject. While the media never seems to stop covering vast topics of interest to great length it is fundamentally failing at properly commenting on one of the most important social issues of the century, class and its relation to social inequality. The media is downright disrespectful and negligent in the way it goes
The concept of gender and race representation in media has reminded me that the representation of people of color is not visible. The push for people of color to act on certain stereotypes shows that the media wants them to be portrayed in a certain way. The media pushes white people into positive leading roles that make it difficult for people of color to gain opportunity. Media uses its power to dissociate themselves on their reasoning on why they do not cast people of color for roles. In their article, “Gender, Race, and Media Representation”, Dwight E. Brooks and Lisa P. Hebert states, “Western industrialized societies are stratified by hierarchies of race, gender, and class that structure our social experience” (Brooks & Hebert 298) This hierarchy provides the placement of where people will be casted into media. The representation of gender and race in media has clarified that the hierarchy they have created, has
Television is regarded as a significant source of information that plays an influential role in formulating an individuals social reality. As a tool that conveys the simulations of every day life it “may become a part of our social experience and serve as a basis for social judgements such as racial attitudes and ethnic stereotypes” (Fujoka, 52). Stereotypes are explained as widely held beliefs about a particular person or group. Research shows that “television images of minority groups might affect minority members’ self-concept and racial awareness” (Fujoka, 54). The portrayal of minorities on television were deemed by minority groups as a conception of socially existing beliefs toward their racial group. As such, television may have perhaps
Mantsios, G. (1998). Media Magic: Making Class Invisible. Race, class, and gender in the United