Class and Culture

In reality class always matters and it shapes our interests in life. We all come from different background and ethnicity. I believe that class is shaped mainly by income and occupation. However, many people think if a person is wealthy, therefore, he belongs in the upper class. But there are other factors that define class and it is more than just how much money you have. It can be the network of people that surrounds, traditions, and academic status that can also define class. Many of it has to do in which family you have been born and network that creates it. All of my family members have been born and raised in Russia; they completed universities, got jobs, and had enough income to support a family. “Each of us is born into a family with a particular class identity and class history—sometimes it is a mixed or hybrid identity—but almost always it is part of a network of other relationships—to other families in a community, to work and jobs, and to institutions” (Zandy 112).

We live in a society in which media has such a great influence on us, yet the influence is only in certain aspects and on certain people. “Mass media is arguably the most influential in molding public consciousness” (562). People might think that media is managed by a combination of different people but in reality, since the number of media companies is decreasing, only certain people control the industry and what gets to be put out to light. Since media is mostly controlled by a few people who belong to the 1%, the information that goes into the media is influenced by their beliefs as well as race, class, and even gender. Media influences every aspect of our lives since “media plays a key role in defining our cultural tastes, helping us locate

In the first chapter of The Rhetorical Power of Pop Culture by Deanna Sellnow, the author defines popular culture and explains the importance of studying the subject. Sellnow begins with a short explanation of ethics to convey that the influence popular culture has is not always used ethically. Secondly, Sellnow compares the different contexts of culture, elitist and diversity, to explain what popular culture is not. Popular culture is compiled of everyday things that influence people through subtle messages such as what is appropriate and inappropriate, good and bad, and so on.

When registering for classes for the Spring semester I looked at the required courses that I had to take based on my major. I then came across one of them which was Social Issues. The title intrigued me, so I decided to fit it into my schedule. I felt that the course would be interesting and be an enjoyable class to take. I had an idea of what the course would be about, but when I walked into the first class I was surprised how much the course would actually be covering in terms of race, class, and gender.

Another factor in a person’s life is their socio-economic status in their culture. This is the status of poor, middle-class, and upper-class. Each is individually important to the culture for support and success. All

1. Describe the difference between race and ethnicity. What roles do race and social class continue to play in the United States?

Class Matters is a very interesting site to determine how society sees an individual. I found it entertaining inputing all my information. I am in the 51st percentile for occupation, 69th percentile for education, 18th percentile for income, 29th percentile for wealth, and overall in 41st percentile average. This matched my expectations for I know exactly "what I am worth" to soceity. I almost have a bachelor's degree, I have a good job even though I do not receive much income, but what lacks the most is my wealth.

The media, in spite of the fact that it might incite or propagate forceful conduct, can't be considered completely dependable. Rather, it might be viewed as one impact that is working in an aggregate circumstance among numerous others, and is liable to fortify previous social and individual propensities, inclinations, states of mind, practices, convictions, and worth frameworks, which advance threatening vibe and

The question I have posed is a very contentious one, which has been debated by scholars and graduates for some time, with many arguing that popular culture and mass media are ways of brainwashing the 'masses' into the ways of a dominant social order. Others believe that popular culture is a type of 'folk' culture which encompasses the idea of an 'alternative' culture incorporating minority groups, perhaps with subversive values sometimes challenging the dominant control groups, as was scene with the advent of the 'Indie' music scene in the mid nineteen nineties. In this dissertation I aim to uncover whether aforementioned 'subversive values' can be uncovered in popular culture or whether popular culture is really a means by which the masses can direct dominant controlling forces.

Intersectionality is the concept that is used when examining the interconnections between a group or a an individual dealing with race, class, culture, and gender. Since these groups intersect with one another, they cannot be examined separately. The term intersectionality was first coined by Kimberle Crenshaw, being a woman of color she argued that black women have to deal with two types of discrimination, racism and sexism. A combination of two types of discrimination, when studying an individual it hard not to intersect them with different types of discrimination. Crenshaw and other women of color would not have to deal with double discrimination if white women were not discriminated and if black people were not discriminated as well. Privilege then comes into play here, more importantly white privilege, having social advantages just by being born white. Having white privilege only goes so far, if you are a woman one still has the social advantages of being white, but then comes in sexism and male privilege. Where privilege and oppression intersect on not only an individual, but a type of group, being the white female. By being a white woman one can be privileged and oppressed at the same time. While if you are a woman of color you are discriminated more upon and more oppressed since you are not only dealing with one discrimination, but two.

Cultural studies are influenced by the “Marxist interpretation of society,” but according to, “Stuart Hall believed that mass media has highlighted those people that are already in positions of power” and the media has exploited the poor keeping them powerless. “Hall says that he describes mass media as the dominance that maintain

This essay will be discussing the extent to which social class and poverty affects health and illness. Firstly, what is social class? Each person’s perception of social class can be different; is social class defined by a person’s accent, the area they live in, or something as simple as their income? Project Britain describes social class as “The grouping of people by occupations and lifestyle”. (Cress, 2014). To find social class Sociologists group people according to common factors, they compare people and various criteria can be conveniently used to place people in social groups or classes. Next we ask the question what determines a person’s health, the NHS defines health as “Physical and mental, it is the absence of disease”. (NHS 2017).

Since turning into an unmistakable piece of present day human culture, the media has dependably been a wellspring of debate. Particularly, journalism has often been accused as being the protagonist in the so called 'dumbing down' of society. Usually used as a derogatory term, 'dumbing down' is the simplifying and diluting of a subject towards the lowest common denominator. In other words, it's used to describe the lack of definition between what is considered high culture, usually referring to the classical arts and relating to the rich upper class, and ''pop'' culture, a more ephemeral and commercial forum seen as inferior to that of high culture. In this essay,

Our society is allowing opportunities for native individuals of the 19th century to be expressive and develop into their own personal being. The most logical reasoning for this perspective switch is due to mass culture emerging and developing during the 20th century. Cultural studies connect mass culture to the western capitalist society, conveying ideas of a system centered on primarily TV, radio, and cinema. These cultural values and ideas are collected from the exposure of activities, communication media, music and art. Mass culture holds the relationship between an artist and audience and generated by impresarios. Subjects as music, writing, drama, creations, are all created by persons other than the consumers of the culture, which could create a negative image for some. Walker and Soltis mentioned in the Mass or Class Culture case study that many are often displeased with student’s unwillingness to take part in certain subjects like Shakespeare, Beethoven, and Rembrandt. This shows that most of the times educators are forcing students to engage in sure learning when naturally that are absorbed into their own personal life learning and creating new ways to communicate and express artistic thoughts. Walker and Sol raised an interested question when they asked why are educators so persist with recruiting students into an artificial, esoteric culture when their own culture is heavily rich and satisfying. The authors also warned viewers that those who are not willing to

Media influence is the force by which ideas are injected into people’s lives shaping the very culture of society. This influence is masqueraded through hidden media message, resulting in a change in its audience which can be positive or negative, abrupt or gradual, short term or long term. Although mass media’s influential effect can reach a wide ranged audience as an agent of socialization the responsibility to contain what it releases has not been of importance. “The media’s socially significant obligations are formally ignored.” (A.S. Zapesotskii, 2011, p 9). Media messages can be exerted through many different outlets such as TV shows, music, movies, commercials, news, magazines, games which are all gravitated to entertain audiences ultimately offering personal gratification that can sometimes blur the lines between reality and