Social Status

Betty is shown as the “perfect” mother to her children, David and Jennifer, who took on the roles of Bud and Mary Sue. Betty is a mother who is shown to be selfless, always looking out for the good of her children. White men who use social power over women, to suit their own needs and desires, reinforced this definition of motherhood. The film also reinforces how White men use social power to force the idea that women like Betty are supposed to stay in the house with the kids, prepare food for the family, and have it ready for the husband when he walks in from work expecting everything to be perfect, to suit his needs and desires while he does his everyday routine. The dominant tries to keep their own values from changing by non-coercive actions, persuading women how all change “goes away,” it's just a temporary phase if it happened, it’s nothing to worry about. However, when this non-coercive approach fails as the mayor of Pleasantville puts it: it threatens the dominant masculine values of what makes this town “great”. As a response to such threat, the all-male committee of Pleasantville reinforces their ideology by using coercive actions to put women back in their place, creating laws to infuriate women and physically abusing them as one of the men tried to do to Betty. This film shows how women of the 1950’s and today are expected by men who value the dominate ideology to look beautiful at

As a black poor family, their opportunities are limited just as the limited window of sunshine to the plant. Like the plant, the family struggles and does not live an amazing life yet they survive and persevere. Mama dreams for her family to grow new roots and become healthy again, and if they do not acquire new opportunities soon , the family will never change in a positive way. “Like them, this little old plant that ain't never had enough sunshine or nothing -- and look at it…”(1557). When Mama gets the new house, the change from one to many windows connect with the change from a few small opportunities to a possible many successful opportunities. At the end, Mama picks up her plant and walks out of the Southside apartment for the last time, with perseverance to face the many incoming obstacles that come with being a black person residing in a white neighborhood.

In the 1960s, as displayed in the novel, social roles are a prominent influence in how people act in society. Despite the supremacy of these roles, the Blackwood family disregards these standards, acting out of norm for what women would do during this time period. This disregard for social roles displays criticism from an outsider's perspective since Merricat and her sister, Constance, do not follow the set beliefs in society and in fact show that social roles are not a relevant aspect in life. This neglect for roles can be seen in how the two sisters act after having their house destroyed by the townspeople and their family friend comes to invite them to her home, “‘They cannot be left alone,

She is dressed very wealthy, has expensive jewelry, drinks alcohol, and has a bob cut. These were the qualities of the new woman compared to the previous traditional woman’s beliefs and ways of life. James Braddock’s luxury lifestyle, including his family, home, and wealth, represents the 1920’s atmosphere of growth and the booming time that was soon to vanish from the Great Depression.

One way Jones shows the theme that a person’s status determines how a person is viewed, liked, and how economically stable they are, is through the imagery of the little girl. It is an African-American girl’s first day of school, and the mother is getting her all dolled up to make a good impression. “I am wearing a checkeredlike blue-and-green cotton dress, and scattered about these colors are bits of yellow and white and brown. My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, plaiting and replaiting so that now my scalp tingles” (Jones 1). The mother really wants to make a good impression on the new school that her daughter is going to, and not look poor or different. When saying that the mother has “uncharacteristically” done her hair, the mother is going out of her way to do something special. The mother has spent an hour on this girl's hair for her very first day of school, which is not like herself. Thus showing, that the mother really cares about the first impression that the daughter makes at her new school and community, and how they are viewed with their status. The mother is changing the image of her daughter to try and better her off. Ultimately, through imagery, the highlighted theme is that people are judged based on their statuses.

Mrs. Younger lived a lower end lifestyle. She tried to work for her family but it was a different time than today, and people had different ideas based on the time that they lived in. The time in which the

Take everything you know about racism, sexism, and religionism and toss it out the window, because there’s an impediment to prosperity that is often underlooked: Classism. Classism is a suppression which always has and always will continue to affect our everyday lives. The disparities that presently exist between the lower and higher classes form a condition where it is unlikely to allow for equality for anyone. The short stories “A Rose of Emily,” written by William Faulkner, and “Desiree’s Baby,” written by Kate Chopin, offered several depictions of classism within a society. “A Rose for Emily” recounts the life of an isolated, aristocratic woman named Emily Grierson who symbolically represents the demise of the old Southern society. Similarly, “Désirée’s Baby” portrays classism present in mid-nineteenth century Southern society in conjunction with the inequalities that exist between race. Class prejudice plays an important role as it was behind the emergence of the characters’ unspeakable actions. In “A Rose for Emily” and “Desiree’s Baby,” classism is emphasized and provokes arrogance, denial, and the demise of others.

The book goes through Jeannette’s life exposing the mistakes she, her siblings, and her parents made to become the family they were. As her life grows older, Jeannette finds herself in more responsible positions in the world, with editing school newspapers, to writing columns in a small New York newspaper outlet. Her troubles have raised the issue of stereotyping, a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Due to her status in her childhood, it was not hard for her to fit in with the other members of the poor community. “Dinitia explained that I was with her and that I was good people. The women looked at one another and shrugged.” (Walls 191) The quote talks about how members of the black community in Welch accepted Jeannette to go swimming with them in the morning hours before the white people went in the afternoon. The people who knew Dinita, Jeannette’s friend, knew that Dinita was trustworthy, and let Jeannette pass. This relates to the thesis because it shows how she was accepted amongst the people who were

The three female Characters (Connie, Her mother and her sister) are perfect examples of the effects of the drastic changes in the late 1960’s. Connie is portrayed as an average teenager. She is always wrapped up in herself and thinks she has all the answers. “She knew she was pretty and that was everything.”(p.120), “Her mother was so simple, Connie thought, that it was maybe cruel to fool her so much.”( p.124). Connie’s mother symbolizes an older era. Woman in her time were viewed as good for only two things, domestic house work and the bearing of children. It is clear that Connie mother is a little envies of her. "Stop gawking at yourself. Who are you? You think you're so pretty?"(p.120). The society that Connie is growing up in is allowing more freedom for her then her mother had. To Connie’s mother, Connie is a consist remainder of what she has lost(her beauty) and what she could have been. This is way

Also, the grandmother seems to care less about poverty and the sufferings of lower class people. For example, when the old women spots a poor Negro child in the street naked without any pants, she says, "Wouldn't that make a picture now?” (A Good Man…). The author connects the grandmother to the real world where a lot of people pay more attention to their outward appearance to impress others than to beautify their inner self first. Also, the family in the story has a car in an era where having a car was perceived as a higher class possession. Although the grandmother shows a prejudice behavior towards the little Negro child with her comments, O’Connor mean to emphasize the class difference that exists in the American society and the negligence and the lack of assistance from higher class to less fortunate class.

In a social environment, a community’s perception of a person greatly impacts an individual. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, we see two different societal perceptions of life through the female protagonists, Edna and Esperanza. Both Cisneros and Chopin use their protagonists to highlight how much of an effect society has on an individual. Through them we get a glimpse of communal impact on the protagonists as individuals, the developmental mindset of the characters, and how each character responds to societal perception of what’s acceptable and what’s not, as each embark on their own “awakening.”

Her strong belief that the lighter you are, the more respect you deserve is fallacious; the Harlem Renaissance brought those of all colors together through music, art, and literature, making this ideal a departure from that epoch. In the novel Mrs.Turner states, “You’se different from me. Ah can’t stand black niggers. Ah don’t blame de white folks from hatin’ ‘em ‘cause Ah can’t stand ‘em mahself. ‘Nother thing, Ah hates tuh see folks lak me and you mixed up wid ‘em. Us oughta class off”. Mrs.Turner’s thoughts and beliefs are included to show how superiority and prejudice are not only discriminatory but also pernicious to those of color, in particular African Americans. This mindset is inimical to equality and is used to help the reader visualize how the drive to be preeminent and obtain the highest social class is

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).

When Carver mentioned “Marta no longer saw just groups of carefree people inside the apartments; at times there were even some businesses where the employees, in black or blue aprons, were sitting at desks in long rows” (Buzzati 2). During her fall, she observed the shift between the wealthy and those who are impoverished. The building as a whole depicted class division where the rich were dominant known at the top of the hierarchy and others working hard placed at the bottom.

In a short story by Katherine Mansfield called “The Doll’s House,” there is a social barrier between a family with less that is struggling to make ends meet and a flourishing family, that appears to not have any difficulties getting through life. The Kelvey family, whose hard-working mother makes the best of life that she can by crafting clothing from materials she can salvage from the wealthy clients’ houses she cleans. The Burnell family, who is getting through life with ease because of their position in the wealthy class, is the complete opposite in lifestyles. The short story “The Doll’s House” suggests society is unfair to the people with less and that possessions play a part in the deciding factor whether people will be your friend, but it only takes one person to break from the social expectations.