We are all born into a social class and most of us don’t
realize that we define or categorize who is “one of us” or “one of them.” Social
class plays a significant role in what we think and how we feel about ourselves.
The documentary, “People Like Us: Social Class in America,”
reveals that class differences in America is in fact a reality. It shows that
the kind of clothes one wears, the car
one drives, the neighborhood or house one lives, the occupation one has, one’s
physical appearance, one’s family
background, one’s level of education, earnings and assets are all factors that
shapes one social identity and determines one’s social position or status.
What people do and how much money they make determine where
they live and the people who they interact and identify with. Those who share
the same social status or identity are similar to one another. They have the
same privileges or cultural and economic resources that
allow them to have access to private schools and social circles. The
documentary highlights that people always want to create a positive impression
on others of their self-worth and to accomplish that they endeavor to gain
material possessions such as expensive cars, houses, jewelry and clothes so
others will perceive them as worthy, sophisticated and successful. According to
the documentary, it is not only enough to have material possessions to be accepted into the upper class society, but
it is also necessary to pursue the attitudes, preferences and habits that match
the particular class’ “lifestyle.”
People’s manners and habits, how they speak or talk, what
they eat, their preferences, their attitudes, their beliefs, their sense of
self, or their “lifestyle,” are influenced by the social context or
environment and circumstances in which
they are born and raised. Parents are a crucial agent of socialization and
transmit to their children more than beliefs, values, behaviors, and customs;
they pass on to their children their social class or “lifestyle” and life
chances. Those who have economic resources have the privilege to choose their
own “lifestyle,” occupation, neighborhood, academic area of interest, what to
wear, what to eat, and what sport to practice and so on.
A healthy “lifestyle” for the privileged is, in fact, a
matter of choice, but not for the poor. In “Cause of Death: inequality,”
Alejandro Reuss claims that, although not often acknowledged or reported by the mass media, social
inequality may be an unobserved or unsuspected killer. He reveals that heart
diseases, diabetes, accidental injury, homicide significantly have a tendency
to occur more to poor and less educated people than to the rich or highly
educated. According to Reuss, mortality probability increases to those who hold
lower statuses in the social hierarchy and shorter is their life
expectancy. He also highlights that
those less empowered, discriminated or stigmatized suffer more from stress and
its related diseases such as high blood pressure.
The mass media is a crucial agent of socialization in our
generation and has the cultural power to inform, to persuade, to entertain, and
to define reality. The media is monopolized by corporations that intend to sell
and promote products, beliefs, values, and attitudes. In “Media Magic: Making
Class Invisible,” Gregory Mantsios argues that although social class divisions
determine the quality of individuals
living conditions, education, health care, occupation, and safety, the media
promotes a distorted image of an equal society by masquerading poverty and its
effect on America. Mantsios remarks that although there are forty million poor
people in the nation, the poor people, their misery, their suffering hardly
ever receives any attention and thus seem not to exist. And when the media does
release a yearly report by the Census Bureau, the coverage is emphasized in the
validity of the numbers. She also highlights that the image associated with
poverty evokes the idea that the poor are “undeserving,” not that poverty in
the United States is a result of major forces such as economic and political
policies or unequal distribution of wealth or income.
Porverty, social inequality and class hierarchy is a
socially constructed reality that affects mainly the lives of those on the
bottom of the social hierarchy. Is stratification necessary for a society to
function or for individuals to co-exist and meet their human needs? Race,
ethnicity, gender or social class have been used to categorize or oppress some
and benefit others. Equality is still a dream that could become a socially
constructed reality.
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