Sunday, March 2, 2014
SOCIAL CLASS POST 6
ARTICLE: http://www.classism.org/about-class
In this article, they discuss something known as Classism. Classism is when someone is treated better or worse, because of the class that they are in. Or the class that someone THINKS they are in. It is similar to how racism or sexism works, except instead of race and sex, its based on class. Classism is shown institutionally through policies and practices, and culturally through norms and values. According to the article, classism shows itself when a higher class acts superior or arrogant toward lower classes, or when people think of higher classes as more educated or articulate than the lower classes. Because the higher classes have the most influence over society, they somewhat decide what the social "norms"are. Classism shapes the structures of certain institutions, so the higher classes have a lot of benefits. Classism hurts poor and working class people. Classism can lead to neglect to the poor and homelessness, hunger, and disease. Classism can also harm the upper classes. Being treated as superior, given more privileges and being more sheltered from the world can give people in the higher class a false sense of security and not provide them with interaction with the outside world. They might start to feel guilty, thinking that they don't deserve what they have and don't know how to share with others what they have. Classism can contribute to inequality between social classes, because one class can think that they are superior or inferior to another.
I think this article really puts a word to something that goes on almost all the time and nobody ever really knows what to call it. I see this in almost all aspects of life. In retail for example, someone who is perceived to be wealthier and in a higher class will usually get helped first. It isn't discrimination based on race, its based on class. Both are bad, but classism is making assumptions about someones class simply based off of their appearance. I don't think this is good to have in our society. It puts the higher class above everyone and puts an emphasis on having a pristine outer image, to show off your social class. It really isn't promoting equality among social classes.
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#4 I thought your analysis on this article was very interesting about how physical appearances can affect the way people treat you. Many times you hear about how wealthy business owners dress as though they were sleeping on the streets. "Billionaire died living a humble life". The way people then perceive them is not as a man or woman holding occupational prestige in society, but as someone that does not hold importance or worthy of time.This totally throws off the classism balance between what is expected of upper class and lower class groups. It's interesting what assumptions our minds are inclined to think of when we see someone wearing a Prada purse compared to someone wearing a bag bought at lower brand store, such as Claire's.
ReplyDelete#4 I thought that this was very interesting and I completely agree that someone's appearance can affect other people's point of view about you. I, myself, have seen this happen in stores where the employee will ignore the customer who does not look as wealthy and help the wealthier looking customer first. I think that they seem to do this because they make assumptions about both people and think that the wealthier looking person is going to pay more and that they want to make a better impression on them than the other customer. Not only is making assumptions wrong, but discriminating someone purely based on their appearance or social class is completely wrong and unfair.
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