Annette Lareau compares what it
truly means to be born and raised in different classes. She discusses the daily
routines and experiences that two black children are engrossed in while growing
up. Alexander is part of the upper middle class and his parents provided many
opportunities for him to verbalize his thoughts, gain an education, and work
towards strengthening his talents. On the other hand, Harold is often left
without care, engages in short conversations, and doesn’t take school
seriously. Harold spends many hours with his extended family and friends from
the neighborhood, rather than gatherings with friends from school and church.
Alexander
is used to living in such a way that things are provided for him, but it his
choice to engage in the opportunities that further his development. Harold
didn’t have the opportunities to engage in these activities and it is evident
in his daily conversations. Alexander is able to hold a lengthy conversation
with a doctor, while Harold can barely hold a conversation with his own mom. This
article allows the reader to understand where different classes are coming from
and how much of an impact social standing plays in one’s life.
In
this clip from the show “People Like Us,” the engaged couple discusses their
upbringing. The female is from the wealthier part of town while the male is
from the part of town that she wished not to associate with. She actually asked
him to change the city he was from when they were doing their wedding
announcement, which tells us exactly how important social class is and how rare
it is to see a marriage between two classes. Not only was their upbringing
different, but they are also likely to face challenges in their married life
because they have a different understanding of what is socially acceptable and
how a child should be raised. Social class is such a large issue in their
relationship that they are bickering about which class they should be
considered, rather than the love that they share for one another.
While
watching the video on WASPs, I remembered the concept of JAP’s. This stands for
Jewish American Princess’ and they are often raised in a wealthy household and
very high maintenance. They are used to getting things their way, without any
questions asked. In this video clip, the girl is trying to find a husband to
fulfill her lifelong goal. Her priorities are much different than someone of
lower class, because she is aware that she has everything going for her. She
probably hasn’t had to work a day in her life, and has money to do whatever she
would like. It is hard for me to comprehend that there are people like this who
don’t have to work for their money when there are other people working for
minimum wage and barely able to provide for their families.
To
me, this is one of the reasons it is challenging for social mobility to take
place. There are parents who understand the social ladder and how hard it is to
make these jumps and are able to instill hardworking characteristics into their
children in order to set them up for a better life. In both examples, the girls
are used to having things their way. They aren’t used to working hard or
achieving goals. This is one major cause of the stratification within our
economy because the people at the bottom are working hard to move up, but the
people on top aren’t going anywhere. If the lower class people are the ones
working hard, why aren’t they having financial success? Because we aren’t seeing
significant changes, it leads me to believe that what family you are born into
plays a large role in the financial situation you will face the rest of your
life. This is not to take away from the people who do succeed and change
classes, but the majority of people stay in close proximity to where their parents
were.
I agree with Sarah on this one. For social mobility to happen people from the upper-class have to be open to the people of the middle or even lower-class are going to become a part of the upper-class. A point that struck me in the second video that Sarah offered was when one of the girls asked if the male friend was Jewish. When he said that he wasn't the girl talking on the phone replied, "That's fine, he'll convert...," means that the upper-class has a certain standard that they want to uphold. If a person does not want to fit into that standard, becoming a part of that social class is going to very hard for that person to fit in, or even at all. Social class is a huge boundary that we, as a society, need to cross and if we do not, the social and economic decline will continue the way it has been (negatively) and social mobility will become almost non-existent.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah K’s concept that the cause of stratification in the economy is due to “people at the bottom are working hard to move up, but the people on top aren’t going anywhere.” I think an important aspect to consider in this is the increased amount of resources and technology over the years. Young adults are able to mooch off the success of their parents because living in American has become so functional with the development of new technology. I think over time, the lack of development in the higher class will become more evident.
ReplyDeleteIf Lareau’s concept of the molding of young children comes from “the interweaving of life experiences and resources, including parents’ economic resources, occupational conditions, and educational backgrounds” is true, then it is scary to think about the next generation of children and how their parents lack any note worthy experiences (626).
I personally remember growing up and spending a lot of time with my extended family because that was a very important aspect of my childhood to my parents. We visite my extended family a couple times a year, and spoke to some of them daily.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you when you said it can be particularly hard for people of low socioeconomic status to climb the ladder in social mobility, because they are scarcely provided with the resources to assist them in doing so. I have saw that a lot of people think it's fairly easy to climb the ladder in social mobility, but they are also naive to the idea of the oppressions and barriers certain classes and races encounter institutionally binding them to the class that they identify with already. I don't think it just takes determination and motivation...because some people do need more assistance that can not be retrieved from themselves.
Typically the social class a person is born into definitely has a lot of influence in the way that they live their life and the type of people they later go on to become. It can push a person to try to escape the struggle and live a better life. In the video Tammy's son behave the same way as the upper class people. Its as if he knows the kid of life he sees himself living in the future and is already developing the mindset. But at the same time he is also engaging in behavior typical of the upper class people. like acting as him and his mom are not on the same class and disowning his brother when he doest look a certain way. it the materialistic midst seem amongst better offf people.
ReplyDeleteI've watch reality television showing the life of the upper class. It is clear to see that their life values differ very much from the lower class. Minute and unimportant things that people of lower class do not care about like a persons class or materialistic things become more important. Like the girls in the video Sarah showed, they cared more about their presentation and the physical characteristics of that guy than whether he is even a nice person. I think when a person acquires certain privileges in life it becomes hard to learn true life values like what is "socially acceptable". When the girl went on to tell her dad she found a possible husband without even knowing the guy, its as if his opinion on the whole thing did not matter, all that mattered was what she wanted. It is ridiculous how materialistic and out of touch with reality about the people outside of their world these people are. Its as if they expect the world to move for them.
It is apparent that the class you are born into greatly influences where you will end up. As discussed, in the previous lecture, it is not only personal characteristics dictating social mobility, but instead a wide range of other details including dispersion of middle class families and living in a two parent household..etc. So then to the question: Why aren’t people moving up? I recently read an ethnographic research piece, “Nickel and Dimed” that seeks to delve into the working class world and expose its hardships. The author is a highly educated writer who poses as a working class woman in various settings including Wal-mart, a hotel maid service and restaurants see if it is actually possible to survive on the income. She finds that although many of her fellow co-workers strive to lead a higher class life, the strife and bills of daily life prevent that from occurring. One woman wrote about her struggle to feed her children on a daily basis; she woke up every single morning not knowing if her children were going to eat that day. When long hours and hard work don’t seem to even cover the basics, discouragement abounds. It is impossible to save money for going back to school if food and paying your rent are barely being covered. This is a never ending cycle that entraps the lower class and makes it extraordinarily difficult to escape poverty. So, I don’t believe that simply saying “the lower class should work harder if they want to be socially mobile” is suffice. There are so many other factors that need to be taken into account as well.
ReplyDeleteClass is the single greatest determinate for deciding one's future in this world. We saw that the variation in SAT scores was much more dependent on social class than it was race. These differences became frighteningly clear with the stories of Alexander and Harold. Alexander grew up in an upper-middle class household that put an emphasis on his individuality and entitlement as well as his intelligence and ability to succeed. This feeds his drive to better himself in life and thus maintain his current social status. Harold, while blessed with a loving mother, simply is not give the parental reinforcement necessary to climb the social ladder. The doctors office makes a great example; Harold is taught to lie before authority as he watches his mother lie about his vegetable intake as well as to keep his mouth shut.
ReplyDeleteThe "JAP" example brings up an interesting point. It is not simply that the poor stay poor despite their hard work but also that the wealthy stay wealthy despite their laziness. Their families have accumulated so much wealth that it permeates generations. The sense of entitlement felt by the children of wealthy parents, which affected their work ethic and drive, does little to damage them due to the status of their parents.