Sunday, January 15, 2012

Assignment #5: People like us and The Center for Working Class Studies. Blog

   While exploring www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus and http://cwcs.ysu.edu/, I noticed many feminist issues from an economic point of view.  One that really stood out was the fact that the only time women had any kind of status or money, it was when she was tied to a man.  All the stories dealt with women's struggles within societies problems within the social classes.  Also, no woman or women in the articles or stories or GAMES held a middle or high class position unless she married into the family or was a child from money.  Check out this video in economic inequity.
   In one story, Karen the Army brat, moves from one place to another because of her dad's committment to the armed forces.  She's of wealthy class in many places but it suddenly changes when they get stationed at the Pentagon, where colonels are a dime a dozen as they say.  She starts resenting and taking her frustration out on her dad because she's not considered one of the cool and wealthy classes where she was once before.  In today's society material things are a must to determine social status.  It creates your friends and your personality, for better or for worse.  It's not just girls but also for boys as well.  As a substitute teacher, I see it everyday and it can literally destroy a student's self-esteem if he or she isn't accepted into the cool group.  It's all about the latest fashion, electronics, etc...  This story about Karen really stood out to me because the blame falls onto the parents and it's not their fault.  Children usually think their parents are punishing for something they haven't even done by not buying the most expensive clothes, the latest Jordans, and the latest touchscreen phone.  It's absolutely ridiculous.  I can go on all day because I see it all the time.  There was another story about Ginny, whose oldest daughter made fun of her OWN mother because of her "trashy" ways.  I couldn't believe it, her own flesh making fun of her because she couldn't provide anything better.  I didn't hear her daughter asking "Where's Dad"? "Is he helping out with child support?"  I bet her daughter doesn't understand the whole economic inequity issue.  How women don't get paid like men.  Jose said it best on his blog, when there was $30,000 difference in salary between men and women with the SAME education.  Absolutely ridiculous!  I heard it from my mom and dad, "Oh you kids have it so easy these days, blah, blah.  And they were right but the children in elementary schools that I see today, Wow.  The parents spoil them so much that these other children compare themselves to their "rich" classmates, and view their parents as failures.  And that's sad.  They don't realize mom and dad are trying or that mommy gets underpaid because she's a WOMAN. 
  My brothers and sisters were very lucky to be raised by both parents.  Ones that were always were involved from PTA meetings, sports functions, band, graduation etc....  I couldn't imagine not having one without the other.  I feel very fortunate when I hear about single parent families and the struggles they have especially single women.  I believe Jean brought up the point of being a single parent annnnd pregnant.  I don't see men having to face what pregnant women have to face by themselves after the husband or boyfriend leaves them.  I couldn't even imagine trying to live that life, working or even trying to apply for a job nonetheless.  Woman are permanet fixtures in the lower class because of the lack of opportunities and the problems in societies social classes. Jean said it best when "Being a single mother can become a vicious cycle that keeps the woman perpetually within the lower class. "
  I, like Mike, headed straight for the games.  I don't know if anyone noticed , but in Chintz or Shag, there was blond headed gentleman who was of high class, and then there was an African-American gentleman who was of middle-class.  And then there was the red-neck grandma who was of the lower-income class.  I was not suprised since the topic of our blogs is economic inequity, a feminist issue?  Well it definately is, and it's not RIGHT!  I agree with Jose when he states, that economic inequity is a feminist issue dealing with stereotypes, statistics, dependency, and social class. 
   In today's time, do you think people discriminate more based on social class or race?  Would your parents be more upset if you brought someone of a different race or socio-economic status?  Would they even care?  Do you think that answer would change depending upon who you're asking?  For example, If you came from old money, would your parents be more accepting of someone of a different race as long as they were equally rich? Versus middle class parents who may be more interested in race?  Those are some examples.
   Here are some movies based on race, social class, and stereotypes.  Also just to let you know in general,  all of Tyler Perry's movies portray very important issues concerning alot of the topics we cover in class.  He's a very powerful director who brings sensitive issues to light.
  
  
  

13 comments:

  1. Wow, I played the Chintz or Shag game too and I didn't even notice how the lower class character was a woman while the higher class characters were both men. So interesting! It's crazy how even on websites that are talking about these issues, they consciously or subconsciously feed into it. Also cool how you brought in your experience with young kids today and how class affects them. And thanks for quoting me! :)

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  2. I LOVE Ted videos! They're awesome! Great post, I could really hear your voice within your writing, same with someone elses blog, I can't remember who's I've read so many! I love your points about children not understanding about their parents situation. It's a tough thing to explain to a child. To children, it's all about the material things and being cool. When I was a kid, my and my brother were definitely spoiled. But years later, as adults, we see how our parents struggled to give us everything. I did play that Chintz or Shag game and I DID notice that the lower class was female and the others men!!! That stood out right away!!! And apparently, according to that game, I have awful taste lol!

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  3. Good Post! Do you know what is really interesting though. In newer social studies books, there about 6 social classes. The point being money does not determine your class. People from 'old money'(EX. Cianci and J.F.K) generally do not accept people of new money(Jay-Z, Opera, self made millionaires) because of a perceived difference held by 'old money'. I think the perceived differences and implications it has in the real world should be looked at, and then published for the rest of the world to see. But, again I think this is that notion that people in the position of power are the ones who can change things.

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  4. It's funny because when I was a teacher's assistant for an elementary school when I was an education major I got to know a lot of the kids very well. They had all the name brand clothes and shoes and some of them even had cell phones! The kids that weren't so fortunate all hung out together and you could already see the separation. It's crazy... My mom raised my brother and I for 6 years before my dad came to America and I'm so glad that she raised us the way she did. But I don't fail to realize that a lot of people aren't so lucky. The story about the mother who was too proud to ask for help really made me sad because it shouldn't be an issue to ask for help, because I find that very courageous in a woman. Great post!

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  5. Hey Ariel, Great post. I didn't notice the woman being the representative of the working class in the game, but it makes me wonder as to whether in this age of politically correctness if we have become hyper-sensitive to the issues of race, gender, sexuality, etc. I am not saying the woman representing the working class wasn't intentional or some subconscious move by the web developers or just a random choice. It just makes me think that there is now a different type of inequality facing these groups of individuals. I saw a commercial yesterday for a women's vitamin commercial that stated "women run the world, we are what make women run" (....or something like that). If it were for a men's vitamin and said "men run the world, we are what make men run" I guarantee there would be a massive uproar from women's rights groups. We have become so sensitized to diversity that there is a double standard for how what we say and how we act. We can't even have a woman be depicted as a representative of the working class without questioning as to what it is implying... I'm not saying its not implying something, I just find it interesting that we now have to constantly be watching what we do to specifically make sure we do not somehow fulfill stereotypes.

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  6. Well discussed Ariel. I can only imagine the divisions in schools these days. When I was in high school, cell phones weren't common enough that everyone had one yet. Now, electronics and consumerism being at the point they've reached, it's important for most to be on top with what's new and innovative. I don't want to think about how hard my time in school would have been had I been at that age today. As Kayla mentioned in her comment, I think pretty often now that I'm older about how little I considered my mother's position when I was growing up. My sister and I had no real concept of just how difficult it was for her to provide what she did for us. A large part of that came from us comparing ourselves to those around us. It's something you find much greater respect for when it's your time to struggle. I also wanted to acknowlege Ryland's comment on over sensitivity and double standards becoming issues of their own. I absolutely agree with his statement. I think that sometimes the fact that people get so charged in an effort to correct imbalance or under-representation, that it can be over compensated for occasionally. His point on the vitamin commercial is an example. What might be considered politically incorrect for one group may be deemed perfectly acceptable for another. Is this equality?

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  7. I really enjoyed your post. The part that stuck put the most was on the website there were no wealthy women, that they were all connected to a man with money. This is a great discovery that we never really see many self proclaimed women, but there are very many wealthy men we could name. Thanks for finding this injustice.

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  8. Great Post Ariel! I didn't notice the women not being represented in the game either when I played it. I had to go back and see for myself. Can I just say I LOVED WHAT YOU SAID about the Ginny story. It's soo true! Her daughter was so wrapped up in her peers around her, that she didnt see how much her mother was actually doing for her, and how mcuch her father wasn't. It's a double standard. Granted her daughter was young, but come on? The idea of social class is such a strong one that this daughter would slander her mother's hard work? Awesome Post I love it (:

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  9. I like how you mentioned the point about kids feeling that their parents are punishing them because they don’t have the latest phone or nicest clothes, like their friends. I have seen this also, and especially with my younger stepsister who went to East Greenwich schools and had a lot of rich friends with all the newest stuff. I just wish there was an easier way for kids to see that like I mentioned in my post, a lot of times being in a very wealthy family doesn’t turn out so well in the end.

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  10. Wow, I never noticed the different races of the people of different classes on the games Chintz or Shag. Love that you noticed it, its so not right and just feeds the fire of the negative stereotypes attached to the classes.

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  11. You had a lot of great links and videos in your post. I also thought that some of the clips that you talked about were people at their most ridiculous. I thought that the end of the post included some of the best examples of movies that show the different stuggles that people of all walks of life have faced over the years. Great job.
    I also get what you mean when you mentioned spoiled kids. Lately I've seen a lot of young kids at my work with $200-400 headphones. It scares me.

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  12. Great Post. You included a lot of background information with your links and videos on the topic and i really like that. And it was really cool how you noticed the thing about the games and how it shows negative stereotypes with classes

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  13. I agree that Tyler Perry brings up many of these issues. Alot of people think his movies are odd but they are funny and insightful.

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