Introduction
Social stratification is one of the kinds of social differentiation whereby society divides groups over their income, wealth, status, and power (social or political). In modern Western societies, there are three main classes of social stratification: upper class, lower class, and middle class. The upper-class category, a group involved with people having a huge amount of money or having political power or bureaucrats, etc., the group that involves people with average income, limited resources, and a middle range of power lies in the category of middle-class. In the last, the group that involves people who are blue collar, as they named them or people who are working at gas stations or at laundry shops lies under the lower class category. Social stratification moves from generation to generation; inequality is a major trait and is not the reflection of individual differences.
Discussion
One of the important parts of social stratification is formed by housing inequality in most advanced industrial countries. After the fall of socialism in the Czech Republic, a market economic system was adopted by the country, and it is now one of the highest-ranked countries in terms of having high social stratification among groups. Social stratification is an unjust system that has a monopoly of power among different groups. It majorly impacted life chances as well as lifestyles. Social stratification plays a role as a rock in the development of any country as it creates chaos in society.
Social stratification has always been present even though there was no media time. The influence of media just made it look heavier than it was before media. There were classes and differences back in the day, such as slaves and slave owners, those who were considered to be peasants, and those who were considered to be noble. People judging other people is something that has always been present in society.
The media took social stratification to a whole new level. It made people feel bad about how they were looking and how people would see and say things about what I was. This is not the way the media exaggerated the whole scenario. Now, people are more concerned about the views they will get from others regarding their personality, how they are dressed up, the car they arrive in, and all those things that make one’s status up in society. We’re not living like a machine; everyone has their own identity, and this should be something that he or he must feel proud of.
Get Out
One of the Hollywood movies that was selected for the Oscar got out. It’s a horror movie released in 2017 featuring a black guy who falls in love with a white woman. It depicted how blacks were being thought of by white people. While meeting the parents of his Girlfriend, on his journey towards them, they hit an accident, and Chris (the black guy) informed the parents of his girlfriend about it. While in the house, the parents of his girlfriends said bad things about Black people because of his colour. They did not feel comfortable having a conversation with him. This depicts the racism prevailing in the USA. History has shown that Americans do not consider Black people superior to them; they think of them as people who should be abandoned by their country. Chris happened to find out about another black man who married a much older white woman than his girlfriend, Rose. The movie depicted the strange behaviors of white people toward black ones (Get Out, 2017).
Downtown Abbey
On 26th September 2010, a historical drama series aired, named Downtown Abbey in this series. The upper class of society is rarely portrayed in a negative light. They dress smartly, wear expensive clothes, and are well-groomed. One of the key elements was that they sat upright rather than slouching, which looked unprofessional. The camera angles used in this program were high when portraying the upper class. They did this because they were trying to show how the upper class looks down on the lower class.
Modern Family
On Sep 23, 2009, a sitcom, Modern Family, premiered on ABC. In this series, they have shown that middle-class people keep themselves as they are. They are not as rich as upper-class people but still wear good clothes. They live up to the stereotype that they were born to be middle-class people.
East Enders
EastEnders is a British soap that has been on the BBC since 1985. The series depicted the lives of lower-class people in a negative way. It is very rare that the series has shown them being smartly dressed. There has always been a drama going on in their lives, and they were acting weirdly throughout the series. Series showed that most of the time, they hardly maintained eye contact with one another. The nature and conditions of the poor classes were an obsession throughout the nineteenth century (Dodd & Dodd, 1992).
Conclusions
Educated and informed people are the richest people in today’s era. We feel isolated from this society if we don’t keep ourselves updated with the latest technologies prevailing in the market. Media creates a common platform for commoners to come and discuss their reviews about the latest issue, it advertises the products, markets the products, and provides with the latest news, and latest happening in the world but along with all those it does not encompass the views of those who are illiterate and underprivileged. The media took social stratification to a whole new level. It made people feel bad about how they were looking and how people would see and say things about what I was. This is not the way the media exaggerated the whole scenario. Now, people are more concerned about the views they will get from others regarding their personality, how they are dressed up, the car they arrived in, and all those things that make one’s status up in society.
Education plays a vital role in maintaining social stratification. It also justifies the unequal distribution of wealth. Like most societies, schools sometimes can be a cause of social stratification as it reflects it. Schools can have an enormous influence on the life chances of the children who are studying there. Inequality may be justified by different levels of educational attainments, as most people believe that education provides everyone with a fair chance of proving their worth. Although education does not guarantee a high position and status in society, it really does play an important role in providing equal opportunity.
Works Cited
Dodd, Kathryn, and Philip Dodd. “From the East End to EastEnders.” Come on Down: Popular Media and Culture in Post-War Britain (1992).
Out, Get. “Get Out (2017).” Fmovies. N. p., 2018. Web. 15 Mar. 2018.
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