Representation of social class Flashcards
Traditional views of middleclass
Saunders
Mertens and D’Haennes
Leech
Saunders
Traditional views of middleclass
suggests that because the middle class are those with the highest disposable income, they use products to define them and show off their social class backgrounds through consumerism - ‘conspicuous consumption’.
Mertens and D’Haenens
Traditional views of middleclass
Digital divide in Brussels - Middle class used the social media for career development and knowledge, whereas the working class used it for entertainment.
traditional of the working class
Newman
devereux
Jones
Newman
Traditional working class
Very few films, sitcoms or dramas which give a realistic image of the everyday life of the working class - Working class people are stereotyped and labelled in an unflattering and pitying light.
Devereux
Working class tadtional
working class portrayals in the media are divided into two categories:
- positive portrayals, whereby working class individuals are seen to be happy and deserving poor.
- is the negative image of those who are on welfare benefits.
Jones
Traditional working class
Developed the concept of ‘chavtainment’ when discussing the development of TV broadcasts that portray a negative view of working class people as “bigoted, slothful and aggressive” - Working class gone from being portrayed, historically, as the “salt to the earth” to “scum of the earth”.
Traditional upper class
Nairn
Nairn
Traditional upper class
Media representation of the monarchy - After WW11 the monarchy developed close ties with the media industry
represented in the media as a family that are ‘like us but not like us’
representations of royalty also reinforce a sense of national identity.
Traditional representations of the underclass
Baumberg et al
Golding and Middleton (1982)
Baumberg et al
trational underclass
Researched ‘Benefits Stigma in Britain’.
Disproportionate amount focus on benefit fraud: 29% of news stories referenced fraud; in comparison the government’s own estimate is that a mere 0.7% of all benefits claims are fraudulent. Common language used to describe benefits as ‘undeserving’ included: Fraud and dishonesty (including those such as ‘faking illness’), Dependency (including ‘underclass’ and ‘unemployable’), Non-reciprocity/lack of effort (e.g. ‘handouts’, ‘something for nothing’, ‘lazy’, ‘scrounger’), Outsider status (e.g. ‘immigrant’, ‘obese’)
Golding and Middleton (1982)
Moral panics surrounding the underclass – “Welfare issues” were not discussed unless they were connected to other social issues such as crime, fraud or sex. Demonization of the underclass.
changing upper class
Reiners
Gidden
Reiners
changing upperclass
Recent media representations of wealthy people are being used to show examples of hard work, success and meritocracy - When people are portrayed as having huge amounts of wealth their success is celebrated by the media – Audiences are encouraged to identify with the culture of consumption and materialism that is portrayed in the lifestyle of the wealthy.
Gidden
channging upperclass
States that there are now 3 types of upper class: Traditional upper class, Entrepreneurial super rich, Jet-set pop aristocracy
changing middle class
Leech
Leech
changing middle class
States that the middle class is now presented as the ‘ideal’ in advertising, Middle class lifestyles are presented as ideal and are known as ‘cereal packet families’.
changing wokring class
dodd and dodd
dodd and dodd
changing working class
Eastenders - Presents the nostalgic view of the traditional notion of working class communities, but state that this does not accurately reflect a modern day working class culture.
show has introduced realism when bravely broaching issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, crime, attempted suicide, abortion, homosexuality and relationship issues – Whilst doing this portray the outdated view of a communal supportive network.
changing underclass
Price
Price
chaning underclass
poverty porn’ - Describes programmes such as Channel 4s Benefit Street - This refers to the media exploiting the participants and their lifestyle in order to shock and entertain the audiences.