Friday, December 10, 2010

The Discovery Tale of "Working Girl"

                 
            A common myth exists in the United States that we all live in a classless society. Rather than accept the existence of different social classes, people prefer to believe in a world where everyone is middle class and class boundaries are inexistent. The media especially is guilty of presenting class-based issues in non-class terms. By turning class differences into “moral and intellectual differences” as DeMott describes, the media manages to protect America’s reputation as a classless society. DeMott criticizes the media’s way of obscuring class barriers and misleading the people with this inaccurate concept of easily permeable class boundaries. By denying that class differences exist, he argues, and that we all belong to the same middle class, then we are overlooking the unearned advantages some enjoy and the social wrongs others suffer. The theme of discovery, a common story pattern that popular entertainment uses to present a classless society, can be readily seen in the movie “Working Girl.” The pattern of discovery, as defined by DeMott, involves “characters who think firm class lines exist” and “discover they are mistaken.” The plot of “Working Girl” can be reduced to this definition: a secretary climbs the social ladder and becomes a corporate manager despite the doubts of her friends and coworkers. Thus, through the lens of DeMott’s appearance/reality opposition, Working Girl can be viewed as a tale of discovery.


To begin the movie, the viewer learns that Tess McGill, the protagonist of the story, is a frustrated secretary, full of innovative ideas, who is never given a chance to prove herself. Despite her aspiring dreams to climb the corporate ladder, Tess finds herself limited by class lines and her secretarial position. However, rather than acknowledge the unfair class differences that exist in our society, the movie goes on to prove that Tess can and will overcome her unfair position in life simply by choosing to get to the top. Sticking to the format of a discovery story, the only obstacle in Tess’s way is her own desire to achieve; all other factors, like class differences and social boundaries, are ignored. As DeMott observed, the movie producers of the film advertise an unrealistic novelty rather than a accurate depiction of the real world’s social hierarchy. In the movie, the spunky heroine achieves upward mobility and her dreams come true, yet the plot fails to acknowledge the various impossibilities along the way. For example, Tess pretends to be her boss for a few days while her actual boss is in the hospital. In order to successfully pull off this feat, Tess wears a sophisticated hairstyle and an expensive dress and changes her accent and mannerisms to appear more “upper class.” Through these minor changes, Tess manages to deceive not only the workers of other businesses but also their elite executives. This unlikely transformation does not acknowledge the fact that Tess is characterized by a habitus developed from a working class background; instead, the producers write the script in a way that depicts Tess successfully rising above her lower class background and achieving a higher social position with very little opposition. This unrealistic plot scenario further engrains the idea of a classless America into the minds of the viewer.
                    By climbing the social ladder, Tess not only proves wrong her doubting friends, but also overcomes an evil boss. As defined by DeMott, a story following the discovery format involves a protagonist who defies others’ expectations and proves that upward mobility is possible. Tess, true to a discovery tale’s form, is told by her colleagues that aspiring to reach a higher position than her current secretary job is an impossible dream, but Tess ignores their doubts and disapproval. In fact, Tess proves that contrary to what her colleagues believed, the class boundaries in the office are easily permeable.This portrayal of an easily accessible social system misleads viewers of the film into thinking that the actual America is the same. Despite the portrayal of social hierarchy in the film, in reality, class barriers, as DeMott argues, do in fact exist.




Thursday, December 9, 2010

Two Restaurants: Peet's Coffee & Tea versus Dunkin Donuts


       
              The range of consumptions choices offered in Peet’s Coffee & Tea would appeal to the taste culture defined by Gans as “upper middle culture.” Located in Winthrop Square, Peet’s is in a beautiful location. To its left is the fancy Upstairs at the Square restaurant, a well-known expensive dining location, and to its front is a well-maintained park with benches to sit on and enjoy the view. Peet’s itself is inside a New England style house and exudes a very welcoming vibe. I had walked into the store with the intention of only staying for a few minutes, but because I felt so comfortable, I ended up sitting down for more than ten minutes. Smooth jazz was playing quietly in the background and the store was filled with lounging customers: couples sat on couches and giggled, students flipped through textbooks as they sipped their coffees, and everybody seemed relaxed and happy. As I scanned the drink menu, I realized that some cultural capital would be needed to negotiate Peet’s. With over five options for each drink category, (frappe, expresso, tea, coffee, cappuccino), a more than basic knowledge of beverages was required to understand the menu. Even ordering a simple hot chocolate, I discovered that Peet’s offered three different types of hot chocolate.  The complex menu, along with the modern artwork on the walls, both cater to an audience with cultural capital. People of lower classes would not appreciate the ambience, jazz music, and visual display that all play a role in developing Peet’s upper class taste “package.” The financial status of this site’s clientele is obviously upper class as seen by the location’s characteristics and the prices themselves. The prices ranged from three to five dollars, even for a small cup. At Dunkin Donuts, on the other hand, prices started at $1.50 and only went up to $2.50. The range of choices offered at Peet’s Coffee & Tea appealed to my tastes. As I sipped my hot chocolate, I wandered the store, appreciating the artwork on the walls, and then relaxed on one of the couches to listen to the soothing jazz music and the murmur of other customers talking. Most of the conversation I overheard was on educational topics, leading me to assume that most costumers of Peet’s are part of the educated elite. I view myself as an educated elite and as a member of the upper middle class, so the taste public that Peet’s offers appealed to me strongly. As Bourdieu said, “taste classifies, and it classifies the user.” My taste for Peet’s was shaped by my upper middle class habitus, and this in turn has placed me in a taste public with those of a similar class background.


Dunkin Donuts, on the other hand, caters to a lower class demographic, and because I do not have a working class habitus, I felt very uncomfortable at that consumption site. Although Dunkin Donuts is only a block away from Peet’s, its surroundings are quite different. The store has a parking garage above it and has two busy roads on both sides. There is no peaceful ambiance surrounding Dunkin Donuts and no loitering customers. In fact, the only people present in the store besides the employees themselves were two homeless men, each sitting at their own respective table. At Peet’s, I was inclined to linger in the store but at Dunkin Donuts I felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave as soon as I was given what I ordered, a cookie. When the worker at Peet’s had given me my hot chocolate, it was given without a lid or cup sleeve, as though they had expected me to stay in the store to drink it. At Dunkin Donuts, however, the cashier put my cookie in a plastic bag so I could take it to-go. Although neither place asked me if I wanted my order “for here” or “to-go,” each place made a different assumption. In my opinion, this difference reflects the differing habitus of each place’s clients. The habitus of Dunkin Donuts patrons is that of a lower class background, so it is characterized by a taste for necessity. Because of this, Dunkin Donuts provides products that appeal to an audience that prefers practicality. The menu at Dunkin Donuts is very limited- you can order either tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or juice. Also, the prices are much cheaper. Since the working class prefers substance over form, informal over formal, and sensual over intellectual, Dunkin Donuts has arranged its set-up very differently than Peet’s. The visual display is very simple, no artwork hangs on the walls, and music does not play in the store. To me, this silence and undecorated space left me feeling awkward and unwelcome. I prefer the stylized feel of Peet’s over the practical layout of Dunkin Donuts because I have a dominant class habitus characterized by a taste for freedom. My high cultural capital resources and my distance from economic necessity have enabled me to appreciate the realm of self-expression rather than fixate on functionality and practicality, as one with low cultural capital would. 

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Class Differences at Harvard

        At home, most of us went to schools with people from the same socioeconomic class as us. Our friends had similar financial backgrounds and our neighborhoods were all the same demographic. Most likely, none of us had ever truly encountered class differences. Then we come to college and we are thrust into a large mix of students, hailing from all different backgrounds. In class one day, we worked in groups to discuss the situations at Harvard in which we have observed class differences between ourselves and others around us. Within minutes, my group and I had already written quite an extensive list. Despite not being on campus for long, we had all already experienced encounters in which we felt uncomfortable about our social class, whether it be higher or lower than our peers. Two of the main focal points in which class differences were noticed were during move-in week and J-term.
        During move-in week, numerous opportunities arise to discover social class differences. Some students arrive with suitcases in tow, piles of clothes, and expensive furniture to arrange in the common room. Other students might come with only a few necessities and no amenities to share with roommates. Debates might arise over whether to purchase a television or couch for the common room and how the price for the good will be divided. Do all the roommates split the cost? What if one roommate cannot afford the television? If that is the case, is he not allowed to watch the television because he did not help purchase it? Learning to live with a roommate is difficult, especially for students who have never experienced a roommate situation before. Not only is it hard to adapt to living with a stranger, but we must also learn to interact with people of different social classes. We must be aware that some students come from different financial backgrounds than us. For example, one of my friends prefers eating out at restaurants in Cambridge instead of eating for free in the dining hall. For her, it is not a problem to pay the check several times a week at a restaurant. For the friend she invites to join her, however, these outings are a severe drain on her finances, but she is too embarrassed to tell her friend no. Often times, we do not even realize  that the other person might not be able to afford the meal because we assume that everybody comes from a similar background.
        Discussing J-term and summer plans, for example, can also bring up distinct class differences. While students from rich families might choose to backpack Europe, take a summer abroad in Italy, or scuba dive in the Caribbean, the lower income students will need to find a job during those months and put their time to good use. Talking about these plans with our peers can be a shock, especially for those who have never had to find a job to finance their lifestyle. These conversations about how we are going to use our free time are a lens for the class differences here at Harvard. Class intersections like these occur daily at Harvard and we must be aware of them and willing to adapt to the situation in order to interact smoothly with people from different backgrounds.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Reality TV Shows

         The number of reality shows increases monthly, so it would seem. Somehow, TV show producers continue to come up with new ideas for reality shows and continue them for multiple seasons. The idea for the show can be a competition (Iron Chef, Project Runway, America's Next Top Model) or it can simply be a cameraman following a group around and videotaping their crazy antics (Real World, Real Housewives). These shows appeal to a certain socioeconomic class more so than to other classes. Lower and middle class persons enjoy the reality aspect, drama, and commonalities of this television genre. Upper class persons tend to prefer more intellectual shows with complicated plots and character development. Because this type of show lacks intellectual stimulus and simply follows a person around, reality shows have been stereotyped as a low-brow show choice and a "guilty pleasure" to watch for those coming from the upper class.

    

          Marx viewed the media as an amplifier for the beliefs of the dominant class. In his opinion, the media reproduced the viewpoint of dominant institutions and presented them as "natural" or "obvious" viewpoints. While this observation is true, most of the media follows the will of the dominant upper class, there are some shows, like reality TV, that cater to the lower classes as well.  Stuart Hall built off of Marx's idea that mass media is a persuasive and irresistible force that defines the way people can think about the world. Through his studies with the Birmingham School, Stuart Hall observed that there is more than one way in which people make sense of media texts. Not all viewers blindly listen to the media being presented. In fact, there is a larger scope for diversity of response. He emphasized that the social situations of readers, viewers, and listeners lead them to adopt different stances when in contact with media.
       Hall divided the possible responses into three categories: dominant readings, negotiated readings, and oppositional readings. While dominant readings are produced by those whose social situation favors the preferred reading, and negotiated readings are produced by those who inflect the preferred reading to take account of their social position, oppositional readings are produced by those whose social position puts them into direct conflict with the preferred reading. This distinction contrasts Marx's belief that all viewers accept the media being presented; in reality, some portion of the audience might reject dominant culture. This proves that media is not entirely effective as a hammer to beat in the dominant perspective. Take those reality shows, for example. A majority of my friends, who come from the upper class, will watch them, not because their social situation aligns with the show, but because they enjoy the direct conflict their social position puts them in with the characters in the show. A characteristic of oppositional readings might be talking or yelling back at the television and this action is evident in my friends' TV watching. We will shout out at and criticize the characters who make stupid decisions and cheer on our favorite person, even knowing that they cannot hear us. We do not watch these shows because we associate with their social position. In fact, it is quite the contrary. We watch these shows to experience the staggering differences between us and them and to enjoy the conflict.

Monday, December 6, 2010

What White People Like

         While perusing the book section of the New York Times online, I stumbled across the book Whiter Shades of Pale and its prequel Stuff White People Like, both by Christian Lander. What caught my attention about the book, beyond its funny title, is the comparison the writer made that Whiter Shades of Pale is the "prickliest guide through the American status system since Paul Fussell's Class."Since Class was part of our class's syllabus, I immediately knew that this book would be a good one to look into further. Mr. Lander satirizes class in his descriptions of the white demographic of society. His observations of educated people's taste preferences is embarrassingly accurate: these self-cultivated people, according to Lander, are drawn to coffee shops, indie bands, fine cheeses, independent book stores, and independent film theaters. Although Lander never uses the term "Bobo" in his description of educated whites, his observations parallel those of David Brooks in his book Bobos in Paradise. The Bohemian Bourgeois, as Brooks has labeled the new upper class of American society, does not like to flaunt its money in a gaudy manner like the New Money did, but instead spends its money in a more well-intentioned manner. According to Brooks' rules, it is acceptable for Bobos to spend large amounts of money on useful or environmentally friendly objects. A large television and sound system would be viewed as an offensive purchase, but an expensive sports vehicle that has enough trunk space for the buyer's sports gear is an acceptable purchase because it serves a purpose.
         Interestingly, although Lander does not reference Brooks, Lander also makes the same point. He observes that educated whites will purchase sea salt, despite its more expensive pricing, because they associate it with France rather than with high sodium intake. They also prefer free-range organic chicken simply because it is healthy and better for the environment. Lander describes this phenomenon of buying cheap things at expensive prices by saying "white people have taken over something that poor people used to like and made it extremely expensive." Other examples Lander provides are flea markets, which is now a chic activity, and berry picking, an activity that educated whites pay to "experience" when in reality it is a low-paying job done only by migrant workers.
         Lander describes this obligation of the white elite to seek out the cheap product at a higher price as "white guilt." The educated whites that both Landers and Brooks observe do not want to flaunt their financial success, so instead they spend their money on cheap things. Their guilt drives them to purchase useful products instead, which further isolates them from lower class persons, who view this purchasing of expensively-priced cheap things as a waste of money.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Normal Rockwell & Lower Middle Culture

          In November 18th's lecture, we discussed Herbert J. Gans' concept of taste cultures and taste publics. He explained that choices in consumption are not random and that people who make similar choices for similar reasons will choose an array of cultural objects and practices that share a common aesthetic. He noted that the major source of differentiation between taste cultures and publics is socioeconomic level or class. In his opinion, American society can be divided into five levels: high culture, upper middle culture, lower middle culture, low culture, and quasi-folk culture. One example in which these five taste cultures differ is art. High culture prefers an abstract form of art that lower classes do not have the cultural capital to understand. Often times, high culture art becomes encapsulated in its own self-referencing world. Lower middle culture, on the other hand, emphasizes substance over form and morality and sentimentality are more prominent in their preferred artworks.


       As America's dominant taste public, lower middle culture aesthetic is often found in television, movies, and artwork. A perfect example of lower middle culture art is Norman Rockwell's pieces. Rockwell's subjects tended to be common American interactions and settings instead of abstract interpretations. Because he managed to capture the American life in his paintings, he is embraced as one of America's most well-known painters. As Norman Rockwell himself put it, "the commonplaces of America are to me the richest subjects of art. Boys batting flies on vacant lots; little girls playing jacks on the front steps; old men plodding home at twilight- all these things arouse feeling in me." This quote strongly reflects Gans' own observations on lower middle culture taste preferences that they prefer the real over the abstract.
         Norman Rockwell's paintings manage to capture the everyday curiosities, desires, jealousies, and indulgences of human nature. The Rockwell painting below, titled The Dugout, is a perfect example of Rockwell's ability to capture American life. Fans in the stands can be seen jeering at the athletes while the athletes in the dugout are bored and disheartened and the player about to go onto the field is nervous. Rockwell's "snapshots" of a particular moment evoke emotion in the viewer. The scene might be a simple one that the viewer could experience every day, but Rockwell captures the moment in a way that reveals the various emotions and feelings that occur in that one precise moment. This emphasis on sentimentality and reality is what characterizes Rockwell's paintings as lower middle culture, according to Gans' five levels of taste publics.




Saturday, December 4, 2010

Wine Tasting

             A few weekends ago, my father's friend was in Cambridge for a convention and invited me to go to dinner with him. The man, Jacob, has a high-paying job at Goldman-Sachs and comes from a wealthy family. As soon as I met him, I could tell he was used to getting what he wanted. He has the cultural capital to succeed in today's society. His original plan was for us to go see a new exhibit in the Harvard Art museum. Unfortunately, the museum had closed a hour before we arrived. Rather than give up, however, Jacob sweet-talked the museum attendant and convinced her to let us peek into the exhibit anyway. Because of his tactical rhetoric, we were able to view the display despite the fact that the museum was already closed. If Jacob had simply asked the attendant to let us in, we probably would have failed, but because he knew the right way to ask, and how to ask in a flattering way, we succeeded. This "right way" of asking is something Jacob has learned from his high-status family.  Pierre Bourdieu defines cultural capital as the general cultural background, knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are passed from one generation to the next. The cultural capital that Jacob has acquired from his family has given him leverage in both the social and market aspect of life.
              His powerful skills of persuasion are just one aspect of Jacob's cultural capital. After the museum, we dined at Sandrine's, an expensive French restaurant. Immediately, Jacob asked the waiter to bring over a wine list and starting asking questions about the various wines being offered. As Jacob and the waiter discussed the tastes and aromas of one wine over the other, I realized how little I know about wine. I could not even join in the conversation for fear of sounding silly! I did not know what they were talking about at all. From this conversation, I was able to understand how high status cultural signals like attitudes, preferences, formal knowledge, behaviors, goods, and credentials can contribute to social and cultural exclusion. Lamont and Lareau address this issue of social exclusion in their writings and even use wine tastings as an example. They say that the formal knowledge of knowing a good wine from a bad wine can distinguish a lower class person from an upper class one because the lower class lacks the knowledge.



             Wine tasting has been acknowledged as a high status symbol and Jacob took pleasure in talking intelligently about the fine distinctions between the different wines. He used his wine consumption as a way of expressing himself as a knowledgable person and the waiter recognized his high class position. After their wine discussion, the waiter was more willing to wait on us and help us with whatever was needed. I was interested by the interactions between both Jacob and the museum attendant and Jacob and the waiter. In both cases, the lower class worker was more willing to assist us once they recognized Jacob's cultural capital. Whether he was smoothly arguing his case or impressing the waiter with his knowledge, Jacob succeed in getting what he wanted by using what he knew best- the cultural background transmitted from his family to him.


Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Horse Racing & Class Differences




            In my hometown of Tampa, Florida, the Tampa Bay Downs is a well-known place for gambling and leisure. Young or old, rich or poor, everybody flocks to the Downs for some excitement. One of America's oldest and most well-maintained racetracks, the Tampa Bay Downs  is the only Thoroughbred race track on the west coast of Florida. At the Downs, you can see the juxtaposition of the very rich and the very poor. Working class folks will go to watch the dog races and gamble, while the upper class will go to watch the dogs that they own participate in the races. The difference between the two classes is that while the working class is hoping to earn some money off of luck, the upper class owns the property and will make money no matter what. Once I was accepted into Harvard, I visited the Tampa Bay Downs for the first time for our Harvard Alumni/ New Students meet & greet. I was escorted past the "working class" rooms, where cheap televisions covered the walls, cigarette smoke shrouded the room, and men and women mindlessly drank and gambled. I then walked into the room meant for owners. It had catered food, fancy carpeting and decorating, and an expensive flatscreen television on the wall, broadcasting the race for us.

          After the race, we had the opportunity to walk down to the track and take a photograph with the winning horse. Obviously, Harvard was pulling out all the stops to woo their new prospective students. As we walked down from our clubhouse room, I saw the spectator seats that the regular visitors would sit in. They were simple, dirty concrete seats covered with trash. I was shocked by the differences in surroundings provided for the two socioeconomic classes. Interestingly, the same differences I observed were noted by the authors of Sociology AS: The Complete Companion OCR. In one of their charts, titled Traditional Stereotypes of Class, each class is associated with particular education, speech, and leisure characteristics. Interestingly, both the upper and working class are associated with racing. The distinction between the two comes with ownership. Upper class leisure involves "hunting, shooting, fishing, polo, horse racing (as owners), and rowing, while working class leisure is described as "dog racing, watching football, and pubs."
  
         I found the Tampa Bay Downs to be a very interesting class intersection point. While both classes attend the Downs as a leisure activity, there is still a distinctive difference between the two while participating in the race. Upper class participants are provided with comfortable indoor seating, away from the masses, while working class participants are relegated to the concrete seating outside in rain or shine.



Saturday, November 27, 2010

Class Conflict in the Dorm Room

           Social class becomes salient at particular times and place within the Harvard community. At these intersection points,we have the opportunity to experience the cultures of social classes different from our own. For example, Jeremy and Zack, are roommates who come from very different social classes; this situation often creates tension and strife in the room. Jeremy is a financial-aid student who works a part-time job and lives on a farm. Zack, on the other hand, comes from an upper class family in England and is accustomed to having a chauffeur, a housekeeper, and a chef reside in his house. 





Jeremy hails from a working class family and expressed frustration over his roommate’s inability to understand his financial situation. Because Jeremy comes from a poorer family, he is very stringent with his money. He is not only on one of the highest levels of financial aid, but he also has a weekly job to help cover the costs of school supplies and other odds-and-ends. As a result of his 10 hours a week job and frugal spending, Jeremy is capable of being financially independent from his parents and does not need to ask them for money. He told me that he has not purchased a new article of clothing since arriving on campus, while his roommate has already ordered 18 boxes of new clothes because “his dad pays the credit card bill.” From these interactions, it is evident that Jeremy habitus is characterized by a taste for necessity. Rather than purchase exorbitant amounts of clothes like his roommate does, he only uses his spending money for items like staples, pens, and printing paper, all of which he views as necessities. Often times, Jeremy feels that his roommate does not understand his financial situation and expects him to chip in when paying for parties and alcohol. When his roommate invites friends over, they purchase liquor and then ask Jeremy to help pay for it after the fact.  Jeremy feels very uncomfortable in these circumstances because he wants to help out but he does not want to spend his well-earned money on alcohol every weekend. To him, it seems that his roommate, because he is from a higher socioeconomic class, automatically assumes that everyone is capable of spending twenty or more dollars per weekend. His opinion on this issue was, “if you’ve been brought up in an environment where money is not an issue, then you have no problem asking for it and taking it from your parents.” This perspective reveals the stark differences between Jeremy habitus and that of his roommate Zack's. Jeremy's childhood on a farm  shaped his habitus to value thriftiness and independence, while Zack's youth led him to grow accustomed to always having spending money within reach. Because the roommates’ distance from economic necessity, one of the intrinsic properties of class, are substantially different, their interactions with money have evolved in separate ways. When discussing the intrinsic properties of class during lecture, Professor Nelson noted that people from the middle class are more concerned with status and making the wrong move while those from the upper class have no care for others’ judgement. This concept was very noticeable in my interviews with Jeremy and Zack. While Jeremy complained often about Zack's careless spending and financial dependency on his parents, Zack was not embarrassed to reveal exactly how much he has spent so far on clothing and dining. Jeremy also seemed hesitant to discuss his job and financial aid package in front of Zack. The unease that Jeremy felt when discussing finances in contrast to Zack's frankness with the situation reflects the disparities between upper and lower class views towards class differences. 


Zack, on the other hand, did not express concerns with the class differences that exist in his room. As I interviewed Zack, Jeremy remained in the common room with us. Despite Jeremy's presence, Zack openly revealed how much money he spends. When Zack casually commented that he has already spent $4,000 so far and should probably be more careful with his money, Jeremy let out a gasp of surprise. Unlike Jeremy, who works for a hourly wage, Zack is allotted $6,000 a semester by his parents as spending money. When I asked what he spends his money on, he responded that he likes to eat out at restaurants in Cambridge. When Jeremy heard this comment, he grew aggravated and retorted, “Why don’t you just eat at Annenberg where it’s free?” Because Zack is accustomed to life in the dominant class, he has developed a habitus characterized by a taste for freedom. Since Zack is financially free from the practical needs and urgencies of making a life, he is able to stylize and formalize natural functions like meals and clothing. Rather than purchase a coat for practical reasons, as Jeremy might, Zack purchased a $700 sweater because it was in-style and fashionable. These types of purchases, along with his more expensive dining selections, reveal Zack's taste for freedom. Despite the stark contrast between Jeremy's and Zack's lifestyles, however, Zack does not feel uncomfortable about their class differences. He acknowledges that Jeremy might not have as much money as him, but does not feel that the financial imbalance creates any tension in the room. Jeremy, however, was bothered by Zack's openness about his expenses and grew bitter, claiming (after Zack had left the room) that Zack flaunted his money and made him feel inferior. As seen by the interaction between Zack and Jeremy, members of the upper class tend to accept the inequalities and are comfortable coexisting with people of lower classes, while lower class people are often more unhappy with the situation.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

NY Times book list

          In last week's lecture, we discussed Herbert J. Gans' views on taste cultures and taste publics. He believed that choices in consumption are not random and that a person who prefers one particular interest will tend to prefer an array of cultural objects and practices that share a common aesthetic. He calls this preference a "taste culture" and defines the people who make these similar choices for similar reasons as the "taste public." Although these taste publics can be based on race, age, or gender, the major source of differentiation between taste cultures and publics is socioeconomic level or class. To differentiate between the various taste publics, Gans divided society into five basic taste cultures: high, upper middle, lower middle, low, and quasi-folk low culture. 
      One difference between the various taste cultures that piqued my interest was the preference for a particular theme in books and media. While the upper middle culture liked nonfiction and themes that dealt with individual struggle and success, the lower culture preferred action and melodrama. The lower middle culture  focused on performers over creators and paid no heed to critics; high culture, on the other hand, focused on the directors over the actors. Because the high culture is the most creator-oriented of all cultures, it is dominated by critics and theorists. High culture tends to prefer themes of alienation, and since the critics and theorists come from this class, books that are reviewed as top-sellers tend to share the tastes of high culture. To validate Gans' observations, I scanned the New York Times Best-Sellers List to see which themes were prevalent. I found two example within a few seconds of reviewing the list that accurately portray the prevalence of high culture tastes on the New York Times list. Both novels follow a theme of alienation, a taste that is not as liked by taste cultures of lower socioeconomic classes.



2THE LAST BOY, by Jane Leavy.  A biography of the Yankees star Mickey Mantle, who grappled with a wrenching childhood and physical injuries.

5UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS, by Portia de Rossi. The actress discusses her career, her anorexia and her years of hiding her lesbianism.

         Perusing other books on the Best-Sellers list, I found mostly themes of alienation or individual struggle and success, the theme most characteristic of upper class culture. Themes representative of the lower middle culture and below were harder to find. Although the lower middle culture is America's dominant taste public and prefers substance and forms, books following this format were not as common on the list. Because the list is created by critics, the list is organized by a taste public that all share the same taste culture- high culture. This phenomenon parallels Marx's idea that the media amplifies the ideas of the ruling class. Because the high culture taste public is the dominant class, they can reproduce the viewpoints of their dominant institutions through the media, as seen by the New York Times Best-Sellers list's tendency to list novels that appeal to high culture taste.




Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Omni Syndrome

            In today's society, there exists a universally accepted belief that America is classless. We choose to believe that social distance is unreal and that any gaps between "us" and "them" exist because of personal reasons; socioeconomic ones do not play a role. This false notion that the "middle" is almost limitlessly encompassing is known as the Omni Syndrome. DeMott criticizes this concept that everyone has equal access to a society that is fluid and full of social mobility. He emphasizes that we need to acknowledge the class differences that exist in our society and work to understand their effects, rather than pretend that we are all similar individuals belonging to the same all-encompassing middle class.
          I believe my high school's community outreach program is a perfect example of the Omni Syndrome's effect on our perceptions of others. During my four years at the school, we were required to fulfill a certain number of community service hours at a non-profit location. As freshmen, we were piled onto buses and sent to low-income daycares or schools to help tutor and interact with the children. Coming from a mostly Caucasian school, we were all shocked to walk into a classroom and see only black and Hispanic children. The children all spoke in different ways than we did and sometimes we could not understand the slang they used or the way they pronounced their words. Because my classmates and I had all grown up interacting only with those of the same socioeconomic class, we had come to believe that class was inexistent, so it was hard for us to understand the children we were supposed to be helping. Their family situations were much different than ours, more unpredictable and unstable, and we were unprepared to deal with these glaring differences. As DeMott described, the culture of poverty causes the lower class to be shut out of mainstream society and to be easily overlooked. Because of their isolation from us and what I perceived to be the easily-accesible middle class, I had not experienced any inter-class interactions before. Therefore, I was not prepared to come face-to-face with actual differences rooted in class, barriers, and impositions, rather than differences existing of one's personal characteristics, like character and intelligence, which I had originally thought were the only distinctions between the "poor" and the "rich".
         While I had originally believed that lower class persons could easily scale the social ladder if they so chose to, but they simply had not bothered to, I realized from hearing these children's stories that the Omni Syndrome is a myth. There are many other factors beyond one's individual drive to succeed that play a role in social mobility and we do not, in fact, all coexist in the same middle class. As we fulfilled our community service and became more aware of our country's social inequality, many students struggled with not knowing who to blame- the actual people or the system itself? Class is a touchy subject in America and it is difficult to recognize the true effects of barriers and to understand the shaping of class without blaming people that are different from us and criticizing their values. Because we are afraid to get past the mythology of what class is and is not, and to acknowledge the differences that exist, the Omni Syndrome remains an accepted belief in our society: an inaccurate proclamation that we are all fundamentally the same.


Monday, November 22, 2010

Club Soccer

          I attended a private school for high school. The tuition was steep and there was not much diversity among the students. It was a preparatory school with a Monday through Thursday uniform and a blazer, button-down, and skirt uniform for Fridays as well. Every student was expected to own a laptop and bring it to class each day. In my entire grade, about one hundred thirty students total, there was only one African American student.
         The only encounters I had with people of different economic classes was when I played on a club soccer team. Twice a week, I would drive to a local soccer field, situated in a bad part of town, to practice with my team. Almost every other girl on the team went to a public school. Immediately, I noticed several differences between me and them: I drove myself to practice in my own car, a Lexus. Most of them, on the other hand, were driven to practice by their parents in the family car. While my family owned three cars, most of them only had one. Some times, one of my teammates would not show up to practice because she could not afford to pay for gas money. Another girl wore the same ripped-up soccer cleats all year round because she could not afford a new pair. The shoes had holes in the toes and the soles were coming off.
     At first, I felt guilty for what I had and they did not. I felt obligated to lie about my class background so they would not feel ashamed or uncomfortable around me. Now I realize how much it helped shape me as a person. Although the media depicts America as a classless society, as DeMott criticizes, social class is real and needs to be recognized by those with power in society. If I had not played on that team, I would never have seen the socioeconomic differences that existed in my own hometown, and so close to my home. I would have continued to live in my own preparatory, private school bubble where buying clothes and purchasing gas are not daily issues.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Opera and Theatre



         In high school, I participated in a time-intensive drama program. During the fall of my Junior and Senior year, my theatre group and I traveled to New York City to see various performances. Because of these trips, I have had the opportunity to see the following musicals and plays: Hair, Bye Bye Birdie, Wicked, Monty Python, Phantom of the Opera, August Osage County, Ragtime, Oleanna, In the Heights, Chorus Line, Avenue Q, and more. We also had the opportunity to dress up and go to the Metropolitan Opera to see Madame Butterfly one year, and Princess Turandot the next year. Madame Butterfly was the first opera I had ever seen and I thought it was very boring. I almost fell asleep in my seat. The next year, however, when I watched Princess Turandot, I loved it! Because I knew what to expect and I had seen an opera before, the opera really appealed to me. My parents have also been very supportive of my love for the arts. For my birthday, my parents flew me to New York City to see a play and my mother and I would go on "mother-daughter dates" to see local productions. Due to this upbringing, I possess cultural capital that others my age might not have.



             When I arrived at Harvard for pre-orientation, I started hanging out with a group of girls who seemed nice. Unfortunately, as soon as we started chatting, I realized there was a disconnect between them and me. The other girls discussed Cosmopolitan, MTV, and current singers and rockstars. They knew the lyrics of all the top songs and the current gossip of today's socialites. They obviously did not have the cultural capital that I did; none of them followed the arts or knew anything about theater. Their conversations were interesting but because I did not share the same interests as them, I had a difficult time interacting with them. This disconnect was not just with theater versus pop music. As Gans observed, people who like one object will tend to like other objects with a similar aesthetic. Unfortunately, this meant that the other girls had more and more in common and I discovered that for every similarity they shared, I liked something very different from them. Their taste culture involved tabloids and pop culture, my taste culture contains the fine arts and creative expression. Gans noted that the main difference that separates taste publics and taste cultures from other taste publics and taste cultures is socioeconomic class. As I learned with these girls, there was a reason we preferred different interests. It turns out that these girls all came from a different social background than I did and did not have the experience and opportunities of my class advantage.
          Another observation I noticed while interacting with these girls was that low status individuals are the most culturally exclusive. Bryson claimed in his findings that musical tolerance increases with one's education level and I agree with this statement. Most of the girls I was talking with were athletes and had been recruited here, not accepted due to academics. While we talked about our musical interests, most of them choose country, rap, and pop. While I prefer to listen to latino music and other more obscure genres, I will also listen to those genres as well. However, when I told them what music I like to listen to,  the girls laughed and revealed that they hated broadway music and latino music and would never listen to those. I found it interesting that my experience with these girls, whom I am no longer friends with, aligns very accurately with Bryson's findings. He described this access to the knowledge of a broad range of musical genres as being an "omnivore" and considers this openness to be its own form of cultural capital.



Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The Tampa Yacht & Country Club


      The Tampa Yacht and Country Club, which holds the debutante ball each year, is a very exclusive aspect of Tampa social life.  The club advertises itself as a member owned, family oriented private club known for fine dining and entertainment. Founded in 1904, it is one of the most exclusive private clubs in the city. While the facilities are impressive, these numerous amenities can be viewed as excessive. With nine tennis courts, saunas, a fitness center, a lap pool, swimming pool, kiddie pool, an equestrian center, several dining rooms, and a ball room, nothing is not provided for the members of the club. 

     Tradition is taken very seriously at the Tampa Yacht and Country Club and all events are very ritualized. Several events are held each year that all members are expected to attend. They wear their finest attire and parade around the ball room, socializing with other members. All members are expected to know each other's names and their current social and financial standing. Even with their high social standing, members are not safe from the judgements of other members. In fact, especially in high-status groups, in-group favoritism manifested in stereotyping is common.


    Most members of the club are rich, middle-aged to elderly men and their families. The dues they pay to be in the club help pay for the club's marina, sailing club, stables, as well as the dining rooms and pool service. A majority of these members, however, only participate in a few of the services provided. My family, for example, is a due-paying member of the Yacht Club, but we do not sail, dock our boat there, or ride horses at the barn. Instead, we eat at the club's restaurant once or twice a month. Membership into this club is not about having the opportunity to ride a horse or sail a boat; it is about having the social status that comes with it. To truly be viewed as a  Tampa socialite, your family must be a member of the Tampa Yacht and Country Club. Unfortunately for new families to the area who are eager to climb the social ladder, this process is easier said than done. Not only must a potential member be viewed as elite enough to join, but the entire board of directors must agree to admit the man and his family.




Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Debutante Balls


           In my hometown of Tampa, Florida, debutante balls are an integral part of a teenage girl's entrance into adulthood. While most cities have lost this old-fashioned tradition of "coming out" into society, this process is still very prevalent in the South. The tradition is very exclusive, however. Not all young women can become debutantes. In Tampa, only the daughters of Tampa Yacht and Country Club members can participate in the event. Unfortunately for most girls, the Tampa Yacht and Country Club is very exclusive- only a select number of families are invited to join each year and they must be recommended by existing members. Because of this, the debutante ball is viewed as a rare opportunity that only the most elite in society are able to participate in.
           Not only does the membership requirement limit the number of potential debutantes, but the financial requirements do as well. For example, to be a debutante, one must buy a white dress, similar to a wedding dress, earrings, high heels, and all other expected accessories needed to stand out in a room of beautiful women.
         These financial and social requirements create a symbolic boundary between Tampa's middle class and its social elite. Only the families with social connections, a large income, and a good reputation are invited to participate in this event and the families who lack in these aspects are left out on the sidelines, only able to gossip about the event that they are unable to participate in. As we discussed in the lecture on boundary work, individuals differentiate themselves from others by creating a collective identity with those with common traits and experiences. This sense of shared belonging creates a collective identity that separates the upper class "us" from the middle and lower class "them."



           The debutante procedure is not even a single party or event. It is actually an entire season consisting of parties, teas, and dances, all held by upper-class families to formally announce the arrival and availability of their daughter. These "coming out" parties reinforce class solidarity by emphasizing upper-class exclusivity. Because only upper-class daughters and their suitors participate, the season encourages and creates upper-class familial unions and helps daughters of wealthy families find suitable matrimonial partners among their social class.  Through these events, the bonds of intrametropolitan upper-class social relationships are further defined.


Stephen Richard Higley, Privilege, Power, and Place: The Geography of the American Upper Class

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Annenberg Workers

          I eat at the Annenberg dining hall three times a day, seven days a week. I pass the same workers at the card counter and cafeteria line each and every day. When I see them, I make sure to look them in the eye, greet them, and make some friendly conversation. I have noticed that other students, however, will walk right past them as though they are not there. Sometimes, the students even fail to return a smile the worker gave them or will push past them if the area is crowded. For some reason, these students think it is acceptable to ignore the Annenberg workers and treat them in a condescending manner. The only difference between us and them is that we are students at the school and they are paid employees. I would say that a large majority of the student class comes from middle and upper class backgrounds and the workers would be labeled as working class but just because we come from different social backgrounds does not give us reason to act rudely towards others.


           In October 26th's Crossing Class Boundaries lecture, we discussed places of class intersection. Along with the Annenberg dining hall, intersection points for different social classes also occur in clinics, where the staff are professionals and the clients are wealthy, and middle class elementary and high schools, where the teachers are viewed as "nannies" by the wealthy, educated parents. These class differences can make interaction awkward between social classes. Classes create collective identities that differentiate themselves from others, so when these "two worlds come together," it can be difficult to surpass the symbolic boundaries that were made.
          This boundary-making is a two-way street, however. While upper-level classes will establish boundaries in order to achieve superiority over another group, lower-level classes will do it as well. These people in more vulnerable positions will create boundaries to self-define themselves and fight the stereotypes and negative images assigned to them by others. Looking at it from this angle, it is not just some Harvard students who refuse to interact with the Annenberg staff. There are also Annenberg workers who seem less friendly and are not as willing to interact with the students. This separation of "us and them" is not entirely malicious though. Because certain individuals feel drawn to one another by common traits, experiences, and a sense of shared belonging, they are more inclined to engage one another socially than they would with others of a different class.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Trick or Treating Neighborhoods

              Halloween is in two days and everyone is very excited about it. I always talk with one of the Annenberg workers when I see him in the cafeteria and today was no different. He came up to me and asked what I was going to dress up as for Halloween on Sunday. After I told him my costume idea, I asked what his plans were.  I learned that he has a son and that he would be staying at the house handing out candy while his wife took their son door-to-door to trick-or-treat. I joked that he would need to buy a large amount of candy because if he ran out the children would be angry. I told him that back in my hometown, my neighborhood had so many trick-or-treaters, that we would have to run to the gas station down the street to buy more bags of candy during the night. Sometimes we had to give two or three times! We did this because we did not want the kids to be sad that we had no candy to give them. He then told me that in his neighborhood, if they run out of candy, the children throw eggs at his house. Shocked, I said," Oh! They've never thrown eggs at us before!" To this he responded, "Yes, well we obviously live in very different neighborhoods."


          I had never really thought about how different trick-or-treating would be in neighborhoods of different social classes. I would say my neighborhood is middle to upper-middle class: the perfect place to trick-or-treat. The houses are close enough together so the children don't get tired walking house to house, and the families can afford to buy plenty of crazy Halloween decorations and candy. In fact, my neighborhood is viewed as such a good trick-or-treating spot that public buses transport young children and families from the ghettoes and other lower-income neighborhoods to our neighborhood so they can trick-or-treat in safety. Starting before it even gets dark, our streets are filled with cars that I don't recognize. Families arrive hours in advance to score a parking spot on our street. On all other days of the year, my neighborhood might have 2 or 3 black families, but on Halloween, over 75% of the trick-or-treaters are black. I had always thought that they came because our neighborhood was fun to trick or treat in, not because their neighborhood might be violent or dangerous like the Annenberg worker alluded to.
        In lecture this week, we discussed ghettoes and how childhood is not a prolonged stage of the life cycle there. Children are not escorted around by parents to knock on doors and receive candy. Instead, the streets are governed by the "hard living" individuals  who revert to violence and tricks when candy is not received. With my family, I've always had a safe environment to grow up in and have never been forced to grow out of childhood too quickly so it is so shocking to think how different my life has been compared to a child in a lower-end neighborhood. On Halloween, when children from my neighborhood came to the door asking for candy, it was sometimes hard to tell their ages. They were all very eager, loud, and happy and they all elaborately dressed up in costumes for Halloween. When the black children from the other neighborhoods came up, however, I immediately noticed a difference between the younger kids and the teenagers. The young kids still maintained that child-like innocence and youthfully enjoyed the holiday. The older teenagers, however, tended to come in normal, every-day clothes and acted either embarrassed or that they were "too cool" for the holiday. Because youth in lower-class neighborhoods will "go for bad" to protect themselves, they develop a very different way of living than I was accustomed to in my neighborhood. 


Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Sweet Sixteens

       I believe most of us have either seen or heard of the MTV show, "My Super Sweet Sixteen." The show's plot line involves spoiled teenage girls with wealthy parents, who fly to Europe to find their birthday dress, invite only the popular kids in their grade to their extravagant birthday parties, and receive fancy cars as their birthday presents. They also manage to spend a large sum of money on the party itself. These parties do not just occur on television. In fact, Sweet Sixteens are becoming more and more common in America, largely because of the MTV show's influence. In my own hometown of Tampa, Florida, a girl in my little sister's grade threw a Sweet Sixteen a few weekends ago. Here are some photographs from the event:


She rented out the Ritz  in my hometown: Tampa, Florida.

Decorated it with a futuristic theme.

Had a grand entrance with fog, male escorts, and a silver sparkly dress.

Was crowned with a tiara by her mother.

Received a private performance by a popular teen band.

Had another grand entrance and changed outfits.
Received a Hummer as her birthday present. 
And received a SmartCar as well.
She also had a photo shoot with the band.

      When I was looking through the different photographs online, I was amazed by how elaborate her party was. It made me wonder how much money her parents had spent for the band, the venue, the two cars, and her three outfits.  I wanted to see what other people's thoughts were on Sweet Sixteens in general and the MTV show in particular, which probably has influenced teenage girls a great deal, making Sweet Sixteens more desirable and labeled as "The Cool Thing To Do."  I came across the book Girl Culture by Claudia A. Mitchell and Jacqueline Reid-Walsh. Here is an interesting quote I found:


"The American fascination with celebrity and adolescent aspirations toward the lifestyles of the rich and famous have driven the cost of Sweet Sixteens to incredible heights. Most episodes of the program feature the children of very affluent parents, who have budgets of $50,000 to $200,000 at their disposal. In modern-day incarnations, personal status has become associated with the level of wealth, exclusivity, creativity, and celebrity involved in the Sweet Sixteen party."

         I liked that the quote mentions exclusivity as being associated with Sweet Sixteen parties. Just like Old Money created clubs to isolate themselves from the rest of society, rich teenagers throw Sweet Sixteens for a reason. By having an expensive party, they prove to the rest of their community that they are financially capable of affording such a lavish event. Because most other students will not be able to afford a party of the same caliber, the student who throws a Sweet Sixteen is able to set himself or herself apart from everybody else.

        Sweet Sixteens also represent society's fascination with living a rich lifestyle. The social pressure experienced by teenagers who throw Sweet Sixteens reflects the challenging difficulties of entering the super-exclusive upper class. According to high school peers, only the teens who throw the biggest and best parties are allowed to pass this rite of passage and then become accepted into their higher spot on the social ladder. Those who fail remain on the bottom. This standard of criterion for entering the higher echelons of high school popularity mimics the format of society itself: while many could try to be in the spotlight, only those with strong family backgrounds, reputations, and wealth were accepted.  Sweet Sixteens are very similar to the antics of High Society because only a small number are accepted into each group. For Sweet Sixteens, only the very wealthy teens who throw the best parties are welcomed into the popular group. In High Society, it was the same group of wealthy families that were named in the Social Register and talked about in the newspapers. Although High Society has given way to Celebrity Worship in society, in a way, High Society still exists in high school. Only the richest students can afford the Sweet Sixteen ritual and this sets them apart from their classmates.