Download social class and identity

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SOCIAL CLASS AND IDENTITY
UK society consists of different social classes (upper, middle and working).
Upper Class values – deferred gratification, future time orientation, An education based around
private boarding schools, the employment of domestic staff, A taste for high culture, Particular codes
of etiquette and manners
Middle class values - A commitment to education and recognition of its importance for career
success, A recognition of the importance of individual efforts, personal ambition and self-help for
success in life, A sense of individual and family self-interest, A commitment to, or a learning towards,
greater respect for high culture than popular culture, A concern with their own fitness, health and
well-being
Working class Values – present time orientation, instant gratification, little interest in high culture,
lack of concern for education, restricted speech codes
Social class is an
important influence on
people’s lives. An
individual’s social class
has a major influence
on his or her life
chances. The chance of
obtaining those things
defined as desirable
and avoiding those
things defined as
undesirable in any
society. There are
wide, measurable
differences in life
chances between
social classes. For
example:
BOURDIEU
(1971) each
social class
has it’s own
cultural
framework or
set of ideas,
he called
“HABITUS”
and upper
class people
have
“CULTURAL
CAPITAL”
Savage(1995)
& ROBERTS
(2001) difficult
to generalise
with accuracy
about a
shared middle
class culture
and identity.
Postmodernist Writers – Identities
have become much more fluid
and changeable, people can chop
and change any identities they
want. Consumer culture has
replaced class culture as the
major influence on people’s
identities.
Pakulski and Waters (1996) –
Lifestyle and consumption patterns
of different status groups is an
important factor in a person’s
identity, replacing class.
Age
• Age is a social construction, the identity and status allocated to people
of different ages is created by society and social attitudes, not by
biology.
• Social attitudes to people of different ages vary between cultures, in
some societies old people have a high status as the “elders” of a
community (Japan) whereas in Britain they tend to lack status and
authority.
• Functionalist writers suggest that young people finding difficulty in
establishing an adult identity leads to status frustration, this is
frustration from being denied status in society.
• Ageism is stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination against individuals
or groups on the grounds of age.
• Old age might be regarded as an example of a stigmatised identity, this
prevents older people from establishing identities other than simply
being the “old person” found in negative stereotypes.
Nationality
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Nation- a particular geographical area which a group of people identify.
Nation-state- a nation with its own independent government
Nationality- Is having a nation state, e.g. the right to vote/passport and
rights/responsibilities.
Hall suggests that every nation has a connection of stories/ symbols and
experiences. E.g. fish and chips in Britain.
National identity involves a sense of belonging to a place. Ways of which
people are socialised into a national identity includes shared experiences,
national anthem, national sports terms, festivals and traditions.
Nationalism- a sense of pride and commitment to a nation.
British values are the queen, union jack and the type of food that we eat.
Globalization is changing national cultures. Mass media exposes us to
another culture on the news, showing its attitudes and behaviour.
Hall suggests national cultures may decline due to globalization, causing
loss of tradition.
Culture of hybridity- mix of two cultures.
Ethnicity• An ethnic identity is one where individuals asserts their identity
primarily in terms of the ethnic group and culture to which they
belong (values, beliefs, traditions, language, diet, dress religious
ideas).
• Diaspora- the dispersal of an ethnic population from its original
homeland + spreading out across the world- retaining cultural ties to
national origin
• Hall (1992)- suggests that ethnic identities are becoming harder to
identify
• Hybridization- all ethnic groups drawing on a range of cultures to
create new hybrid identities.
• Ethnocentrism- is a view of the world in which other cultures are
seen through the eyes of ones own culture, with devaluating the
others.
Disability
An impairment is some abnormal functioning of the body or mind either
that one is born with. It prevents people form carrying out normal
activities.
Shakespeare argues that disability is created by societies that don’t take
into account the needs of those who so not meet with that society’s ideas
of what is normal.
Disability is often seen as a stigmatized identity –as something to be
hidden or ashamed of.
‘Disabled’ carries with it a stigma arising from stereotyping, which prevents
people with impairments from achieving full social acceptance.
Stereotypes of disability are generated by the mass media, include ideas
that disabled people are dependant on others. Disability therefore
becomes an identity marking people out as different form others.
Sexual behaviour is
socially constructed,
what counts as normal
sexual behaviour is
established through
the socialization
Society stereotype homosexual
individuals into what is considered process
the normal roles of a heterosexual
relationship, for example they may
assume that in a gay relationship
one individual must be more
feminine for it to work.
Sexuality and Identity
Negative connotations of
homosexuality and society’s
idea of a ‘normal’ sexuality
stratifies sexualities different
from heterosexuality as lower
in society
This may make some people conceal their
sexuality because of fear of rejection from
society (Goffman’s ‘Impression
Management) in order to prevent their
sexuality from becoming part of their
public identity and thus the stigmatization
that would accompany it
Women have been defined in Britain
by their physical attractiveness and
sexual appeal to men.
However men are beginning to face
similar physical scrutiny by both
women and men as male bodies
have become more sexualised
through the media
• Gender is an important source of identity.
• The particular gender identity people adopt marks them out as similar to some
people and different from others, and they will generally adopt forms of behaviour
which ‘fit’ the identities they construct.
• While we may be able to some extent to influence the exact details of our own
gender identities, the options available to us are limited.
• We are influenced by agencies of socialisation such as the family, the school, the
peer group and the mass media, which frequently promote socially approved forms
of masculine and feminine behaviour.
Leisure, Consumption And Identity
Postmodernism- Other social factors such as age, gender, sexuality are no longer
important in the construction of identity.
Lyotard (1984) – dismisses these metanarratives (‘big-theories’).
Identities more fluid, subject to constant change- Rojek and Roberts: what we choose to
do in our leisure time and the products we consume are far more significant factors.
Bocock- consumer choices; taste, image, style, are important aspects of creating image
we wish to project. ‘Shopping’ for identity.
Strinati- Emphasizes power of media in formation of identity by shaping consumer
choice. Popular culture dominates how we define ourselves. Baudrillard- ‘media
saturated society’.
Bradley- New identities formed as a result of globalisation and through info/ images e.g.
brands and labels. ‘Pick and mix’ to create any identity.
Bauman and May- ‘DIY identity kits’.
Taylor- society has become ‘something resembling an endless shopping mall where
people now have much greater choice about how they look, what they consume, and
what they believe in.’
However, there are things limiting free choice;
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Occupation
Social class
Age
Family life cycle
Gender
Ethnicity
QUESTIONS
• What would a post modernist say about social
class influencing identity?
• Why might people might to conceal their true
sexuality from society?