erica bender academic connections ucsd summer 2014

MEDIA MATTERSStereotypes and Social

Change in Popular Media

Erica Bender

ACADEMIC CONNECTIONS – UCSD – SUMMER 2014

Recap From Yesterday Course goals

Build critical media literacy Introductory knowledge of core sociology

concepts See the link between the media and

inequality/social change 3 ‘Realms’ (Class, Race, then Gender)

3-4 days each First day will be intro to concepts Last day will be informal presentations and

conclusions 1 informal presentation for each realm

Yay Sociology!

Before we can “think like sociologists,” we first need to develop a sociological imagination

This means looking beyond individual people or individual behavior – instead of focusing on an individual, we focus on the social

For example, a parade…

CLASS Class

Social differentiation based largely on economic factors and factors that

indicate economic standing.

Ways to think about class: A gradational hierarchy – like a ladder, pyramid,

or? Different categories▪ Elite – Professional/Managerial – Middle – Working –

Lower/Poor – Very poor

What does class look like in the US? Do we have a classless society?

How do you know? Does that matter to you?

How would we draw the class ‘ladder’ for the United States? All equal Wide in the middle Wide at the top? At the bottom?

A picture of class in the US.

Discussion Questions

How does someone’s class affect them?

Where does your class come from?

Can you change your class?

How bad is economic/class-based inequality in the United States?

Why doesn’t class ‘go away’?

How does someone’s class affect them?

Key word: Life chances Life chances = the objective opportunities that a

person has in life to improve his or her quality of life Your life chances refer to your ability to live the life

you want But a lot of things get in the way of life chances,

because your life chances often depend on your access to resources (such as money, food, education, health care)

Class influences life chances because it is the primary factor that determines your access to resources

Where does your class come from?

Mostly, from your family We are born into a family already firmly placed

in a class position. How does your family’s class position affect you

as a child? Neighborhood, school, social networks,

knowledge/skills, behaviors How does your family’s class position affect you

as an adult? Likelihood of obtaining higher education Career Income!

Can you change your class? Key word: Social (Class) MobilitySocial Class Mobility = the

objective probability that you will be able to move up in social class

What kinds of things will you have to obtain to achieve higher social mobility for yourself?

What factors are beyond your control?

Your income vs. your parents’ income

Education as a path to mobility

Where are you most mobile?

How bad is class-based inequality? Initial thoughts – With a partner, rank the

following countries from highest to lowest in terms of inequality Germany Great Britain Korea United States Japan Isreal

The United States is one of the most unequal countries in the developed world.

The US has a huge disproportion of income and wealth concentrated among a few people…

Why don’t we see inequality?

Why don’t we see inequality? Remember the relationship between

structure and culture? Structures are reinforced by cultural

beliefs and attitudes. So if class inequality is a structure,

what kinds of beliefs keep us from seeing class inequality?

Other factor: residential segregation

Why don’t we see inequality?