Discuss the ways in which social class is embodied within British culture in terms of media, lifestyle, consumption and taste - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... ts in various social classes is also impacted by the income earned, occupation and level of education of the members in these social classes (Andersen and Gray, 2008).
Social class is normally set up in a hierarchical manner. The social classes are arranged in a hierarchy that ranks from low social status to a high social status. The British society is divided into various classes such that people of the same group or class have similar income, education and occupation. These three aspects differ from one social rank to the next and are very important in creating the differences that occur between these classes (Bell and Hollows, 2006). This fact leads to the general assumption which members of a certain class believe that they have the same status in the society as their fellow colleagues in the same class, lower status compared to members of a higher social class and a higher class compared to members of a lower social class (Bendix and Lipset, 1953).
In traditional British culture, the social class used to be determined based on an occupational scale. They rank from higher professional and managerial occupations such as company directors, professors and teachers to those people in the society who are unemployed. Despite the fact that people may assume social classes to be objective they subjectively appear to exist if a certain group of people come to realize their similarity and hence share a common goal and interests (Bihagen, 2000). It is common to find people in the same job group having almost similar income, economic assets, and level of education and hence having a similar lifestyle. In the British culture, the working class a social class in itself. In recent times this is not applicable due to the fact that a labourer in a farm cannot be in the same social class with a senior doctor or an engineer due to the difference in income, education and occupation (Benson, 2003).
The British culture has a tradition working class. The traditional working class ...Download file to see next pagesRead More