Social Classes Analysis - Research Paper Example

Analysis on Social Since ages there has been a distinction between the rich and the poor. Social has been prevalent since the emergenceof civilization and from there on it has only been increased. Power and wealth are the factors which determine the class of a person. In this age of globalization the gap between the rich and the poor has even more widened. The different classes depicts how different is their living style and behavioral pattern. Class structure divide or group people according to power, wealth education and occupation. And the classes can be to upper class, upper - middle class, lower – middle class, working class and poor class. The upper class consist of the elite and aristocratic people , an upper middle class consist of highly educated and wealthy professional, a lower- middle class are those doing white collar jobs , working class are those with clerical jobs and poor are the underprivileged and unemployed lot. The life style of people drastically deviates according to their status and power. Their spending power and habits are enormously different and a comparison is less possible. It can be seen that upper class people find enough time for leisure activities and pastimes whereas the poor class hardly have means to survive. People of the upper class have the habit of reading as they are well educated but the poor are not of the habit of reading much. Even though reading materials are at large which cater to the rich and the poor? Upper class :Forbes Magazine The magazines and books which the elite read are more parallel with their life style and activities. The business men and women are more loyal to magazines which elaborate on business news and political scenario of the globe. Business people are all time indulged in their profession and when find time they are interested in flipping through the pages of magazines which give a glimpse about business activities and financial updates. Forbes is one of such magazine which has acclaimed to be at the top list for its quality and high demand among the elite class. “Forbes has some of the best financial articles Ive ever read. The articles are deep, academic, and extremely well thought out”(Schlimmer ,2007). This magazine covers very well the financial and business news and that attracts the men in the upper class. The magazine also gives latest update on the rich list and powerful people in the society which is a big concern of the elite class. Forbes magazine gives a great insight to the industrialist with relate to the investment and stock market. It is a very trusted source for reading for the business leaders and senior business executives. It completely enlists the development within all sectors of business and the most recent news about trends. The business men always look for the recent change in economy and a magazine like Forbes give them want they looking for. The motive of the magazine is to assist investors, managers and business owners in taking right decision and set them up according to the changing time. Upper -Middle class ;Vanity Fair “The upper -middle class persons in the upper middle class are often highly educated professionals who have built careers as physicians, attorneys, stockbrokers or corporate managers”(Wadsworth,2007,Pg. 224).This class is not elite as the upper class but still live a life of a luxury level. Since women in this class are very conscious about their personality and fashion quotient, they always try to get themselves informed with fashion trend as time changes. The magazine gives a stylish edge to their fashion sense and always built their taste for fashion accessories and clothing. “Fashion was so pervasive in women’s lives that cartoonists frequently depicted women as “slaves to fashion”(Cunnigham,2003). They publish articles on fashion mantra and suggestion and tips for improving style in dressing and give make over tips. Vanity Fair also has attractive photographs of fashion icons and models which catch the eye of the style conscious females. They also are constantly in search for innovative way of dressing in social gatherings and parties which the magazine is of great help. The magazine showcases costumes and fashion accessories which inspires them to buy it in order to stay in style. This class always wants to match up with the rich in style and fashion and spend much for this reason. Vanity Fair also informs them about the new releases of product line from the leading designers and brands. “The upper middle class is considered professionals who earn either $62,000 a year per person, or have a household income of $100,000”(Ciotta,2010). Lower – Middle Class : Weekly World News Lower – middle class are those which are relatively poorer than elite and upper middle class people. They lead a normal life and earn enough to get along with life. They don’t follow a lavish style of living and only has income which is on moderate level. “If you break American households into fifths and reason that the second-lowest fifth is the lower-middle class, you would find their lower income limit is $18,000 a year”(Chinni,2005). This class is the ones who perform the blue collar jobs and has a tendency to keep them informed of the current happenings and events in the world. They are less conscious about fashion trends, business and financial updates. They prefer magazines like Weekly World News which write about the world affairs and International news. “The Weekly World News” was launched almost as an afterthought. It was a news-of-the-weird offshoot of “The National Enquirer”(Feldman,2008).It is a tabloid which gives a good amount of information on the activities going around the globe. People with blue collar job like to read international news as it keeps them well informed about current affairs. Such magazines give overall view of economic and social status of the globe. The lower income class with limited income does not want a magazine which would increase their spending .They read just to keep themselves informed about changes in budgets and other news related to their day to day living. Working Class: Cosmopolitan “The great majority of Americans form the working class. They are skilled and unskilled, in manufacturing and in services, men and women of all races, nationalities and religions”(Zweig,2000,Pg.3 ).This class has a limited source of income and prefers to spend on low priced reading magazines and books. Cosmopolitan is one such magazine which caters to their need as it covers widely on fashion, lifestyle and relationship. This class does not find ample time to spend on reading as they have more industrious life style .Cosmopolitan magazine give them good suggestion as to how to improve health and relationship which of much importance to them. It is a magazine which provide information to the young and middle aged women and men all advice about career and relationship issue. This magazine also cover about the lifestyles and relationships of the celebrity and social figures This appeals much to the working class as they always look upon entertainment and glamorous people. For them glamour is an exquisite thing and a matter more of dream. Cosmopolitan renders tips and advices on how to be successful in relationship and always have articles of relationship mending and sorting out marital problems. The other reason they choose cosmopolitan is that it is of an affordable price and also delivers to the simple needs of the working class. As they are people less educated and live on low wages they always look in for things with less expenditure. “In American popular culture, working-class people are often portrayed as losers”(Symonds,2008). Poor Class : TV Guide Poor class is that group of people who have relatively very less income and survive on a limited means. “Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of "poor" persons in the U.S. In 2005, the Bureau found 37 million "poor" Americans” (Rector, 2004). This class is more focused on the basic needs of life like food, shelter and house. They don’t buy a magazine to take tips on fashion or beauty .They spend most of their time watching television as most of them are less educated. They have less knowledge about reading sources and have passion more of watching television soaps and programs. So a magazine like TV Guide is their best friend as it published all news related to television industry. It has information about the programs being telecasted and all about television celebrities. They read magazine mostly as leisure activity and give less importance in following the content in the books. “TV viewing in poorer households harms those kids reading abilities and habits. They thus do less reading throughout school and so have less access to the primary (although far from the only) source of knowledge”(William,1995).This shows how much influence television has on families of poor class. So they obviously have more attachment to magazines which educate them about television programs and personalities. Television is the main source of entertainment for this class as they cannot afford other entertainment options like theatres and shopping. They struggle to live and tend to spend more on food and other basic amenities. So TV guide is one which sparks interest in them as they are TV addicted people. Work Cited Ciotta, J. (2010) Upper Middle Class Paying for College Tuition. Retrieved july 20,2010, from http://college-financial-aid.suite101.com/article.cfm/upper-middle-class-paying-for-college-tuition Cunningham, P.A. (2003). Reforming Womens Fashion. Kent: The Kent State University press, Chinni, D. (2005) One more Social Security quibble: Who is middle class?. Retrieved July 19,2010, from http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0510/p09s01-codc.html Feldman, E. (2008) Article Weekly World News . Retrieved July 20,2010, from http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Weekly_World_News/ Kendall, D. (2007). Sociology in Our Time. California: Wadsworth Rector, R. (2004) Understanding Poverty in America. Retrieved July 20,2010, from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/01/understanding-poverty-in-america - Schlimmer, S. (2007) Forbes Magazine Review. Retrieved july 20,2010, from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/202592/forbes_magazine_review.html?cat=3 Symonds, P. (2008) Stereotyping the Working Class. Retrieved July 19,2010, from http://workingclassstudies.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/stereotyping-the-working-class/ Williams, T.M. (1995) The Impact of Television: A Natural Experiment in Three Communities. Retrieved July 20,2010, from http://world.std.com/~jlr/comment/tv_impact.htm . Zweig, M. (2000). The Working Class Majority. Newyork: Cornell University Press. . Read More