Wednesday, 8 December 2010

Typical Representation of Different Social Groups


Upper Class
In social society, Upper Class is the group of people that are represented as being on top of the social hierarchy. They have the jobs that require the greatest levels of skill and grant the highest rewards, and are generally the most respected. However, as much respect as they receive, they are mostly disliked by the middle and working classes because of their general attitudes which seem too greedy and seem to show little respect to those less fortunate. Because of this their class is mostly exiled from society, though this is mostly their decision.

Middle Class
Those in the Middle Class are considered to be in the middle of the social hierarchy. They have jobs which are more highly recognised than those of the working class but do not earn close to as much as someone in the Upper Class. For example, a supervisor to an IT firm would be considered a Middle Class job as it comes with a generally large salary and some level of respect. As a social group they are considered to be fortunate enough to have moderately expensive possessions in their home and on them while they travel, and would be expected to live in a relatively nice area.

Working Class
The class which a person belongs to is determined not only by the way in which they behave but also the skill requirements for their job. A working class individual is one which pursues a career in a low skill requirement job e.g. Bus Driver, Shop Assistant etc. Their earnings are also considerably lower than the other classes. They are represented to take less care of themselves and generally behave in a less classy way. For example, if a person is dressed in dirty clothing and they have poor table manners, the viewer would immediately assume they are lower class.