I want to begin my paper by defining a few key terms, for I believe they will aid you in understanding the concepts I will discuss hereafter. Social Stratification is the sorting of groups of people based on shared characteristics. Max Weber added that these characteristics are specifically property, power and prestige (Henslin, 2011). It is important to note that there are no individuals in stratification, but that everyone is sorted according to groups.
Status is the position you occupy in society (Henslin, 20011). A concept called ascribed status is the position you occupy at birth. This is based upon your race, birthplace, your parents, etc. It's how you stand socially at birth. For example, Baby Trump would absolutely have more status than Baby John Doe. Achieved status differs in that it’s not given at birth, but earned through life achievements like marriage, money, employment, etc. Although you may improve your achieved status through the acquisition of wealth, prestige, power, etc., you will always be judged on your ascribed status by society. This concept is comfortable and nice-sounding if you’re a person who has a fairly high status, either ascribed or achieved. But what happens when you are the low man on the totem pole?
In the video “2Pac Sociology Lesson”, Tupac states, “I think when there is hopelessness, people revolt”. I believe the hopelessness he is referring to is an inability to change your status in society, whether is be ascribed or achieved. America preaches equality and touts itself as “The land of Opportunity”, but I really don’t believe it is that way for the majority of Americans. We are raised on success stories of the few, those who have gone from “Homeless to Harvard”, like Liz Murray. She was a teenager, born to drug-addicted parents who found herself on the streets. She completed high school in an accelerated program, all while supporting herself and her sister. She was awarded a scholarship for needy children to Harvard and is now a clinical psychologist, counseling people from all walks of life (npr.com). The point I am trying to make is that we hear about the few, but forget about the masses. How many people do you see everyday that fall into that “hopeless” category. How many homeless, impoverished, needy people do you see that will have children who will grow up to be just like them?
Tupac also talks about a situation where he is theoretically singing his way into a hotel room full of food. To me, it sounded like he was paralleling between ascribed and achieved status. Tupac was an entertainer. He grew up a poor, black minority with little ascribed or achieved status. As he began to rap, his success, fame, and fortune grew. He acquired a high, achieved status, especially when compared to members of the group he rose from. But no matter his “power, prestige, or wealth”, Tupac could never change his ascribed status. He would never be stratified with the Kennedys (powerful, white, old money sort of folks). He would always be viewed as a poor, black rapper who happened to find fame. He would never be accepted into that “hotel room full of food” no matter how hard or long he sang outside the door.
The last thing I want to mention is how Tupac describes gender stratification. He said that where he grew up and lived, men treated women as inferior. They often called them explicit names and physically abused them. They had zero respect for women, and treated them as such. I think that gender is a key means of stratification in that being a man already affords you more ascribed status than being a woman. I believe Tupac is saying just this thing. In the video, he mentioned how women often told him he was “too nice” and it would “never work”-statements that blew his mind. I too was stunned, for it occurred to me that if women accept this behavior from men, then whose fault is it that gender is a major means of stratification?
The few concepts I have mentioned in my paper have all dealt with the idea of social stratification and status. Even though Tupac was a rapper, I really believe he (either consciously or unconsciously) understood these. It was interesting that he was able to take a step out of his situation and really see how society is definitively stratified. He realized that there really is no way to change ascribed status, no matter how much you achieve.
Works Cited
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129753532
Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2007. Print.
2Pac Sociology Lesson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s5o7ivNKhg
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