These are a Different Class of People: They Don't Have Lettuce in Their Salads

In class last week, we watched a video detailing social class and stratification within the U.S. Social stratification is nothing more than the division of a population into separate classes (e.g. lower, middle, upper). In the U.S., class, and thus the brightline for stratification, is predominantly based off of income and prestige: income being the amount of currency earned and prestige being the "value" or "worth" of a job. For example, a doctor is held in high prestige simply because he or she is a doctor. Some, such as Davis and Moore, have argued that stratification is inevitable: certain positions must be filled; some positions are more important than others; most important positions must be filled by most qualified; and money motivates people to other positions; however, discussing the inevitability or non-necessity of stratification is not the aim of this post. Instead, I will look to the behavior and views of the different social classes displayed in the video.

The most predominant dichotomy between the upper and lower class, I found, was what determined if you were upper class. Lower class, or even middle class, individuals seemed to constantly say, "money, money, money," or that the upper class was born into their social position. The upper class, however, seemed to think there was something ethereal about it. They would say something along the lines of manners or some personal attribute that enabled them to reach the highest rung of the social latter. This polarity of view points is important; when the lower class state that it is money that makes a person upper class, it ceases to be a personal matter. It is not a personal characteristic that makes you "better" than another person but the amount of currency you have. Money, a social construction with no inherent value, leads to access of another social construction: social class. By the viewpoint of a lower class individual, there is no "real" difference between people in separate social class, but society deemed it so. The lower class view differs greatly from the upper class point of view in that class is an individual matter. If it were merely and individual matter, there would have to be some difference in the "worth" of people, and that the upper class are the most "worthy," because they possess the characteristics necessary to be on top of the social hierarchy.

One other facet of the movie that I found interesting was the discussion of white bread: as you go up in social class, you are less likely to eat white bread and instead, opt for the more natural whole wheat bread. The upper class views the bread as healthier and better tasting than white bread; the lower class views natural wheat bread as "uppity" and prefers the cheap white bread. It was interesting that something so trivial, such as what bread you eat, plays into social class. I have, at one point, experienced this for myself.

This summer, I was at my house making dinner for myself and a few friends. I was at my mom's house in Logan, whom happens to be a doctor (my dad is also a college professor, if you want to get a better idea of my social class). I have a wide variety of friends: some in a lower social class than I and some in the same class. My friend Edward, whom belongs in the same class as I do, was there, but so was my friend, Larin, and his cousin, Mikey. To paint a picture, Edward has been known to spend $70 on cheese; Larin plans on going into the military, dropped out of high school during sophomore year, and chews tobacco about every day. The dinner I was cooking wasn't anything fancy: some bratwursts and a salad. The salad, however, was made out of corn, avocado, basil, and some grape tomatoes. Mikey had never seen a salad like this, and Larin had to explain to him, "These are a different class of people: they don't have lettuce in their salads." I thought it was humorous at first, and I still do, but until then, and again when watching this movie, I had not considered the differences in cuisine among different social classes.

I find it interesting that the video we watched seems to hint that different classes never mix. I personally have not experienced this in my personal life as a lot of my friends come from all over the social spectrum, but I could see the propensity for people to stick to "their own." If the elitism presented in the film is true, I find it no wonder that such dichotomies as cuisine, education, and individual worth can arise between classes: the upper class always needs to be a step ahead, while the lower class just wants to be.