snobby white chicks

This post was contributed by Nari Kim from this fall's introductory sociology class. This post was later cross-posted to The Sociological Cinema.

In this clip from the movie White Chicks, FBI agents, Kevin and Marcus (played by Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans), pick up the Vandergeld twins whom they are to supposed to protect. The sisters (played by Brittany Daniel and Jaime KIng) are white, young, and rich, as shown through their consumption of expensive goods such as private jet and designer clothes. Upon meeting, one sister demeans the agents by declaring “we already gave to the United Negro Fund.” Taken a bit back, the agents explain that they are supposed to drive them to their destination and protect them while there. In response, the women throw their bags at the agents and order them to clean up their dog's mess. As they get situated in the car, Marcus is surprised to discover that he is relegated to the cargo area as his seat is reserved for the dog. While driving, the women further bask in their privilege, noting that this isn't just “a” week, but “the” week at the Hamptons, and that only the "hottest of the hottest" (i.e., themselves) will be on the cover of the local magazine, detailing the lives of the rich and famous. In all, the twins make no effort to disguise their assumption of superiority to the agents by virtue of race and class. This clip would serve to humorously introduce any of several important stratification-relevant concepts, including status inequality, white privilege, and conspicuous consumption. 

news censorship and the Koch brothers

This post was contributed by Rene Gonzalez from this fall's undergrad social stratification class. This post was later cross-posted to The Sociological Cinema.

While watching an episode of the HBO series, The Newsroom, I was impressed by a scene which effectively captured how people in high-ranking institutional positions may exercise their incredibly great power (the display video is limited to a lead-in joke, see the whole scene here). The clip illustrates how raw power serving vested interests can affect what is communicated to the masses as news. In this case, the owner of the media corporation (Leona played by Jane Fonda) is demanding that news division president, Charlie (Sam Waterston), straighten out the lead anchor, Will (played by Jeff Daniels), because of Will's efforts to report how big business has taken over the Tea Party. She specifically threatens to fire Will if he continues to follow the story.

Art often imitates life, and notice that Leona references the Koch brothers in her tirade, and indeed they were targets of Will in this episode and another during 2012 (see this Wall Street Journal piece for criticism of the show's "Koch-kicking," and this AFL-CIO story for an opposite take). Also see how life imitates art as evident in this Salon.com article detailing the Koch brothers' efforts to censor public television programming. (Plans to produce a full-length documentary, Citizen Corp, which in part critically examined their political activities, were scrapped after the brothers threatened to withhold major funding from PBS. Nevertheless, the filmmakers were still able to raise enough money to complete the film, and then distribute it as Citizen Koch through theaters.)

gentrification in east Austin

This post was contributed by Rene Gonzalez from this fall's undergrad social stratification class. This post was later cross-posted to The Sociological Cinema.

Gentrification radically transformed my neighborhood. Growing up in and around east Austin, I have experienced first-hand the changes that can occur within an area over a mere decade. As a child, I visited family members throughout east Austin. All of us are Latino, and everybody not only knew everyone else, but also where they lived. Now as the city rapidly grows, many in my family are being forced by rising property taxes to sell their homes. These homes are primarily being bought up by young, affluent, white real-estate developers, who are scrapping such dwellings and doing complete renovations in order to attract young, affluent, white occupants. 

I have seen Boyz N the Hood many times, but the scene featured above really stood out to me after our class discussion. Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne) takes his son, Trey, and a friend to a nearby neighborhood where a billboard has just been put up offering to buy-up homes. Furious explains the specifics of how the property values in a neighborhood are brought down, while the land is bought out and sold for big profit. He also notes that this could be prevented if residents maintained solidarity by retaining black ownership.

Placing gentrification into a larger historical context, this clip from the Broadway play, Clybourne Park  features a mix of humorous scenes that collectively illustrate salient attitudes and behaviors accompanying neighborhood succession over time: residential areas that were once white and middle class in composition transformed through white flight into those with predominately black working-class and poor populations, and then ultimately with gentrification, back into white upscale neighborhoods. See also this recent piece featuring Spike Lee, arguing that gentrification reveals government racism in the provision of far better public facilities and services to an area once it is gentrified. 

prestige in pink

This post was contributed by Jackie Davila from this fall's undergrad social stratification course. This post was later cross-posted to The Sociological Cinema. 

The movie Pretty in Pink centers on a budding romance between Andie and Blane. Andie is from the “wrong side of the tracks,” and lives with her father, a down-and-out kind of guy whom she continually urges to get a decent job. However, she is a refreshing, free-spirit counterpoint to Blane, a “richie” who drives a fancy car, throws cool parties, dates the popular girls, and lives in a big house with well-manicured lawn. Her social status is obviously inferior to his, making this intimate teen encounter one that is complicated by not only social inequality, but by social exclusion and rejection, as well.

At school, Blane takes a shine to Andie. But given that both are expected to hang out with their own kind, they soon encounter resistance from friends and associates. In this scene, Andie confronts Blane on his denying to others that they are a dating couple. Andie knows he is embarrassed to be seen with her, but she nevertheless confronts him openly in the hallway during the school day. Although the scene suggests that all is over for the couple, they soon rekindle their romance when they later cross paths at the prom.

Interestingly, the book upon which the movie is based had Andie winding up at the prom with a selfless, working-class boy who had loved Andie all along. However, according to the movie's wikipedia entry, the ending for the movie was changed to reflect test-audience preference for Andie with Blane, underlining the cultural ideal that "true love conquers all."  

Love thwarted by prestige differences resonates strongly as a trope in contemporary popular culture as is evident in movies such as Pretty Woman, and in one of my favorites, The Notebook, wherein the rich guy/poor gal is reversed as Noah, a simple country boy, falls hard for heiress, Allie. Showing the above clip from Pretty in Pink, or one from The Notebook (e.g. this scene) would work well as a discussion-starter in any course that addresses the social context of intimate relationships.

from Jose to Joe = job search success

The following post was contributed by Laurie Gleason, student in my Fall, 2014 Social Stratification class.                                               
With the ongoing concern over illegal immigration, Hispanics still find themselves routinely overlooked for decent jobs, regardless of their citizenship status. Many Americans feel immigrants serve a "worthwhile" purpose by taking unskilled labor positions like field work or housekeeping--backbreaking, under-compensated work which most Americans feel is beneath them.

Cate Matthews in a recent Huffington Post article describes José Zamora's futile attempts to obtain gainful employment until he Americanized his name. As José, he claims he did not receive a single inquiry, despite placing as many as 100 applications per day. However, "Joe," sporting the same résumé, received job offers from the exact same companies shortly after he applied. 

In this modern age, where applications are submitted online, does a person's name become the simple key for unlocking the door to a decent job? The video "Jose vs. Joe" clearly relates to the larger question of the continuing role of status ascription as critical for achievement in societies, such as ours, that purport to be meritocracies. 

Students interested in exploring this issue further should address research that has been done in this area, such as the Bertrand and Mullainathan study conducted over a decade ago that is now a classic.   

critiques of labels

This post was contributed by Ayanna Allen,student in my Fall, 2014, Social Stratification class. This post was later cross-posted to The Sociological Cinema.

I had to watch Stayceyann Chin’s video several times before her message began resonating within me. She critiques the notion that we must side with one group over another, arguing that we need to have a sense of understanding about each other that transcends differences. She does a phenomenal job in challenging the common claim that "if you are not for us, you are against us.” She well articulates that we miss the beauty of our being by living in fear of ridicule, and when "people get scared enough, they pick a team" that may satisfy others, but not themselves. Our need to box-in and stereotype what we cannot understand or agree with only limits our ability to see each other as common creatures.

Child star, Raven Symone makes a similar point in her adamant denial about the personal relevance of labels (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXAho8vlmAI). Oprah warns her during the interview that she will get push-back for doing this, and she indeed did receive significant adverse publicity in claiming the she is neither lesbian nor black/African-American. Such reactions to a pronouncement from a person who seems before her time, from a generation that believes they are ahead of their time, indicate how uncomfortable people are when group labels are deemed irrelevant for establishing personal identity. It also suggests associated questions, including: What is wrong about failing to identify as either black/African-American or lesbian? Does it betray those who are otherwise like her, but who do see themselves as belonging to such categories? Moreover, are we truly free to be individuals, even in a society held to promote the value of individual autonomy?

Of course, Stayceyann and Raven are not the first to renounce labels, and they will certainly not be the last. And it may well be impossible to rid ourselves of labels, but in my opinion it is not ridiculous to believe that every person has a basic right to define themselves and where they want to fit into society without being persecuted.

I wanted to share these videos because they strongly challenge the substance of what much of social stratification seems to be about. They offer the refreshing counterpoint that humans are dynamic, evolving beings, rather than “social types” who can be easily defined, sorted into categories, and kept in “their place.”

poverty in Japan

This post was contributed by Carol Walden and Earl Venne, students in my undergraduate social stratification class.

Hidefumi Ito was an art gallery director, selling high-priced items to the richest people in the world. The economic recession quickly killed the business and his job. Ito lived in a five-bedroom house and owned two cars, an incredible level of financial wealth in space-starved Japan. He lost his home in months to bankruptcy. Disgraced, his wife divorced him and now his three children won’t speak to him (Lah, 2009).  

Due to his extreme downward mobility, Ito faced several dilemmas including the loss of side bets. He lost his family, his house, and vehicles. Additionally, Ito’s identity stake was challenged; he lost his place in society and is no longer able to convince others that he is who and what he once claimed to be (Schwalbe, 2008).  

Many individuals in Ito’s position reside at night hotels, such as Tsukasa which costs about 20 USD per night. The net rooms are small closet-sized spaces of about 100 square feet. The rooms are designed for the unemployed in the sense of having a computer and an internet connection. Several companies have jumped into the market and are taking advantage of the economic turmoil and the huge profits to be made off them. Net rooms like those of Su Casa are always at maximum capacity.

In today's Japan, staffing agencies are on the rise, and corporations are less likely to employ full-timers than ever before. In an economy where there is a much greater supply of workers than there is demand for them, this type of action by employers no doubt causes employees to fear for their jobs, given the fact they can be quickly replaced by temps. It may also contribute to the lesser likelihood that employees will blow the whistle on unfair or unsafe employment practices. Given the poor job situation, only one-third of college graduates are now able to find work.  

The crash of the economy and resulting downward mobility for many also have exacerbated suicide. Government statistics indicate that 30,707 people committed suicide in Japan in 2009, with the largest numbers between the ages of 45 to 65. The Aokigahara Forest at the base of Mt Fuji has earned the nickname "suicide forest." Another favorite place is the Cliffs of Tojimbo, where volunteers patrol the area to keep people from diving off. The suicide rate is currently 24 per 100,000 people, the second highest in the world. According to public-health researcher Yutaka Motohashi, suicides today are strongly linked to unemployment and bank-loan request rejections. The government has been running campaigns on television to educate people about depression and suicide, but suicide is still seen by many Japanese as the honorable way out (Motohashi, 2012). 

References

Lah, K. (2009, February 27). Net rooms boom with Japan’s jobless. Retrieved July 7, 2014, from 

http://chaosmonster.blogspot.com/2009/02/net-rooms-boom-with-japans-jobless.html 

Motohashi, Y. (April, 2012). Suicide in Japan. Lancet, 379, 1283. Retrieved from http://211.144.68.84:9998/91keshi/Public/File/36/379-9823/pdf/1-s2.0-S0140673611611306-main.pdf

Schwalbe, M. (2008). Rigging the game: How inequality is reproduced in everyday life. New York: Oxford University Press.

rise of the catladies

This post was contributed by Calandra Silvestro, UTSA student in SOC 3013, Social Stratification.

As a child, I remember hearing the term "catlady.” I thought, until recently, this referred to a woman who was an empty-nester; she was alone since her children had left. Today, it appears the word means you never had any children, you just have cats.

Having children is a choice; just like any other choice. Would someone look down on you if you decided never to eat out? That’s also just a normal choice. Sometimes it’s a smart decision to wait and have children when you are more settled and established. Some women don’t want to have children until they are successful. Some may want to finish school and get a decent job that pays the bills and can also take care of a family. Also, children are- very expensive (according to the video, in 2011, the cost of raising a child until the age of 18 was $234,900 on average); they also need to be cared for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

The article “Check your ‘Cat-Lady’ Preconceptions About Childless Women” suggests new thinking about childless women. It appears more women are choosing not to have children. The birth rate dropped to 8% in 2010. 1 in 5 women, ages 40-45 choose not to have children. This number has doubled since 1976. This article also mentions that some women who decide not to have children have very fulfilling lives. Radhika Jones, the executive editor of Time Magazine says in the video “different opportunities come up and you start to realize that you have different fulfilling and rewarding relationships that maybe don’t involve you being a mother”.

“If you want to be successful in your career, don’t have children”, says Kristen Houghton, in her article “Why (Most) Successful Women are Childless.”.  She addresses both sides: having children and not having children. Houghton says about working, “whether in the corporate, financial, or even artistic realms, to reach the top in your career requires a single-minded drive, dedication and passion.” If you decide to become a mother, you won’t have this drive and passion for working as you would for your children. Houghton also states, “The truth is that most women who have achieved professional success have chosen not to have children”. Houghton references an article titled “In Corporate America, Still a Struggle for Female Execs”. This article mentions several big companies and how many “women on board” and “women named executives” they have.

Women who have children are 44% less likely to be hired and are paid $11,000 less than women without children, according to Kelly Hagan, who wrote the article titled ‘New Study Shows That Childless Women Succeed More Than Mothers in the Workplace”. This study (that found the 44%) was done in 2005 by Cornell University.  Hagan mentions the study in her article. According to Hagan, men’s incomes rise to 75% more than a women’s income 15 years after they finished college, even if they had the same income and worked the same number of hours after finishing college.

I am still not quite sure if having children or not having children affects women’s hiring or not. I understand why some companies would not want to hire a woman with children. Children need care and they take up a lot of time. Some companies might need you to travel and if you have children that might be a problem. Also, most work places don’t want you to take time off. What happens if your child gets sick or has an appointment? You would have to take time off for that. Also, women would have to take maternity leave. I can certainly see both sides. Some women just have that motherly instinct and have always wanted to be a mother and some have passion and drive for a certain career.

References

Hagan, K. (2010, August 22). New study shows that childless women succeed more than mothers in the workplace. Retrieved June 18, 2014, from ABC website: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/JobClub/study-shows-childless-women-succeed-mothers-worplace/story?id=11448102

Houghton, K. (2013, April 15). Why (most) successful women are childless. Retrieved June 18, 2014, from Huffington Post website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristen-houghton/childless_b_2630389.html

Mclntyre, D. (2011, August 22). In corporate America, still a struggle for female execs. Retrieved June 18, 2014, from Daily Finance website:: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/08/22/in-corporate-america-still-a-struggle-for-female-execs/

Wallace, K. (2014, June 5). Check your 'cat-lady' preconceptions about childless women. Retrieved June 18, 2014, from CNN website: http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/05/living/childless-women-misperceptions/index.html?hpt=li_c2

faces of hope

This post was contributed by SOC 3013 student, Jessica Raasch.

Before becoming employed at Haven for Hope, my thoughts about the homeless population were pretty much like those of the average American. I firmly believed that we are fully responsible for ourselves, and that if we worked hard, we would get what we wanted out of life. The homeless were therefore likely deficient in important ways as human beings. Since working with Haven for Hope, I have come to see that homeless people, like all other people, defy easy stereotypes. If nothing else, the above video asks us to see the homeless population as comprised of real people who have confronted incredibly difficult life challenges. It illustrates that those without housing are not of one race, sex, personality type, or common story. In these tough times, for example, one could lose a job and soon be out on the street, or living on the street might be far better than continuing to live in an abusive home. Those in the video admit to the world the mistakes they have made, but also suggest the compassion, empowerment, and transition brought in their lives.

rape in the fields

The following post was contributed by SOC 3193 student, Roxana Guerrero.

Rape in the Fields addresses the experiences of immigrant farm-worker women who have been raped by their supervisors. These women come to the United States with hopes of a better life for themselves and their families, and they are mainly undocumented. They risk much to cross the border, and the risk of losing their jobs and being deported makes speaking out about this crime extremely difficult. Although so ashamed, they also fear reprisal so much that they may continue to bear repeated assault.

Most of the U.S.-grown food we eat has been touched by women like these who work long, difficult hours for poverty wages. Field labor is physically hard and exposes workers to dangerous equipment and the elements, as well as pesticides. These hazards and hardships are compounded by criminal victimization. Female workers endure sexual coercion and are consistently in fear. Their supervisors see them as easy, disposable targets. There are always more women behind them desperate for work. The value of machismo tends to amplify the problem. Men dominate women, and women are submissive to men. This leads men to see women as objects they can use whenever they want without a thought to their feelings.

My father supervised many undocumented immigrants years ago in the orange groves across the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. He typically had about fifteen people working for him. Most were men, but wives often worked alongside them. I told him about this documentary and asked him if he knew of instances in which women were assaulted or harassed while on the job. He told me that he could see how assault could happen. Orange groves are often located on the outskirts of town, isolated from the population, and stretching for miles on end.  If she yelled at all, a woman’s cry for help would be hard to hear. Many women in these jobs were in such need that they would have endured almost anything. The fact that only a few women spoke out is not hard to believe. Although my dad said he never witnessed such behavior, he did say he heard verbal abuse at times that would lead to scuffles between men.

This documentary helps to give voice to women all over the country who fall victim to assault at the hands of their bosses. Obviously, all women, documented or undocumented, should have the right to work without fear of harassment or violence. At present, the only federal agency that is pursuing this problem is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Victims are reluctant to come forward, but as they do, this will empower others to do the same. I admire these women for their strength and courage, and hope that more will be done to protect them should they continue to labor in the fields.

super rich kids

Frank Ocean - Super Rich Kids from dustin sussman on Vimeo.
This post was contributed by SOC 3013 student, Brittany Nicole Cannan.

In my opinion, Frank Ocean is one of the best rap artists of our time. He recently came out with an album, Channel Orange, and "Super Rich Kids" is one of its feature songs. I've posted the lyrics below along with the video so you can better visualize what he is saying. The song is a play on children who grow up in families with lots of money, but with parents who are neglectful due to over-involvement with careers. These kids then are often unsupervised and have plenty of time to mess around. I really relate to this as much of my childhood and teen years was also spent at home alone, and although I didn't get into too much trouble, plenty of other children in my neighborhood did. There were parties thrown every weekend, kids getting arrested, and cops always seemed to be circling the neighborhood. This song includes drug references as well, such as "too many bowls of that green, no lucky charms" and "too many white lies and white lines." In all, Ocean provides vivid insights about some of the struggles facing children who grow up in otherwise privileged homes.

Too many bottles of this wine we can’t pronounce
Too many bowls of that green, no Lucky Charms
The maids come around too much
Parents ain’t around enough
Too many joy rides in daddy’s Jaguar
Too many white lies and white lines
Super rich kids with nothing but loose ends
Super rich kids with nothing but fake friends
[Verse 1: Frank Ocean]
Start my day up on the roof
There’s nothing like this type of view
Point the clicker at the tube
I prefer expensive news
New car, new girl
New ice, new glass
New watch, good times babe
It's good times, yeah
She wash my back three times a day
This shower head feels so amazing
We’ll both be high, the help don’t stare
They just walk by, they must don’t care
A million one, a million two
A hundred more will never do
[Refrain]
[Bridge]
Real love, I’m searching for a real love
Real love, I’m searching for a real love
Oh, real love
[Verse 2: Earl Sweatshirt]
Close your eyes to what you can't imagine
We are the xany-gnashing
Caddy-smashing, bratty ass
He mad, he snatched his daddy's Jag
And used the shit for batting practice
Adam and Annie thrashing
Purchasing crappy grams with half the hand of cash you handed
Panic and patch me up
Pappy done latch-keyed us
Toying with Raggy Anns and Mammy done had enough
Brash as fuck, breaching all these aqueducts
Don’t believe us
Treat us like we can’t erupt, yup
[Alternate Verse 2: Frank Ocean]
Polo sweats and Hermes blankets
Them label hoes be stealing my shit
And all they clothes revealing they tits
Pills, high enough to touch the rim in that bitch
We party in my living room
Cause father is gone
And he left me this empire
That runs on its own
So all I got to do is whatever the fuck I want
All we ever do is whatever the fuck we want
[Verse 3: Frank Ocean]
We end our day up on the roof
I say I’ll jump, I never do
But when I’m drunk I act a fool
Talking bout, do they sew wings on tailored suits
I’m on that ledge, she grabs my arm
She slaps my head
It's good times, yeah
Sleeve rips off, I slip, I fall
The market's down like 60 stories
And some don’t end the way they should
My silver spoon has fed me good
A million one, a million cash
Close my eyes and feel the crash
[Refrain]
[Outro]
Real love, ain't that something rare
I’m searching for a real love, talking bout real love
Real love yeah
Real love
I’m searching for a real love

Talking bout a real love

austerity versus possibility

This post was contributed by SOC 3013 student, Rebekah Miller. 

Austerity is supposed to be a miracle fix for the economy, but the promises made when cuts are proposed often do not come true. Political power goes hand in hand with those holding the most money. When political control is concentrated among a small elite, austerity programs will likely work against the masses, and particularly those classes with the least power. 

This short video by Workers Uniting summarizes the issues that working-class and poor people are now facing across the country: lowered wages, unemployment, and welfare cuts. Canadian economist Armine Yalnizyan makes a statement at 4:41, "You can't cut your way into growth..." She later refers to these cuts being made as a "fiscal fantasy"--that cutting programs will magically solve budget deficits and help redistribute wealth. This logic is a bit backwards. If it were this easy to solve economic problems, would it be right to cut those programs that assist our "have-not" citizens? At 7:07 Robert Kuttner suggests that we end politics that bring austerity, and elect those who will bring "possibility". Government needs to find alternatives to grow the economy, and in turn slash deficits without cutting programs that help the under-represented 99%.

color grading

This blog post was contributed by Tichana Griffith, student in Miller's SOC 3013 class. 

I wanted to share this video with the class because the topic was not touched on a lot over the semester. The video addresses skin-color preferences, among a number of concerns related to racial identity. Despite the late-1960's Black Power claim that "black is beautiful," even today black teen girls still seem to believe that light skin is better than dark skin. This idea appears to have been prevalent since slavery when lighter blacks were given preference and permitted to work inside slave-owners' dwellings, while those who were darker remained outside to toil at hard labor in the fields. This video brings me to question actual changes in racial identity. Do we black Americans today really see our blackness in ways that radically oppose traditional racist definitions, or do we just think we do?

For a similar discussion about skin-color preference, see this clip from Dark Girls.