Week Seven: Social Class

While I wish social class meant nothing, I think it does mean a lot in the U.S. today. It means a lot only because it really can effect the way you life your day to day life. As we can see from Karen's story on the website she moved around a lot from her father being in the military, and her social status changed with each move. When they lived in an area where her fathers job status was rare her family was looked at as a high status family, and she enjoyed going to a country club with other rich families. When they moved to an area where many people had the same kind of job as her father, she became average, and this made her almost resent her family background. This means that ultimately her social status effected her personal relationship with her family and how she felt about herself. While this seems pretty shallow and sad it is also true. Most anyone who comes from a lower income family will feel this type of need to do better. The want for more is human nature in some ways. People are always trying to "keep up with the Jones's."