News that isn't new.

Date: 7 Jan 2013 04:11 pm (UTC)
outlier_lynn: (Default)
From: [personal profile] outlier_lynn
Spin, though, seems to be the new "knowledge."

It has been observed for years that only a tiny number of people can "work hard and get ahead" in America (or any place else). Class is alive and well in the US, but is hidden behind our "Land of Opportunity" rhetoric and class stereotypes.

A study that started out being about the status of divorced women that I read many, many years ago in college reached these conclusions:

1. A tiny fraction of the population might start poor and achieve wealth in America but their sociological class will not have improved more than a step or two above those people who most resemble them in culture. Wealth is not the same as class.

2. It is exceedingly difficult to move up in class and very easy to move down. The barriers to upward mobility is based on culture, race, gender, religion, etc., while the path to lower class is greased by any "fall from grace." Hence in 1975(ish) a newly divorced woman would dramatically lose both wealth and class standing while her newly divorced husband would lose neither. Regardless of who asked for the divorce and under what circumstances, public opinion was much harder on divorced women. (I don't see a lot of change in this.)

3. If one is stereotyped as lazy or intellectually challenged and still achieves wealth and academic honors, it will be seen as a fluke, as illicit, or undeserved (affirmative action). No class advancement.

Education certainly isn't a ticket to upward mobility. To move up, one must exhibit those traits and have the appearance that is the cultural norm for the high class.

People who are not "expected" to move up the ladder will find university a stressful place to be. One of the best examples of this is one almost never talked about and is nearly universal: The dumb jock. A world class athlete who is also at the top of his class in academic standing will still be seen as a dumb jock by many. Especially if the sport is football. This seems less true for female athletes -- maybe because they don't play football.
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