Many of us judge other people because of their class status because we have learned and picked up on it from our surrounding society, economy, and community. Many of us do not think before judging others because often times it come naturally because we are so immune to it. Some of our families could have instilled this quality in us, and the schools we have attended could have also; many times this happens without the people doing it notice what they're saying or doing. It is sad that we live in a society that relies so much on class status to understand a person and form an idea of their life. Just because someone is dressed a certain way, or drives a certain car does not put them in a specific class. Many people drive very expensive cars and are in knee deep debt. There are also many people who have a lot of money that drive average cars, because they are not spending all their money to end up in debt. We cannot judge a book by its cover, and most certainly cannot distinguish what class a person is in by glancing at them for a second. Though I say this, I understand at times we all participate in this act because like I said, we are immune to it and often times we do it unconsciously. Our society needs to be less judgmental when it comes to class status, and determining a person's life by it. Parents, school educators/staff, and every and all important figures in children's lives need to practice being nonjudgmental about class status. If we can do this, there is a good chance that we can create a generation that is less judgmental. You have to get to know a person, have a conversation with a person, and spend a large amount of time with someone to really determine who they are behind their "class status image/reputation" that many of people have established for each and every one of us.
The topics this article touches on are incredibly interesting to me and are quite important in the grand scheme of things. While I have been aware of the clear correlations between socioeconomic status and education, health, earnings and other quality of life measures, I had never previously considered the effect of class on motherhood. The article's claim that working class mothers are not afforded the same luxuries- hired childcare, house cleaning, the ability to stay home- as middle class mothers. Forced to work, often holding more than one job at a time, poor and working class mothers are forced to go about the process of parenting in much different ways. I wonder if the "non-traditional" mothering strategies necessitated by poor or working class life have anything to do with the typically lower academic performance of the poor and working classes as compared to the middle class. If so, this is just another case of many facets of society colliding and interacting in meaningful and important ways.
I have to agree with the statements above. It never occurred to me that socioeconomic barriers and boundaries would have such a pronounced effect on children and the process by which mothers raise their children. It would be interesting to see, fifteen years down the line, what the children turned out like.
Many of us judge other people because of their class status because we have learned and picked up on it from our surrounding society, economy, and community. Many of us do not think before judging others because often times it come naturally because we are so immune to it. Some of our families could have instilled this quality in us, and the schools we have attended could have also; many times this happens without the people doing it notice what they're saying or doing. It is sad that we live in a society that relies so much on class status to understand a person and form an idea of their life. Just because someone is dressed a certain way, or drives a certain car does not put them in a specific class. Many people drive very expensive cars and are in knee deep debt. There are also many people who have a lot of money that drive average cars, because they are not spending all their money to end up in debt. We cannot judge a book by its cover, and most certainly cannot distinguish what class a person is in by glancing at them for a second. Though I say this, I understand at times we all participate in this act because like I said, we are immune to it and often times we do it unconsciously. Our society needs to be less judgmental when it comes to class status, and determining a person's life by it. Parents, school educators/staff, and every and all important figures in children's lives need to practice being nonjudgmental about class status. If we can do this, there is a good chance that we can create a generation that is less judgmental. You have to get to know a person, have a conversation with a person, and spend a large amount of time with someone to really determine who they are behind their "class status image/reputation" that many of people have established for each and every one of us.
ReplyDeleteThe topics this article touches on are incredibly interesting to me and are quite important in the grand scheme of things. While I have been aware of the clear correlations between socioeconomic status and education, health, earnings and other quality of life measures, I had never previously considered the effect of class on motherhood. The article's claim that working class mothers are not afforded the same luxuries- hired childcare, house cleaning, the ability to stay home- as middle class mothers. Forced to work, often holding more than one job at a time, poor and working class mothers are forced to go about the process of parenting in much different ways. I wonder if the "non-traditional" mothering strategies necessitated by poor or working class life have anything to do with the typically lower academic performance of the poor and working classes as compared to the middle class. If so, this is just another case of many facets of society colliding and interacting in meaningful and important ways.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the statements above. It never occurred to me that socioeconomic barriers and boundaries would have such a pronounced effect on children and the process by which mothers raise their children. It would be interesting to see, fifteen years down the line, what the children turned out like.
ReplyDelete