Media representations of Class and Status

How is it represented in the media ?

Social class and status is often exaggerated and stereotyped in the media to keep audience interest, after all nobody would watch if their was no drama or someting out of the ordinary.
 
The social class system is described as MERITOCRATIC (where social position is achieved by merit or good work rather than the family you are born into. But the social class you are born into can impact your life goals and achievements meaning the transition for lower classes into higher classes can be very difficult. Most upper class citizens hold their position due to inherited wealth.

Upper class stereotypes

• Snobs
• look down on people
• smart clothes
• older people
•  speak in proper English
•  lawyers
•  high earners
•  public school
• inherited wealth
• own land

The lives of the rich and the jet setting lifestyle of the rich are portrayed as a glamorous world we can only dream about, they are often portrayed as having lavish lifestyles which reinforces the idea that normal people wont enter that class system. The upper class are often shown in period dramas.

 

Examples of the upper class in the media include

The TV drama DOWNTON ABBEY

The drama series Pride and Prejudice

 

 

Middle class stereotypes

• Well paid jobs
•  management
• majority of the taxpayers
•  hard workers for little reward
•  have children
• working families



The middle class are over-represented on TV dramas and situation comedies.

Part of the British newspaper market is specifically aimed at the middle classes and their consumption, tastes and interests, the content of newspapers such as the Daily Mail suggests that journalists believe that the middle classes of middle England are generally anxious about the decline of moral standards in society and that they are proud of their British identity and heritage. 



 

Sitcoms and family dramas represent the middle class strongly. Examples of the middle class in the media include:

 The sitcom My Family

 

 

 The sitcom Mrs Browns Boys

 

 

And the sitcom Outnumbered 

 

Lower class stereotypes

 

• unemployed
• live off benefits
• chavs
• lazy

• live on a housing estate 

The media tend to portray the working class as people who live off the government; they are often over exaggerated to keep audience’s attention , the lower classes are often portrayed in TV dramas or sitcoms. Examples of the lower class in the

Media include:

 

 

 

 The sitcom The Royale Family

 

The sitcom Shameless