Meghan Young Miss Eaker ENG 1102 26 March 2013

Social Over the years social status has shaped the world we live in today. Whether a person got where they are today through beating others out or by simply being born into a certain family; everyone belongs to a social class, and has a social status. These social statuses and classes are all believed to be perceived in a certain way, but over the years television has altered our perception. When TV sitcoms were first introduced they were all family based and were used as an entertainment system for the whole family to gather together. There were very few channels and all the shows were based around the upper middle-class society to relate to most viewers at the time. But since TV has become a massive production there are TV shows for all ages and TV has become more of a time filler regimen, and the idea of watching TV as a family has disappeared. This leads to TV shows geared toward certain social classes since there are several channels to please all social statuses. The idea of reality TV was then introduced just to please the viewers by putting regular day people on a show to make it even more relatable. Shows such as the Real World and the Biggest Loser are two examples of this booming new genre that now consumes so many Americans views on social class. In the United States, achieved social status is the norm. Achieved status is reaching a certain social status by working really hard and beating others out. Its based on your success, your education, and job. This status is becoming more and more accepted across the globe

Meghan Young Miss Eaker ENG 1102 26 March 2013

because people are shying away from ascribed status and realizing that most people can be anything they want based on achieved status. Dennis Oneil a professional, and sociology researcher writes on North America enforcing achieved status. She states in her article that in the United States, children are taught early on that they can aspire to become anything they want to be if they work hard enough, and dont rely on others to get what you want. She goes on to elaborate that children in America are also taught that no matter their ethnic background, religion, social class or gender, they need to work as hard as possible to become a leader in society (ONeil). What ONeil says in her article supports the idea of achieved status in America, but when relating this to TV, the line between achieved status and ascribed status gets blurry. Shows such as American Idol, and Americas Got Talent encourage children and even adults to chase their dreams through special talents and singing, and that through that a high social status can be achieved. These shows generally show the good side of achieving your goals through hard work, but then you have the show Real Housewives of Beverly Hills where the lives of six wealthy women living in Beverly Hills, California allow their lives to be broadcasted. The moments on this show contain bad language, promiscuity and loads of gossip. Most the women on this show have lived in Beverly Hills their whole lives and the show puts them on a pedestal because of their money. The problem with this is that viewers watching this get a bad representation of achieved status because these women have hardly worked a day in their lives and have just married into money. Through overexposure to bad reality TV people start to

Meghan Young Miss Eaker ENG 1102 26 March 2013

believe that what they are watching is real and thus they believe that the social class characteristics broadcasted on the show are the true characteristics of that class when in most cases that is not true. The book Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture, written by Arthur Berger discusses the cultivation theory. It argues that television takes precedent in the symbolic environment people have and gives them the wrong idea to what things really are. While watching TV, people become completely consumed with what they are watching and believe that what they see is actually how it is. Another conflict he discusses is that since TV shows dont generally depict low income families, people begin to believe that everyone lives in upper-middle class splendor, (Berger 201) While the Cultivation Theory and Arthur Berger argue the point of too much exposure to reality TV can morph your perception of regular environments therefore changing your perspective of most social classes Professor Monica Brasted at Penn State argues that perhaps it is the other way around. Professor Brasted writes in the article Through the Looking Glass: Class and Reality in Television, that a persons social status influences the way they consume cultural products such as television shows. Based on her research she believes that ones social status begins to consume their life and in turn takes over their perception of almost everything. She states that your social status dictates what theater performances you attend, the movies you go to and the TV shows you watch, and according to Brasted it goes as far as influencing the food you eat and the clothes you buy (Brasted).

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Whether the professional writer on the issue of social status is a researcher, an author or a professor, they can all seem to agree on the point that it is a topic of discussion. Their views are often different but are, to a certain extent, the same when discussing the fact that social status is frequently being exposed in television today.

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Works Cited Berger, Arthur Asa. Ads, Fads, And Consumer Culture : Advertising's Impact On American Character And Society. Glossary (pg.201) n.p.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 21 Mar. 2013. Brasted, Monica. "Electronic Journal of Sociology (2004)." Through the Looking Glass: Class and Reality in Television. CAAP, 2004. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. O'Neil, Dennis. "Status and Role." Social Organization . N.p., 27 June 2006. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.