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Pop Culture Classism

They’re Just Like Us: Race and the White Working-Class on Roseanne

August 16, 2018 by Owen Cantrell Leave a Comment

On Tuesday, May 29th, ABC Entertainment canceled the reboot of Roseanne after Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, comparing the former Obama advisor to an ape. ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey stated, “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.” The show debuted in March to huge ratings and a second […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class Themes in Film and Fiction, Dismantlng Classism, Pop Culture Classism, Racism in Media & Pop Culture Tagged With: class cultures, classism, race and class, racism

Roseanne and the Changing Working-Class

March 27, 2018 by Owen Cantrell Leave a Comment

When ABC’s Roseanne premiered in 1988, it arrived in the era of Reaganomics with policies that stripped power from unions, sent blue collar jobs overseas and flattened wages throughout the Rust Belt.[1] Roseanne Barr, creator and star, argued the show intended to “speak directly to working-class viewers in an active feminist voice over the people’s airwaves […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Class Themes in Film and Fiction, Electoral politics, Gender Class Intersections, Politics and Class, Pop Culture Classism, Race and Class Tagged With: class cultures, race and class, stereotypes, union-bashing, working class

Roseanne: A Working-Class (S)hero Returns

March 27, 2018 by Souri Somphanith Leave a Comment

The Roseanne reboot promises to tackle love and politics. Pack your bags and hit the road, folks. On  March 27th we’re going back to Lanford. The return of the hit 80s/90s sitcom Roseanne is the latest in a wave of nostalgic revivals hoping to recapture our hearts. And while other reboots have stirred up controversy, […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Class Themes in Film and Fiction, Pop Culture Classism, Race and Class, Women and Class Tagged With: class and pop culture, class cultures, low-wage jobs, race and class, stereotypes, working class

Classism In Spanish Society

November 14, 2017 by Josie Snider 3 Comments

I moved from Boston to Madrid 10 months ago. Among the barrage of cultural differences and neoliberal similarities between my home country and my adopted one, I’ve noted several instances of classism in Spanish society. Bearing in mind that I have a severely limited understanding of class structures in this vast and complex nation, I […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class cultures, Classism Outside the United States, Doubting Class Exists, Institutional racism, Pop Culture Classism, Race and Class, Systemic Classism Tagged With: classism, race and class, racism, stereotypes

Is Elvis-Hating Classist?

August 15, 2017 by Lita Kurth 1 Comment

So much depends on whether you are looking up at Elvis from the working poor or working-class or down at him from the middle- and upper-class. When you look at photos of Elvis fans at his funeral or Graceland, they don’t usually look well-off. Their haircuts, clothes, whole demeanor suggest they came from the same […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class cultures, Class in the Media, Class prejudice, Internalized classism, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: class cultures, classism, snobs, stereotypes, working class

Spring Break?

March 23, 2017 by Jade Obler Leave a Comment

When I think of spring break, I think of MTV and early 20-somethings soaking up the sun. I believe that this ideal spring break is becoming more and more mythical with the rising costs of education. Classism enables wealthy students to obtain degrees debt free while low-income and working-class students are faced with more and more debt. I […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class cultures, Class in Higher Education, Cultural capital, Dealing with privilege, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: classism, education, middle class, spring break, working class

Debbie Downer’s Spring Break

March 23, 2017 by Muna Mohamed 1 Comment

Spring break is coming up. That means hearing about Cancun and Barcelona while walking by students, seeing Airbnb and hotel tabs on 101 laptops, and seeing Snapchat countdowns every day. Spring break is a college student’s dream – one that comes with a hefty price to make it a reality. As a student coming from […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class cultures, Class in Higher Education, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: class cultures, education, poverty, privilege, speaking up, spring break

Social Class and a Writing Conference

March 2, 2017 by Lita Kurth Leave a Comment

Though not all writing conferences are expensive, many are. A number try, essentially, to take money from those who can afford it to subsidize those who can’t – a worthy policy.  But one still tends to meet more wealthy people than poor at a writing conference. Last summer, I attended one on the East Coast that […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class in Literature, Class prejudice, Classism, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: poverty, privilege, snobs, working class

Class Inequality in Children’s Movies

April 18, 2016 by Jessi Streib Leave a Comment

A new study, Benign Inequality: Frames of Poverty and Social Class Inequality in Children’s Movies, from Duke University sociologist Jesse Streib reveals that almost universally G-rated movies legitimate poverty and social class inequality in a new way – by presenting them as benign. Limited Learning about Other Classes What are some of the first ideas about social […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class in the Media, Class prejudice, Consumer culture, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: classism, classism in media, kids, Rationalizing privilege

“Undercover Boss”: More TV Class Unrealities

July 14, 2014 by Bev Schwartz Leave a Comment

Undercover Boss is a prime time reality show on CBS.  The concept is that the CEO of a company is disguised and then goes “undercover” for a week in his/her company doing the low wage work on the front lines to see how things really are.  Typically, bosses are white men, although there have been […]

Filed Under: Class in the Media, Pop Culture Classism, Workplace classism Tagged With: low-wage workers, paternalism, TV

Denial of class in Downton Abbey’s dream world

May 21, 2014 by Lita Kurth 2 Comments

Ah, Downton Abbey. Who wouldn’t want to live there? Crises arise, but they are almost always resolved with human kindness. It’s a comforting world; maybe that’s why, despite its blithe ignorance or studied denial of most facts about working-class life, I still watch it. We all need some wish fulfillment, and the wish fulfilled by […]

Filed Under: Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: classism, snobs

Modern Family: A Poor Perspective

May 20, 2014 by Kevin Marinelli 7 Comments

Each year, popular television appears to break new cultural barriers. Perhaps its most vital engine is the critically acclaimed, Modern Family, celebrated for its sophisticated portrayal of non-traditional households. But what if I told you Modern Family is no different from most shows in that it fails to address the poor and working class? In […]

Filed Under: Class in the Media, Pop Culture Classism

“Revenge” and the Failures of Social Climbing

October 2, 2013 by Miki Onwudinjo Leave a Comment

The hit ABC melodrama “Revenge” features a slinky, mysterious blonde seeking delicious, sweet, sweet revenge. Emily Thorne, who isn’t really Emily, changed her name from Amanda Clarke, the juvenile delinquent and mentally lost daughter of a convicted 9/11 terrorist. The classist stereotypes portrayed in “Revenge” are viciously ripe. Each class has social limitations keeping them […]

Filed Under: Class in the Media, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: 1%, consumerism, snobs, social climbers, super-rich

Orange is the Newest Redneck Bashing

October 1, 2013 by Betsy Leondar-Wright 5 Comments

I’m eager to talk with someone who has both read Piper Kerman’s memoir “Orange is the New Black” and seen the Netflix series based on it. I want to discuss the class and race implications of how the story was fictionalized  – and in particular, one poor white character who is turned into the most […]

Filed Under: Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: Christians, classism, rednecks

Money is No Object: Over-representing the Upper Middle Class on TV?

September 30, 2013 by Lita Kurth 1 Comment

As a child, I recall watching The Brady Bunch. Wow, they were rich. Although they had a large family, it never seemed to impact their finances. They had money for bikes, vacations, really nice clothes, nice cars, a gleaming kitchen commanded by a servant, a huge house in an obviously nice neighborhood. Didn’t they also […]

Filed Under: Class in the Media, Money, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: consumerism, upper-middle-class

Arrested Development & the pitfalls of the wealthy

May 26, 2013 by Betsy Leondar-Wright 1 Comment

Why do so many TV watchers love Arrested Development (whose latest season was released on Netflix last night)? Is it just another sit-com in the cringe-inducing comedy genre, like The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm? I think there’s another factor: the show accurately illustrates some common maladaptive life paths of people who grow up in […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Class in the Media, Classism in Everyday Life, Owning class, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: owning class, super-rich, television

Thinking Positive Thoughts as the Ship Sinks: Oprah, Tolle & New Age Classism

April 9, 2013 by Nicole Braun 31 Comments

I’m concerned about classism in the new age, self help and spiritual movements. Oprah Winfrey’s show and “lifeclass,” which many people study religiously, promote individualistic “create your own reality” ideas, including the philosophy of guru Eckhart Tolle. “Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it,” Tolle writes. These ideas can be […]

Filed Under: Internalized classism, Pop Culture Classism, Spirituality and Ending Classism Tagged With: blaming the victim, individualism, New Age spirituality, poverty, unemployment

“Wishing for Heaven”: Cross-Class Relationships and Contemporary Culture

November 1, 2012 by Robin Brooks 1 Comment

Class representations are present in many aspects of contemporary culture. Think about the latest TV sitcoms, five star movies, and literary novels. Sure, the word “class” may not be used always, but hints of class or class indicators, such as income, education, occupation, and power, certainly appear in one form or another. Cross-class relationships in […]

Filed Under: Class in Literature, Cross-class Relationships, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: cross-class, middle class, working class

“Jumping the Broom”: African American class divide

August 15, 2012 by Camella Christmas Leave a Comment

When you were a young child, did you think about getting married? We may plan our wedding and visualize the person of our dreams, but we never stop to think that our class backgrounds and family values could possibly clash with theirs. In the movie Jumping the Broom, Sabrina Watson and Jason Taylor come from […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Pop Culture Classism, Race and Class Tagged With: African Americans, class cultures, materialism, money, owning class, working class

Gisele Bundchen’s clueless classist comments

September 27, 2010 by Betsy Leondar-Wright 7 Comments

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen was quoted in the September Harper’s Bazaar UK as saying, “There should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months.” Bundchen got lots of outraged reactions to her statement, but mostly from women with positive opinions about bottle-feeding, or general dismay at woman-to-woman lifestyle […]

Filed Under: Classism in the Economy, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: Family leave, Gisele Bundchen, mega-mansions, overcrowded housing, super-rich

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