Representations of Social Class
Mass media representations of social classes rarely focus on the social tensions or class conflict that some critical sociologists see as underpinning society.
Mass media representations of social class tend to celebrate hierarchy and wealth. Those who benefit from these processes, i.e. the monarchy, the upper class and the very wealthy, generally receive a positive press as celebrities who are somehow deserving of their position.
In Uk, contemporary media coverage of the monarchy has focused positively on every trivial detail of their lives, turning the Queen and her family into an on-going soap opera, but with a glamour and mystique far greater than any other media personality. Furthermore, mass media representations of the Queen are also aimed at reinforcing a sense of national identity, in that she is portrayed as the ultimate symbol of the nation. Consequently, the media regards royal events, such as weddings and funerals, as national events.
The British mass media hardly ever portray the upper classes in a critical light, nor do they often draw any serious attention to inequalities in wealth and pay or the overrepresentation of public-school products in positions of power.
The media focus very positively on the concerns of the wealthy and the privileged. The media over-focuses on consumer items such as luxury cars, costly holiday spots and fashion accessories that only the wealthy can afford
There is also an enormous amount of print and broadcast media dedicated to daily business news and stock market quotations, despite the fact that few people in Britain own stocks and shares.
newspapers aimed at working class audiences assume that they are uninterested in serious analysis of either the political or social organisation of British society. Political debate is often reduced simplistically to conflict between personalities
The content of newspapers such as The Sun and the Daily Star assumes that such audiences want to read about celebrity gossip and lifestyles, trivial human interest stories and sport.
Representations of poverty
When the news media turn their attention to the most destitute, the portrayals are often negative or stereotypical. Often, the poor are portrayed in statistical rather than in human terms by news bulletins that focus on the numbers unemployed or on benefits, rather than the individual suffering and personal indignities of poverty.
Chav’s
The word chav has historical antecedents ,because it used to be a term to describe itinerant farm labourers. Its modern usage, as with many such labels, spread through word of mouth. However, the hyper-dissemination made possible by new media means, phrases that used to take years to catch on, now become
common currency immediately.
The chav stereotype is an example of a meme that has reproduced itself in cyberspace. This phenomenon can be traced to websites such as chavscum.co.uk. Now it’s a pejorative term understood across generations. It is used to dismiss or ridicule people and define them as Other.
Chav Signifiers
He is sexually active at a young age.
He is more likely to have children at a young age.
He is an irresponsible parent who, for example, smokes in front of his children, feeds them junk food and hits them.
He eats only junk food himself.
He is more likely to litter.
He generally has poor personal hygiene.
He wears branded sportswear, excessive cheap jewellery and fake luxury goods.
He uses bad language in public.
His speech is full of slang and idioms.
He speaks in what sociologists call restricted code.
He is disrespectful to authority figures and elders
Pluralist View on Chav
Many people these days view the word "chav" as if it is an insult. However, there are many good things about being a chav. Being a Chav is aspirational, and want a better life. They do not let their poverty make themselves bitter and regardless of what the media or people say and think about them, they believe that you are happy to believe the things you do and what the things you do.
Marxist View on Chav
The typical view of chavs is that they have no taste and little money, live on on benefits are probably knee deep in crime. They are the flotsam and jetsam of what was once the working class. Without new jobs or built into the industries, they quickly became hotbeds of unemployment, crime and the chav.
