Introduction
In this chapter students learned about social class and stratification and the influence of these factors on the lives of people in our society. As students will see in this activity, social stratification is not a new phenomenon. In the following activity students will learn about the representation of social classes on television. They will read an article that discusses the ways in which working and middle classes are represented and how their audiences react to the portrayals.

Lesson Description
Students will visit a Web site that discusses the portrayal of social classes on television. They will learn how different classes are represented and the roles that each group plays. Students will answer questions about the material they have read and will recreate a current television show in order to more fairly portray working-class characters.

Instructional Objectives

1. Students will be able to compare how different social classes are portrayed on television.
2. Students will learn to recognize the stereotypes of working-class television characters.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. White collar, upper-middle-class characters are most common on television. Professionals and managers dominate sitcoms. Central characters are most likely to be upper-middle-class white males.
2. Working-class males are portrayed as incompetent and ineffectual. They are often seen as buffoons, well-intentioned but dumb. In almost all working-class series the male is flawed. Working-class women tend to exceed the bounds of their feminine status and act more intelligent, rational, and sensible than their husbands. Men play the role of child, women the role of mother.
3. In most television shows portraying the middle class, both parents are mature, sensible, and competent, especially when there are children in the series. Unlike shows focusing on the working class, middle-class male characters act appropriately "manly," (i.e. in charge of the household, main provider for the family) and the female "womanly," (i.e. housekeeping, caring and supportive). Children provide the antics and humor. The family as a whole represents an orderly, well functioning unit.
4. The working-class family tends to use television as a continuing background, with children and parents doing other things while the TV is on. They do not plan viewing, but watch whatever is available at the time. They are defined as indiscriminate viewers, a term which suggests an unhealthy habit.
5. Students' projects will vary.

Go To Student Web Activity