Wost 3002 Blog

My family is by no means of middle-class or upper-class status, yet because I am white and going to school at the University of Minnesota people automatically assume that I am part of a middle to upper class category. I do not blame them, but assuming and not asking is uncalled for. Money has always been an issue in my family and it is interesting to have conversations with friends who believe that "money should not be an issue" and that " the people in this country are obsessed with making more and more money as a means to define themselves and their worth." Yes, I agree with them, but my friends do not have to worry about money. They have a security blanket over them because their family is of middle or upper class status and when in trouble all they have to do is make a simple phone call. I am not saying that my friends ever call mom or dad for a little extra money, but the point of the matter is that it is THERE if need be. Just the thought of it being THERE is security which can lead to these "hippie" views pertaining to money and it's evilness. I love the hippies, but reality please. When a person is a full-time student and also works full-time because this person needs to pay rent and heat and electricity, money can be a little tight and when it is not there it is a scary situation. I need that raise and I am sorry that I have to ask for it, but I deserve it. I need that money. I am a white, working -class woman who has worked for what she owns and who is living paycheck to paycheck just to get by. And I am alright with just getting by. I am happy that I can finally be a full-time student because financial aid will cover my butt for the time being. Without Financial Aid I would not be at the U of M. I need that money to get my education and it's sad that the system works that way. So, please do not associate me with the middle class and upper class because I am a student and white. Discourse will only dismantle these stereotypical views associated with being white and a student at the U of M. I hate the system, but I love my education. Bettie and Weedon state on page 54 that "discourses are competing ways of giving meaning to the world, which imply differences in the organization of social power and have implications for the social practices in which we engage." One must talk about it to be heard and without discourse I truly believe we have nothing. That is why I enjoy discussing with those that are of different class status because I alone can trump out these stereotypical views of class and whiteness. And I am only one person.

Thankyou for those comments Jennifer. I found this particular reading to be difficult in many ways. First, because it was so dense, Bettie had alot to say in one short article. My 'class indentity' doesn't seem to come into play in my daily life as much as perhaps my gender, therefore, I am not as aware of a class identity in my day to day living. perhaps because my 'class' isn't as easily recognizable as my gender or race. And I have always thought of my class, whatever that is, although not wholly seperated from my gender or race not being very fluid either, because most of my political activism has come from my being 'women' and class and race being secondary to that, with respect to those who are politicized in a very different way. I have always thought of class in the way Bettie discusses 'class' in relationship to industry and the exploitation of cheap labor, distribution of wealth, which then relates to power and "HOW..jobs are defined and WHO is sought after for the jobs." (pg. 40 & 41) When 'class' becomes an issue for me is mostly in relation to finances, not neccesarily culture. what I mean by that is, my family, not just immediate but extended generational, have always been poor, more uneducated than educated and have always struggled to rise above this. when I bought my own home, that was HUGE, because I thought that was a dream beyond my means. Then to want a higher education, wow, that was going beyond the beyonds. For many families this is just assumed, but not for mine. I think that is why it has taken me soooo long to get this education, because I have had to overcome so many more obstacles than perhaps differently 'classed' people. Obstacles of my gender too, (choosing between education/career and raising a family). Ultimately though, my goal in achieving a higher education, therefore getting better employment, which then will offer me more financial security. Will then put me in a different 'class'. So perhaps I have no class identity as perhaps many of us don't in America, and why there is no real discernible class warfare in our country that will bring about positive changes for poor and working class folks.

word, Jennifer, being blind to class privileges those with money by ignoring the actual problem, and it makes everyone unprepared to deal with it. I’m finding Butler’s work has been huge as it has influenced Halberstam and Bettie pieces. Bettie uses performance, aside from ‘material’ income and education, to measure class as an identity and show how it is learned and repeated in girls-not foundational. Halberstam deals out a sharp critique of the eurocentric and androcentric tradition of Marxisms by noting how gender and race can operate independent of class and how women are subordinated in class anaylsis. Taking some college prep in high school, makes me question my behavior and how I may have engaged in performativity, disillusioning myself to middle-class ideals and practices.

I found the article very interesting in the way that the media portrays these stereotypes to the general public. Often times the middle class portrayed in a mainstream television shows or films are white in a suburbian setting of neutral colored houses and white picket fences. These stereotypes brainwash the viewers into thinking that this is a reality. Also with the television show senerio, there is what many shows refer to as the 'token' charactors, which are those that are a member of the minority group and casted in a very stereotypical manner. An example of this is shown in the 1990's film, Not Another Teen Movie, which was a mock of mainstream cinema. This movie actually referred to the 'token' black charactor, who was suppose to fill in with jokes in between the white charactor's dialogue. I think that the portrayal of 'white middle-class' in cinema has a huge affect on how other cultures view the United States and even how we view ourselves. If society see's a stereotype portrayed enough in the media, many of it's members will eventually begin to see it as true.

I found the section where Bettie describes the difference in class performance and performativity very interesting. She describes class in a way that reminded me of Butler’s description of gender in that it lies on a spectrum and that you or your family may fall in a specific socioeconomic class but that you may choose to “perform” any class role. I just found this an interesting concept and something that ties into what we have already been discussing this week, adding a new gray line to the equation of ambiguities that make up a persons self identity. There is definitely a similar argument/thought process between Betties argument and Butler as Betties states that, when concerning acting out class roles, “performance is all there is, because no identities are natural; they are all constructed.”

I definitely have to agree with Lara in that people may fall under a certain socioeconomic category, but they may perform in another; or people just may perceive them to be in a category that they don't really fall under, by making generalizations. This could include where someone goes to school, where they live, or just by the clothes they wear.
In this artcile it talked about the invisibility of gender in the media. The specific example given had to do with an incident on the Oprah show. But I think that it goes even further than that.
Another thing mentions was how black is continually shown as lower-class urban, and white as middle-class suburban; which obviously isnt the case for everyone. I think that has a huge part to do with how the media portrays certain people; especially in movies. African American people are always shown as the ones living in the "lower income" neighborhoods, tend to be "tougher" and have lower income jobs. But Caucasian people are shown as living in suburban neighborhoods, having decent incomes and jobs, and romantic relationships. And I know this may be off the topic a little, but I dont think I've ever seen an African American romantic film. This is just an example of what I think the media wants us to see and think about race and class.

First of all, I found it very interesting in the first few pages, her descriptions of how race and gender have been pushed out of the class discussions, especially in such blatant and anti-logical ways! Also, her point that the silent angry actions taken by girls have been over looked astounds me, do people really think that the only reason for self-starvation and cutting is depression rising from self-hatred? How ignorant! To follow up on what she says about women of color being in the worst situation, my thoughts are that the only that could be worse than that would be a handicapped woman of color with an illegitimate child! Especially pertinent to my life is the few paragraphs on teen mothers of color who are “a welfare burden” (46). Also, her description of Butler’s argument of performance helped me to better understand what Butler was talking about!!! Thinking about class as a performance is especially poignant in America, where anyone can go from a small farm lad to an educated member of middle class. Perhaps this is most successfully achieved through the accurate performance of a higher class in society…

First of all, great comments Jennifer! I share a lot of similar views. I come from a white working-class family but was able to attend a small, private, Catholic high school, DeLaSalle, in downtown Minneapolis. As Jennifer mentioned her experiences here at the U, I experienced this situation in high school. Since DeLaSalle has a tuition higher than a year at the U, many people expected me to be well off as well. Little did people know, I was receiveing full scholarships and pushing my parents further in debt by simply purchasing the required uniforms... To tie this to the reading, I found Bettie's article most interesting in her depiction of performing a role to fit into groups at high school. She mentioned that there is a strong correlation between one's class of origin and one's class performance. I chose to perform a class status in high school that was different than my class of origin. I found it much easier to identify with an elevated class due to my career aspirations and my class aspirations. This flows according to Bettie's description of why some girls "pass" classes in order to be accepted. Bettie also mentioned the differences between the culture and people from the original class versus the people and culture from the performed class. In this way, I feel that Bettie's argument of class performance is similar to Butler's argument of gender performance.

I too can relate to Jennifer. As an Asian American woman I am really struck by how many people give my parents props because I and my other siblings are continuing our education. Automatically my family is seen as middle or upper class because we attend universities when in all reality we struggle to make ends meet. "Older siblings, who were the first in the family to go to college, brought middle-class cultural capital to younger siblings, acting as important sources of information already known to students whose parents were college educated." p.195 Having an older sister in Law school, when it comes time for family get togethers, we are seen as very stuck up. It is as if they can't speak to us or they seem hesitant all of a sudden. Little do they know we all have worked really hard to be where we are in life and because we get a little college in us that we are seen as super heros of some sort. LIke what Jennifer was saying in class about Latino workers who don't like it when people move up in life and are almost looked down on holds a lot of truth. It seems like we must always have to suffer and to suffer with the people that we know in order to continue to be a part of the community (in my case the Hmong Community). Of course we get the intial...." Congrats, you're making great strides in you life" but in a jealous way they wished it were their kids instead, or I assume that's what they think.

Like the Mexican-American students we are often accused of "being white" I mean seriously. Since when did going to college or moving to a better neighborhood become a "white" thing? I've heard comments from older ladies to my mother saying how my sisters and brothers and I will eventually lose our Hmong language and then along with culture. And I think to myself why must people make these assumptions when they don't even know half of what they are really saying?

Through out the history women have always been restricted and limited. It
took them quiet a fight and decades to gain full citizenship, the right to
vote and the right for equal pay. Women in the United State went through
different kind phases in order to get there where they are today. First
they had to fight
to be seen as individual and not as one individual who is below their
spouse. The laws of the covertures limited for many years women to have
divide legal existence from her husband, women were with defined as one
with their husbands, basically women had no rights and status. They were
not seen as individuals but rather as part and extension of their husbands.
Thank goodness things have changed through the centuries, however reading
the article Women without class by Julie Bettie, there is still the notion
that women are not seen as fully citizenship, in terms that women are not
counted towards the “class accountig”. Women are not seen as part of the
class structure because their not visible enough, even though they are part
of the workforce, however that didn’t matter to many people because the see
many times women only as mothers and wives, which kind of reminds me on the
concept of “coverture”. Overall it was a very interesting reading, because
it me aware of how much work is left in terms, me always thinking that well
women have fully achieved equality.

It is very easy for everyone to lose touch with the class issue when feminism is a relatively new subject on its own. Having recently embraced feminism myself, my process was embarked by seeing how the system effects me. It is from that point that I am beginning to develop a solidarity with ALL women. What is very interesting is that my education up to now has and does include alot of information about women, but more overwhelmingly so about societies' treatments of other cultures and races. It seems as if the guilt of the perpetuation of xenophobia and segregation as a whole was reached earlier, and perhaps this is why it receives more attention. I am not saying this is right, I am just trying to understand why this is.

I found this article to be interesting and that Bettie has brought up the issues about it in this reading. One question i have about this text is about the part where there has been a study focused on white middle-class girls but how could it be that these studies failed to define them as such? Also, reading about women without class, i have to share that in our Hmong culture back in Laos, (and i am sure this happens with other cultures too) since the many of the women there do not have any education or experience before what outside work is like, since having to come to the US, they are unable to do much here and many have considered them stupid, which is sad. I am glad we had a chance to read this text because i found it very interesting and important to talk about.

Bettie's article was a little hard to understand than Halberstam, but still it was interesting and inspiring. Her first two page where she talk about how women are being ignored because of gender bias and thier working status got me off. This theory that women have no class because of thier gender, in which they should be lower than the male, just seem so racism. In her article, she talk a lot about white male and female being the one with higher class and the poeple of color being the one with lower class. It seem that race and gender is what cause class identity. I think she point out that people are being indentify by thier performance, which I find it true, but rare. Because, is there like a list of what behavior is consider being a middle class or what is not. Just because someone dress nice once,then it will give society a view that that person is a high class from thier clothes and mature behaviors. Anyway, I just feel that it isn't right for people to classify people into middle class, or low class just depending on thier race,work abiilty, performance and economics. So what is really the true meaning for class anyway..In my family, I know that we are not the richest or the poor, and are able to support ourselves as every new days come. But that doesn't indentity our family as being poor. Why care about class if there is going to racism. I think that every class of nationality deserved equal status. If almost everyone go by class and there are hated from these labeling,more performances are needed done to be the top class, and there is no love. What is the meaning of being a human being(sigh /confused).

cam girl - http://cam--girl.blogspot.com/

male enhancement pills - http://male-----enhancement.blogspot.com/

male enhancement prosolution - http://male-----enhancement.blogspot.com/

male enhancement pill - http://writing.csustan.edu/Plone/portal_memberdata/portraits/maleenhancement

non surgical enhancement - http://rubyurl.com/7Iz

live sex - http://live-sexxx.blogspot.com/

live sex - http://live-sexxx.blogspot.com/

live sex - http://live-sexxx.blogspot.com/

Penis enlargement has been perfected over the last decade. Surgical methods have been mastered and are available for all men.