In class we were watching a movie about different social classes in America. They interviewed people from elite classes like w.a.s.p.s and the complete opposite such as a family who lives in poverty in southern Ohio. I found only one thing similar to what they were saying. It is frowned upon if you leave your class. Being a wasp, you are very rich and you have been rich your entire life. You would never even consider yourself being upper middle class. You look down on the lower classes because, you have more money, therefore everything about you is better. The lower class want to be middle class, but there is little hope for them. One son of the family in Ohio dresses as preppy as he can so at school he looks middle class. His mom isn't happy about it because she thinks he isn't proud of the true stuff he has in his life (ex. family or health).
I see similar things at my school. There are the very rich and the very poor. Everyone dresses based on who they hang out with, not based on the money they have. It is easily assumed all the preppy whites at my school are the rich ones. But, I bet if you ask all of them, they would all say they are middle class. They could me upper class, but because they see upper class people all the time, it is normal or average to them making them feel middle class. People dress down or dress up based on what they want to represent themselves as. In society today, it is all about the image, real or fake.
I totally agree with you about our school. When I was younger, I had a friend who always wore abercrombie or hollister and I thought she had loads of money. But one day, I went over to her house and she lived in a 2 bedroom townhouse just with her mom. I had no idea. She wanted everyone to believe that she was so much richer than she was because she was a new student and wanted people to like her. That I think is the big problem with our school. People think they need to be wealthier than they are to be accepted.
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