Class and Status

What do we stereotype to each class?

Upper Class:

• Rich/wealthy
• Well educated - often private (e.g boarding school)
• Posh accent
• Polo
• Horse riding - owns their own horse(s)
• Spoilt/snobby
• Expensive possessions
• Private property
• Read the Times/Telegraph
•  Hunting and shooting
• Expensive holidays abroad

Middle Class:

• Respectable jobs - law/army/doctor/clergy
• Semi-detached or detached houses
• Multiple cars
• Branded clothing
• pet - dog/cat/fish etc
• The Mail/The Gaurdian
• Watch BBC/channel four

Working Class:

• Manual Labour jobs e.g. builder
• Little money
• Poor clothing
• Live on benefits - council housing or rented house
• The Sun newspaper
• One car
• 'Chav'

Upper Class

 Atlantis

Atlantis shows a clear difference between class and status through a number of stereotypes. The upper class (Royals) are dressed in formal attire with better materials such as silk and velvet. They also speak posher and have much better posture than the 'town folk'.

Downton Abbey

Lady Grantham- She is the stereotypic upper class Lady. She owns Downton Abbey and has never had to work in her life because she comes from wealth. She speaks with a posh accent, dresses in formal attire for everyday wear, and looks down on lower class people. Her wealth means that she is not affected by the war going on around them and does not have to ration unlike the lower class.

Middle Class

Doctor Who

Clara Oswald - The Doctors current female 'apprentice' who lives in London. She lives in a semi-detached house, is a school teacher, and has a smart-casual attire. These factors are all often associated with the stereotypical middle class person.

Sherlock Holmes

John Watson - Works with detective Sherlock Holmes. We can see that he is middle class because of his attire and accent, which are commonly associated with the stereotypical middle class person. In the recent series we get a glimpse of his house that he shares with his wife Mary. It is a nice sized house that is not too big or too small. His family can also give an insight to his class as he has a wife and a child on the way. This sized family is more related to the middle class as lower class families are often though to be quite big.

Lower Class

Misfits

Kelly - Kelly shows a clear stereotype of the lower class for many reasons. She is doing community service showing that she has committed crime, she lives on benefits in a council house and has a strong 'chavy' accent consisting of slang and swear words, which are all stereotyped to the lower class people.

Prison Break

T-Bag - This character from prison break is clearly lower class because he says that his dad sexually assaulted his disabled sister; crimes like this are often stereotyped towards the lower class. He is very scruffy and often results to violence when he doesn't get what he wants. He is a rapist which shows he has no morals. He does not look after himself or others in anyway, he also has no money which is another stereotype of lower class people.