Werking Klass=Dum?

The working class is not only underrepresented; the few men who are portrayed are buffoons" (Butsch in Dines & Humez, pp. 404). 

One thing I’ve known from a very young age is that my family is not rich by any means. We are part of the working class. My dad took over his dad’s business and has been running it for the past 20 years. He is one of the hardest working men I’ve ever met and has worked for everything he has and has provided for us. I look at my dad with admiration not pity. I say pity because the working-class isn’t looked at in a positive light most times. The working class is stereotyped by the middle to upper-class as “dumb, inarticulate and mindlessly loyal to old-fashioned values” (Ehrenreich in Dines & Humez, pp.40). Ehrenreich also went on to say that “working class” is considered “not only industrial workers in hard hats, but ALL those people who are NOT professionals, managers, or entrepreneurs” (in Dines & Humez, pp.40). And there is no good defense for the working-class because of how they’re portrayed on television.

One classic example of a stereotypical working-class man is “Family Guy”. Peter Griffin is a man with a job in a factory and a family to feed. Peter is portrayed as an idiot who acts like a child 99% of the time. How these stereotypes were developed, I don’t know. According to Ehrenreich, the working class makes up 60-70% of the U.S. population. And I find it pretty hard to believe that we have that many idiots running around and keeping our lives running smoothly. Just because people work for their money doesn’t make them any less intelligent than someone who sits behind a desk all day crunching numbers and looking at data.

You’d think since the majority of the U.S. is working-class, then why would we want these types of shows on television making fun? Interestingly enough, this is the type of shows people want to see. It’s humorous and there for a good laugh. The types of people watching this mostly ARE the working-class and know it’s in good nature. It’s all about how you want to take it and understand it. Take it for what it’s worth. Which is a good laugh at the end of a long day of work.