MEDIA

REPRESENTATION
A CLASS
APART
SOCIAL
UPPER CLASS
Accent is often used as a marker of class.
Watch these short clips of famous people
speaking. The stereotype of the upper class
revolves around eccentricity and nostalgia.

MIDDLE UPPER CLASS vs. WORKING CLASS

Middle class is represented as ‘the norm’ and is
over-represented because most media
professionals derive from this social class.

LOWER
It portrays the most needy as feckless
scroungers, as an underclass at odds with
decent, respectable citizens who work for a
living.

Contact
Korean International Ms. Arnie
School Philippines
Grade 12 Social Inquiry Class
Taguig, Philippines
 Bridging the Gap
OWNERSHIP and FICTION VS.
CONTROL REALITY
Skewing
the Narrative

In the play Pygmalion, by Bernard Shaw, a

FIGHT BACK
The coronavirus pandemic identified
those low-paid ‘rubbish collectors, bus
drivers, supermarket checkout staff’ as
key workers.
Has this brought a correction in media
representation?
Analyse a modern-day media portrayal of
the working class.
common flower girl goes from on the street
selling flowers, to having the most beautiful
dresses and diamonds on her wrist. There
are many themes displayed within in play.
Two dominate themes are social class and
appearance versus reality.
Social class, is shown in Pygmalion because
we get a deeper understanding of what its
like to be in low class compared to middle or
high class. Events that portray this is when
Eliza comes in contact with Higgins. Eliza is
treated poorly because of the way she
speaks. While she speaks like this from her
low social class. er being low social class is
also a reason why she gets treated so poorly,
To be treated respectfully you need to be
high in social class. Even tough you might
enjoy getting treated better being of higher
social class also holds more responsibilities.
Aspirations may be measured in absolute
terms, by asking individuals how much of a
given goal they desire, or in relative terms, by
asking individuals how much they desire a
given goal relative to other goals. Prior
studies on the relationship between social
class and success goals have always
employed either relative or absolute
measures alone.
In school, all students would have an
equal shot at success, and excellent
schools and educators would have
dedicated themselves to this goal.
However, social class can greatly affect a
student's success, and there is a
correlation between low socioeconomic
status and academic problems. These
academic problems can lead to difficulties
later on, including unemployment,
dropping out of school and working at a
low-wage job.