Classes... gotta love 'em.

With the ongoing failing trend in today's economy, not only are people all over the country feeling the hit, but I've noticed that television shows are portraying this as well.

The one show that immediately comes to mind is The Middle. If you're not familiar with the show, it focuses on a working-class family that's struggling to get by. The father, Mike (played by Neil Flynn), is a good, hard-working man who loses his job. He later takes a last-resort job as a truck driver. Meanwhile, the mom, Frankie (played by Patricia Heaton), works as a car salesman (or saleswoman rather). Obviously not the greatest job nowadays.

While the parents are working, they're also supporting three kids, Axl, Sue, & Brick, who's school activities consume almost all of the time off that they have.

Another show that relates to the economy (& gender roles) is Desperate Housewives. In the past, the female characters on the show have been portrayed mostly as the 'moochers'. Having the husband who works & the wife who stays home tending to the kids.

One change that has occurred in the newest season is that Tom & Lynette's roles have changed. Having five kids already, Lynette finds out she's pregnant, again, with twins, again. She had established a well-paying job and is the main bread-winner for their household. When her boss finds out that she's pregnant, he fires her, wrongfully, and Tom must take over as provider for the family.

"Society, culture, norms..." etc.

When you think about all of the different issues and misconceptions happening daily around the world, what does it generally come down to?

One work: society

What is society? After taking high school & college-level Sociology plus Psychology, you would think I would know the answer. I believe it's best explained through you're own visions & experiences in your life. That's basically what society is. How a certain area, region, state, country, even continent (like the rumor that people across the pond don't like to shower... Kidding... kind of.) sees & does things.

Now, where does gender, race & class tie in? That's what you're all reading this for right?

Like I said before, it's everywhere. You walk down the street and you see women being portrayed as perfectly polished and poised. You see a billboard advertising beer and there's an absolutely drool-worthy guy kicking back & taking a sip. Doesn't (almost) every guy want that? Doesn't (almost) every woman want to look great?

In the case of race, picture yourself on an airplane. There's a man sitting just 3 rows ahead of you who has dark brown hair and very tan skin... maybe throw a mustache in for good measure. He might be Arabian, maybe Iraqi, or even born & raised in the U.S. But I bet most people would have their eye on him the entire length of the flight. For the sake of time (and boring you to death) just think about that... What goes through your head?

Class could fall along the same lines. (Sorry for all the scenarios...) Walking down a street in Baltimore, you see a man sitting next to a building with a cardboard sign, a thin jacket and holes in his shoes. I don't know about you, but I usually feel sympathetic because maybe it wasn't his fault that he's homeless, maybe his whole family died & he was left with nothing. What do you think?

We see this stuff portrayed on TV & movies all the time. Both heavily influence viewers. I guess we'll be learning about all of this shortly in class so I'll end this here.

Hopefully, I actually did this right!!