Week Seven Blog Entry: Social Class

I think that social class does still matter in the U.S. today. I saw first-hand how much class status mattered at the university I recently graduated from. Greek life was a very big deal there, and there was a social stratification that developed amongst the sororities. This stratification was not directly talked about usually, but it was very present and after spending four years there, I learned just how much it mattered to people. When I rushed to join a sorority in my first year, I thought that the only thing that mattered was how much you got along with the girls that you met throughout the process. I now know that there are other factors that are looked at, such as your social class and the place you grew up in. Certain sororities were known as being “top-tier” and the girls in these sororities came from wealthy families. They went to private schools growing up and had lots of money to spend on designer clothes. Then there were other sororities that were known as the lower-tier sororities. The types of girls in these sororities were usually typical middle class citizens. They did not grow up in poverty, they had enough money to buy things that were not necessities, but they did not attend private schools or come from families that were as wealthy. These lower tier sororities were often looked down upon. Prior to my time there, I did not think that class status was still a big deal today, but after this experience with sorority life, I now see that it is.

Another topic that was brought up in the “People Like Us” documentary site that I have noticed is the current competition between chain grocery stores and local healthy stores. Living in Northern VA, there are a lot of grocery stores to choose from. We have the chain grocery stores, such as Safeway, Giant, and Food Lion. We also have a lot of the healthier grocery stores, such as Whole Foods, Wegmans, and Trader Joes. These are still chain grocery stores, but they are more expensive and often carry organic food. I think that the type of people that shop at each grocery store shows the social stratification within our society. For example, at Trader Joes, there are usually upper-middle class people shopping there. This is more evidence that social class still does matter today in the U.S.