The Haves and Have-Nots: Exploring Class Stereotypes & Inequities in YAL

While racism and sexism have been thoroughly discussed for decades, classism remains ignored and largely denied.  Classism refers to unequal treatment as a result of social class or perceived social class.  Often, classism is also tied to racism and sexism.  In a time of unemployment in which the Occupy protests take reign and metaphorical war is declared between the 99% and the 1%, it is just as relevant as ever to explore the nature of social classes and the disparities among them.

Though class inequality is a controversial subject, it is an important one.  Today’s schools strive to embrace diversity, and students with low socioeconomic status comprise a marginalized group that is largely underrepresented and ignored.  Few will argue that each individual should earn his/her privileges, but to what extent does this ideology hold true?  Does everyone have an equal playing field?  By exploring literature through the lens of social class, students can examine their own roles in society and evaluate how much control they truly have over their futures and dreams.  A unit of instruction such as this practices essential critical thinking and reflection.

The texts provided below describe various aspects of social class and privilege.  To provide classes with an overarching view of the subject, each should be supplemented appropriately.  Because this topic can be very controversial with the current political climate, a teacher should approach it with caution, remembering to stay neutral and let the literature guide students to their own views.  With one or more of these texts, students can explore the following essential questions:

• Can everyone attain their dreams with a little hard work?
• Does everyone have equal opportunities?  Even so, do they have an equal playing field?
• What promotes social elevation?  What prevents this?
• To what degree does American culture attempt to maintain the status quo in terms of class?
• What stereotypes are associated with lower and upper classes?

   1. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

"They do surgery in the Capitol, to make people appear younger and thinner. In District 12, looking old is something of an achievement since so many people die early. You see an elder person, you want to congratulate them on their longevity, ask the secret of survival. A plump person is envied because they aren't scraping by like the majority of us. But here it is different. Wrinkles aren't desirable. A round belly isn't a sign of success."

In a post-apocalyptic North America, the governing Capitol tries to quench any spirit of rebellion in the outlying 12 districts by hosting an annual Hunger Games. A boy and a girl between ages 12 and 18 in each District are chosen at random to participate in this fight to the death.  Katniss Everdeen volunteers as District 12 Tribute in place of her younger sister.  If she wants to return to her family, she must survive, and she unknowingly sparks rebellion in the process.  The fast-paced plot will engage reluctant readers.  Themes of hunting, survival, friendship, family, and romance will appeal to adolescent readers of all kinds.  

In terms of class inequalities, this text is rich in its presence and related commentary.  Poverty increases with District number, with District 1 and 2 being the wealthiest and District 12 the poorest.  Katniss has to hunt illegally to ensure her family’s survival.  This wealth disparity carries over into the Games.  The Career Tributes from Districts 1 and 2 and healthy, nourished, and strong, giving them an advantage in combat over the thin, malnourished Tributes from other Districts.  Additionally, success in the Games is dependent on gifts of food, medicine, and supply from sponsors.  The wealthier Districts are able to send higher quality donations more frequently to their Tributes than other Districts.  Additionally, the strength and ability of Tributes from wealthier Districts are more likely to win the favor of sponsors from the Capitol, while Katniss and Peetah, Tributes from poverty-stricken District 12, are not expected to win, and are therefore hard-pressed to gain Capitol sponsors.  One of the most significant evidence of class disparity lay with the tesserae.  All potential Tributes ages 12-18 in the Districts must enter their name for the Reaping as many times as their years participating; in their first year, a person will enter their name once, and twice in their second.  With the tesserae a person can receive shipments of grain in exchange for entering their name extra times.  Therefore, poorer families are more likely to have children chosen to risk their lives in the Hunger Games than wealthy families.

Through the lens of The Hunger Games, students may consider the nature of privilege, how it is attained, and how it discriminates. Students may examine the pros and cons of life in each district and the Capitol, debate the fairness of the tesserae, and determine how each social class and/or district origin leads to advantages and disadvantages in the Games.  Teachers may connect the text to the Occupy movements in America and current claims of the presence of class warfare, the 99% vs. the 1%.  The class may examine the economic implications of their own community to determine how they would be benefited or disadvantaged if subjected to the Hunger Games.

    2. Theories of Relativity by Barbara Haworth-Attard

"I hold out my hand and debate smiling, then go for the cold, pleading look instead. 'Any spare change for a hot drink?' I ask… That takes me aback. It’s usually the middle-aged guys, bellies straining shirt buttons, foreheads creased with the realization that half their lives are gone and the next half won’t be any better, who say that to me. They jab a finger at me as they talk. 'I work for my money.” Jab. “I don’t sit around expecting a free ride.' Jab, jab."

Sixteen-year old Dylan is living on the streets after being thrown out by his selfish and impulsive mother.  With only a backpack and a sleeping bag, Dylan tries to survive each day by panhandling for a small meal and claiming a storefront doorway to sleep at night.  Through his plight Dylan encounters other street kids, some who have run away from abusive families, and others who left for freedom and independence, and some like Dylan who are on the streets through no choice of their own.  This novel follows Dylan in his efforts to maintain pride and self-worth, when easily-available ventures involving drugs and prostitution are quicker means to survival.  Adolescent readers are guaranteed to be drawn to the Dylan’s strong-willed nature and identify with his troubled family life, peer-pressure with drugs, and desire for love, acceptance, and guidance.

            The novel attempts to challenge stereotypes surrounding poverty and homelessness, depicting it as an endless, tragic cycle.  Dylan stands outside an office building asking for spare change to buy food to get him through the day.  Most passersby avoid him or glance at him in disgust.  Several accuse him of being lazy and trying to get a free ride through life.  They demand he get a job; however, Dylan has attended a number of job interviews only to be turned away because of his dirty appearance.  A number of the street kids have not succumbed to this state because of drug addiction, but turn to drugs to escape their painful reality.  Drug use places them in debt with dealers, keeping them on the street longer.  Many turn to prostitution to pay their debts or to quickly earn money for a hot meal or place to sleep.  Dylan escapes this life at the end because he has, by chance, met a man with money who is dedicated to helping street kids and willing to give him a job.  It is Dylan who had to make the decision to change his lifestyle by accepting the offer, but one may argue that without outside assistance Dylan may not have had the power to help himself despite his strong drive.

            When using this novel in a classroom it may be helpful to begin with a pre-reading discussion about the nature of homelessness: How do people become homeless?  Who is responsible?  Students may revisit these questions after reading the novel to debunk their own misconceptions and stereotypes.  Personal accounts of homelessness or a relevant guest speaker or youth center representative may effectively supplement this novel and provide a more real and universal perspective.

    3.Wither by Lauren DeStefano

"House Governors own mansions. They purchase brides from Gatherers, who patrol the streets looking for ideal candidates to kidnap. The merciful ones will sell the rejects into prostitution. The ones I encountered herded them into the van and shot them all."

Set in a future America, genetic engineering intended to extend lifespan has shortened it dramatically.  Men are programmed to die at 25 and women at 20.  Because of low mortality rates, women are valued solely for their reproductive capabilities to maintain the species and provide experimental babies for potential antidotes.  Sixteen-year old Rhine is kidnapped by the Gatherers and sold as one of three brides to a wealthy House Governor.  If she wants to escape and return to her twin brother, she is going to have to deceive her new husband into favoring her.  Only the trusted First Wives are allowed off the guarded mansion-grounds into the public arena where chances of escape are slim, but at least possible.  This text begins a trilogy that is likened to The Handmaid’s Tale but more appropriate to a teen audience.  Adolescent readers may be both intrigued and horrified by the idea that the prime of their life is also the end, and all will be drawn to the intrigue and conspiracy inherent in the plot.  As Linden, Rhine’s husband, is depicted as naïve and ignorant of how Rhine came to him, and as Gabriel, a domestic, becomes committed to Rhine’s pan for escape, male readers will not be turned away by any anti-male attitudes.  This text can be described more as humanist in this fashion than feminist.  The female narrator, the issue of women’s rights, and a subtle romance will appeal to young female readers. 

Within this society, class is determined by traditional wealth, but wealth is acquired in ways dependent on age, gender, and appearance.  First Generation citizens received successful genetic engineering treatments to prolong their natural lives; it was with their descendants that the treatment went awry and became a permanent life sentence.  Because of this, the First Generation make up the elite because their lengthened lifespans have allowed for the accumulation of money.  Next in line are the House Governors, living male descendants of the First Generation who have access to their parents’ money and power while they live.  The House Governors, like Rhine’s husband, have a freedom to education, travel, and marriage to as many wives as they desire.  Governors’ wives are those women beautiful enough to be chosen as partners by the House Governors.  Their status provides them with protection from the outside world, a beautiful home, abundant food, and access to art, literature, and music; however, they may not leave the mansion grounds.  Only the First Wife, the favorite wife, has this privilege, though she can only leave the grounds accompanied by her husband.  In the lower ranks of this social structure are male and female domestic servants to the Governors and regular citizens working in factories and businesses.  The women of this class are in danger of abduction to be sold as brides or prostitutes, both to prolong the human race and provide distraction from the depressing reality of a short life.  Women not beautiful enough to be brides are sold into prostitution.  At times, they are killed.

This novel may easily lead into instruction about the implications of gender on social status and the effects of pressing social needs on class divisions, such as the need for children in this scenario.  While reading this book, students may find it enlightening to examine similar treatment of women as second class citizens historically and traces of it today.  This novel may also provide basis for discussion on the gray areas surrounding social classes.  It is often assumed the lives of the poor are always unbearable and those of the wealthy are always perfect, but this novel suggests otherwise.  Common women in Wither may live in constant fear and survive day by day, but they have freedom to pursue their interests and be with their families.  Governor’s wives may have food, shelter, and protection, but they are physical prisoners and are fated to a life of child rearing.  Students may wish to debate the benefits and drawback of each class of this society and their own.

 AD: New Orleans after the Deluge by Josh Neufeld

"What these idiots don’t realize is that when the evacuations were called it was only the 26^th. If someone was waiting for a paycheck slated to come today—the first of the month—they weren’t going to see it…when you take for granted you can hop on a computer and make a reservation at a Hilton five hundred miles away it’s pretty easy to forget what it’s like to be a have-not."

This nonfiction graphic novel depicts five different experiences of New Orleans residents during Hurricane Katrina.  The novel follows each account from hours before the storm struck to the aftermath.  Together, the perspectives follow the decisions to stay or evacuate, touch upon the chaos of sheltering at the Superdome, describe escaping the flood on the roof of a supermarket, recounts providing refuge to others, and suggest the horrors of returning home to find all precious belongings destroyed.  While this novel features adult characters, the highly visual format will appeal to adolescent readers, especially reluctant ones.  Also, many adolescent readers may identify with the fear of losing one’s home and possessions and the family bonds that develop as a result of tragedy.

This graphic novel depicts how tragedies emphasize class disparities that are otherwise seemingly nonexistent.  Richer neighborhoods are better prepared for the flood, and some turn away refugees from poorer neighborhoods.  The wealthy can evacuate New Orleans at short notice and easily afford a place to stay.  One informant of this novel makes a point to mention that if she had evacuated at the earliest convenience, she would have missed work and would have been unable to pay her rent.  In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the poor are set back by the loss of property and possessions, and the long awaited FEMA check is not enough to make up for lost time and restart small businesses.  Because the wealthy do not dependent on an insufficient FEMA check they are more likely to get quickly back on track with their lives.

Because a short graphic novel attempted to cover five different perspectives cannot go into great depth, instruction with this novel is best if supplemented with more thorough accounts, especially in regards to discrimination targeting people taking shelter at the Superdome.  Classes may wish to use a flow chart to map out how socioeconomic status leads to different predicaments following a tragedy.  Because Hurricane Katrina happened so recently, classes could also read, view, or conduct interviews with those who were displaced by the hurricane.

      In Time (2011)

"I don't have time. I don't have time to worry about how it happened. It is what it is. We're genetically engineered to stop aging at twenty five. The trouble is, we live only one more year, unless we can get more time. Time is now the currency. We earn it and spend it. The rich can live forever and the rest of us? I just wanna wake up with more time on my hand than hours in the day."

In a future where people are genetically engineered to stop aging at 25, people have to earn more time if they want to continue living.  Time is the currency, and people die when their time runs out.  Will Salas works minute to minute in a factory and lives in the ghettos, where each citizen is lucky to have a full 24 hours left to their life and the public is preyed upon by a gang called the Minutemen who steal time.  By chance, Will encounters 105 year old Henry Hamilton who is tired of living and repulsed by the fact that others have died before their natural death while he continues to live.  While Will sleeps, Hamilton transfers 116 years to him and runs out of time.  Will uses his newfound wealth to prolong the lives of those he loves and his neighbors, though those who want to maintain the status quo do what they can to end this.  All viewers, including adolescents will be drawn to the action, intrigue, and fight for justice.

In this film, society is divided by social class as those in similar predicaments are confined to the same neighborhoods called Time Zones.  The poor live in ghettos that are largely made up of the young because people struggle to earn enough time to eat, pay for everyday needs, and live.  The rich live in more luxurious Time Zones, and though they look 25, they are all elderly with centuries and even millennia at their disposal.  It costs time to move between Time Zones, and because the poor cannot even acquire enough time to live comfortably, it is nearly impossible to ascend in class and move to another Time Zone.  Furthermore, officials called Time Keepers are charged with maintaining the status quo.  When Will acquires a century overnight, he immediately travels to the most affluent Time Zone.  The Time Keepers are alerted to this and quickly try to rectify it, as the presence of a man from the ghetto unsettles the wealthy.

In In Time time, money, and life are all intertwined in a complex metaphor.  A class viewing this film through a classism lens may wish to discuss how essential American currency is for life, and/or for quality of life.  Students may also wish to explore current tax policies and other legislation to determine to what degree social elevation is prevented by our own community, just as the Time Keepers in the film are meant to maintain the status quo.  This investigation would address the question of whether or not all people truly do have equal opportunities.

    6. Tell Us We’re Home by Marina Budhos

"Being the daughter of a maid or nanny, it wasn’t like everyone was so bad or mean or stupid. It was just weird. You knew your mother put extra bleach in the underwear of some girl who was walking up the aisle at assembly in her best corduroy jumper dress. Or those shoes you wore were hand-me-downs from the kid in the grade above you, and you just prayed she didn’t notice."

Jaya, Maria, and Lola are immigrants living in small apartments in a wealthy suburb of New Jersey.  All three are the daughters of maids and nannies, and they go to school with the children of the families they work for.  The girls struggle to fit in with their classmates because of racial differences, language barriers, and poverty, shown through their homes and clothes.  The disparity widens when Jaya’s mother is accused of stealing from her employer.  This novel is likely to appeal to young readers with its themes of friendship and belonging.  Diverse students may especially identify with the girls’ struggle as minorities.

This novel looks at social class through the lens of race.  Within this novel, the lower class is largely made up of ethnic minorities and immigrants, largely Mexican.  The upper-class seems to be made up solely of white American lawyers, doctors, and business owners.  This upper class has immense power over the lower class as they determine the presence and nature of their employment.  Though Jaya’s mother did not steal her employer’s brooch, she is fired immediately from the slightest suspicion, with little consideration that the job is the family’s sole source of income.

This novel may best be paired with literature depicting urban situations to reinforce the relationship between social class and race.  Because the father of one of the characters left his presidency at a company to unemployment in America, students discuss potential reasons for social class.  They may map each family’s socioeconomic status from their native countries to that in the US in the novel and discuss possible reasons for this shift.  Tell us We’re Home is also effectively coupled with investigation into the controversy over illegal immigration in the United States.  What is our rationale for rejecting immigrants and pushing them into the roles of second class citizens?  A class could develop a Venn diagram comparing the privileges of a U.S. citizen in America with those of immigrants and discuss the reasons for and fairness of disparities.

     7. I Hadn’t Meant to Tell you This by Jaqueline Woodson

"'I’m whitetrash,' Lena said flatly, as though she had said this a hundred thousand times before or maybe heard it from a hundred thousand people. 'Whitetrash,' she said again, softer, as if the words were sinking in, finding a home somewhere inside of her."

In this short novel, Marie, a middle class suburban African American girl, and Lena, a poor white girl, are drawn to friendship because they both lack mothers.  They befriend each other in eighth grade, to the resistance of their peers.  The rest of the school designates Lena as “white trash” and unworthy of friendship.  Marie and Lena, however, surpass race and class lines.  Their friendship deepens to the point wherein Lena confides in Marie her molestation at the hands of her father.  This novel confronts the stereotype held by many today in the U.S. in which African Americans are associated with poverty and white people associated with wealth.  By turning the stereotype around, we are able to question its existence.  Adolescent readers will be drawn into the simplicity and natural flow of the prose.  Lena and Marie’s friendship is deep and sincere, and both of their desires to belong is one that will resonate with many of a similar age.

            Before, during, and after reading this text, students should journal about their perceptions of socioeconomic class in terms of race.  In this way they can identify their own misconceptions and map shifting views.  These journal reflections may also include recollections of experiences being judged due to perceived social class or confessions of instances judging others on these same lines.

    8. www.classism.org

Classism.org is website established to spread awareness of unequal treatment based on social class or perceived social class.  It provides a definition of classism, describes why classism matters today, provides links to topics relating to classism in the news, and hosts a blog in which contributors describe observed instances of class inequality and privilege or recount their own experiences.

Before reading any texts through the lens of the class inequities, students may be best served exploring this site to understand why social class is an existing issue.  After exploring this website, students may journal or blog about any condescension or privilege inequities they have observed or experienced personally.  With the upcoming elections, teachers can guide students in exploring the stances of presidential candidates and the degree of classism in their proposed plans.  To provide a more thorough perspective, students should research rationale for the denial of the existence of classism and class inequalities.  Depending on the students’ reception of the idea, as it is controversial, the class may decide to participate in spreading awareness of classism or taking action according to the advice of this website.