Hierarchies
In my life, I participate in maintaining hierarchies in more ways the one. First off, I am categorized in a social hierarchy because I am a female. Especially at Milken, boys feel like they are better than the girls and many times treat them in an inferior way. For example, I feel like I am very knowledgeable about things like basketball, music and politics but every time I try to express an opinion on any of those topics to a Milken boy, they brush me off and make me feel like my opinion does not matter. I am not looked at as an equal solely based off my gender and because I never speak up to defend myself and the fellow girls that go to my school, I maintain the hierarchy of men acting/feeling superior to women. This relates to the chapter “Anti-Gay Stereotypes” when the author discusses stereotypes that are made to keep people following strict and traditional gender roles, one of the stereotypes being that men's opinions matter more than those of women.
To add, I also contribute to maintaing a financial hierarchy. In the chapter “Media Magic” the author wrote about how middle class people read fashion magazines and act as if they can afford to buy the 2,000 dollar dress in the picture to blend in with the upper class.
Being someone from the upper/middle class, I obviously do not spend $2,000 on dresses, but my clothes are more pricey than others and I try to dress and present myself in a very upper class type way, so I do reinforce the hierarchy of richer people dressing in a way that seems/is more expensive, even though I do not have to. Not only that but I drive a nice car, live in a good size home… which all contributes to my wealthy status and stature in a finical hierarchy.
