Worlds Of Pain Analysis

In "Worlds Of Pain/ Life in the Working-Class Family", Lillian Rubin observes that "the family as an institution is both oppressive and protective and, depending on the issue, is experienced sometimes one way, sometimes the other -- often in some mix of the two -- by most people who live in families." ( Rubin, Worlds of Pain, p. 6 ) It is my assessment that in working-class families the institution functions in both ways, but is more often oppressive than it is protective. The basis of this oppression in the working-class is the increased saliency of cultural "reproduction" when compared to other classes, and those misguided ideas that were intended to protect; often end up limiting social mobility. It is the individuals that break away from …show more content…
Before children enter the school system or become exposed to popular culture, they are exposed to the family culture they are born into. Children start to learn about economics when they see their parents purchase certain items, they begin to form memories of what their parents bought, and hence, placed value on. Children learn about values and marriage from their parents first, as a young child. Under the theory of interactionism we recognize that family shapes society; and society shapes family. Under this logic there is a unique set of demands on each individual class -- including the demands of the working-class family to shape a core of ideas that offer some protection from the ills of society. Because there is more uncertainty in a working-class family than there is in a middle or upperclass family, the values that are believed to offer protection are communicated in a stronger way to the family members than would be in a more affluent …show more content…
Lillian Rubin contends that this is a function of why men are often more authoritative in working-class families than they are in middle-class families. There is a significant difference in the male role in the work force according to social class that is described as such, "Thus, for men in working-class families, one of the major problems in work centers on jobs that require too little commitment of self; among professional middle-class men, the problem stems from jobs that require too much." The well defined, strict roles of the working-class provides for an escape from the uncertainties and detachments of the outside world for men. It is in essence a "fantasy", an escape from reality -- a reality that can seem unavoidable. The man is not the only family member that participates in fantasy. According to Rubin, " As the conversation continues, however, the stories they tell about how they met and why they married are inconsistent with those firstCom socially acceptable responses." From digging deeper into the interview process in her research for "Worlds of Pain", Rubin began to realize that many of the women told a different story of how they were courted by their husband than they initially did. Another words, their initial story was not based in reality, but rather a fantasy for how they would like to remember