Symbolic Interaction Theory Paper

Interactionism social stratification links stereotypes to social class and self-esteem. Everyone strives for that American dream to have the nicest house, car, or clothes. The media amplifies these ideas that the material things will make us happier. The wealthy like to show off their wealth boosting their self-esteem (Zastow, 2014). There used to be a show called, MTV Cribs, where the elite and rich let cameras into their homes showing off everything they had. The rich are shown in a positive light not making them any happier, but it showed their place in the social order. On the other hand, the poor are shown in the media negatively. Individuals receiving some type of government assistance through social media memes are made joking about them buying new shoes, clothes, hair and nails done, but are supposedly broke. Poverty happens because some individuals have no sense of money control and need instant gratification when they do come into some money (Golash, 2015). If you have ever known someone like this, then it is obvious it does not make them a bad person just bad with money. …show more content…
I believe that we do give people too much power to influence our lives. People create and learn behaviors through society. The learned behaviors can be pasted down from our parents or through interactions with other people in our culture. In today’s society media is everywhere, television or social media, and this is another form of how people to learn. I believe that the media influences our behaviors greatly. The idea placed in society of the reason why one lives in poverty is because they caused it themselves, this idea needs to change. These types of ideas come from upper and middle classes that place these ideas onto others. I believe that society does create who we are and how we