In our current society, it is acceptable to talk about race or gender. However, when it comes to the subject of class, people tend to tense, and are uncertain as to where they stand. At one time in history money afforded prestige and power, however now, money is a large part of our society and tends to rule many peoples lives. In the book Where We Stand: Class Matters, by bell hooks, she describes a life growing up in a family who had nothing, to now becoming one of America’s most admired writers. She wrote this book because she wanted to write about her journey from a working class world to class-consciousness, and how we are challenged everyday with the widening gap between the rich and the poor. In her book, hook’s describes a life dominated by the haunting issues of money, race, and class.Looking at this from the different perspectives of a functionalist, symbolic interactionist, and conflict helps to show other points of view. If you were to look at this book from a functionalist’s perspective you would be looking at it from an extremely greedy aspect. A functionalist would say that their parents and society told them that only people with money were good and successful. Thus, causing you to feel like “trash” or class if you did not make a huge salary, and live a wealthy life. A symbolic interactionist would tell you that they grew up where all of their peers drove nice cars, and had large homes, so to fit in, you need to be able to buy those things. However, a person with a conflict point of view would say that it was her ongoing struggle with society, and having to defend her class, that has made her who she is today. There are many ‘norms’ and values expressed throughout hook’s writing. In the early part of the twentieth century survival belonged to the fittest. Not necessarily meaning fittest as ‘strongest,’ but able to produce, work hard, and make a secure life for ...
