Chapter+08+Social+Stratification

Class System- Social stratification based on both birth and personal achievement.
 * Jessica is in a higher class system than Clive because she was born into a family that has money and she also has achieved more than Clive has.

Relative Poverty-refers to the deprivation of some people in relation to those who have more.
 * Clive would be perceived as poor in comparison to Jessica, her friends, and their families because in comparison to them he doesn’t have anything.

Proletarians- people who sell their labor for wages. Wealth- the total value of money and other asests, minus outstanding debts
 * There are many people who are proletarians in the movie, when Jessica is in the body of Clive she gets a job as the school janitor and also works as a gardener at her own house.
 * In the movie you can see the Spencer family's wealth by the size of their house and expensive cars.

Social Mobility- A change in position within the social hierarchy. Caste System- Social stratification based on ascription, or birth. Meritocracy- Social stratification based on personal merit. Ideology- Cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangements.
 * When Jessica is turned into Clive she went from being a well off teenager to someone who could be considered a "bum" in some sense and has therefore gone down a class or two.
 * In the store where Madame Mambazo is giving the girls the background story of the ancient earrings she describes a society in which a princess was being forced to marry a man that she did not want to marry so she then uses the earrings to switch places with a poor slave girl. This ancient society is an example of a caste system because the slaves are born into slavery and the princess was born a princess.
 * Jessica's mother is a stay at home mother who takes care of the family life. Her father on the other hand has a job to provide for the family. Stan is always well dressed and in most scenes in a suit showing that he has worked hard to be where he is today.
 * In the flashback to the ancient society where the earrings originate a princess is being forced to marry a prince, this arranged marriage is accepted in their society and is therefore part of their ideology.