During last week's Sociology classes, that discussed social stratification, I remembered my holiday to the U.K that summer. It didn't just cross my mind nonchalantly, it came to mind as I thought of Cleethorpes beach in Grimsby, and how I can actually apply social stratification to my family excursion.
I've been to that beach ever since I was little, always the same kind of people doing the same mundane things that people do on the beach. However, after learning about social classes I realized that the people who go to this particular beach are of a certain social class. The majority of the people to this particular beach have certain life chances. They don't live in a big city, they aren't as exposed to the outer world as those who live in the capital. To them Cleethorpes is a great place to relax or take their children, plus it's free.
The fact that these people are only capable of going to this beach as opposed to, say, the French Riviera shows social inequality. Some people are born into ascribed statuses that allow them to go elsewhere for fun in the sun. The status value of the people who I have observed on the beach is not that of the upper class. In general the people who were at this particular beach were clearly of lower middle class, or even the working class. It is clear from the way that they dress (minus the fact they are in beachwear), the way that the talk, and what they actually do on the beach.
There isn’t a lot of social prestige associated with Cleethorpes, but at the end of the day it is just a beach like any other beach, but it’s the stratification that goes on in society that associates certain places, or activities with certain people. Cleethorpes is a child friendly beach, with the tradition English beach pastime of riding the donkeys still in practice. You wouldn’t necessarily find this on a much more prestigious beach. The only people who actually sunbathe are usually the parents of the children, and opposed to the usual teenage crowd that is associated with beaches this particular beach is family oriented.
Social stratification of the different classes can be found everywhere. Certain people eat at certain restaurants that others don’t, some people drive secondhand cars as opposed to new ones, and some people go to Cleethorpes for their little weekend holiday while others might go to France. It’s a funny world that we live in, where not everyone is born with the same chances of living the lifestyle they dream because of social restrictions, or limitation. It is important to note that just because these people spend their time on this beach, doesn’t mean that they aren’t capable of being socially mobile and striving for a better lifestyle. All it means is one question: do they want to move up the social ladder so desperately that they’d give up the simple things they enjoy in life?
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