In today’s world, how much money you make will affect your social standing. This is illustrated in Liliana Heker’s short story, “The Stolen Party”. This story focuses on classism. Specifically, it’s important to note that classism can be hard to eradicate because it’s so deeply ingrained within society. This is the practice of treating people differently based upon their perceived class. This is an important concept in our modern society, as classism can be compared to attitudes and behaviours that express sexism or racism towards someone. This can happen by either excluding someone from the lower social classes, making them feel insignificant or stereotyping. Poor people are often stereotyped as lazy. People who are from the lowest social classes and have the least education are considered lazy and refuse to work hard to climb the ladder. These individuals work hard but are often looked down on because they are of the lower classes. The short version is that Rosaura worked tirelessly for Luciana’s birthday. This thinking is similar with other forms of oppression and bias, which have been around for long and are difficult to eradicate. Senora Ines made Rosaura feel inferior by giving her a dollar bill. It made it clear that Rosaura wasn’t a servant and that she was not worth anything. Higher class people often discriminate or prejudice those less fortunate than them, even if they don’t say a word. This makes the wealthy feel superior and gives them more control. Classism creates the preconceived notion that people in the top classes are smarter and more creative than people in the bottom. This gives them the ability to judge poor people and dictate their behavior.
Finally, people at the top of the social ladder tend to exclude those from the lower classes. This is because they believe the poor are different from them. Luciana’s aunt didn’t like Rosaura interacting with the children and other kids simply because she was the wife of the worker. Many times, the wealthy don’t want to be associated with or acknowledge those less fortunate in order to maintain their dominance. Despite their shared beliefs and ideas, the wealthy tend to be less inclined to recognize those less fortunate and create the distinction between the rich and the poor.
People have looked at the economic status and education of their family, as well as their job status, over time. The society must eradicate classism, which remains a major problem. It is difficult to overcome social class because everyone is required to define society’s stereotypes. Classism is everywhere, whether in school, at work, or in the media. The only way to address the problem is to recognize it and act quickly.
