Marriage and Social Class Essay

Many cultures categorize their society according to wealth, power, education, religion, ethnicity and occupation. These differences usually draw the lines that not all are willing to cross for different reasons. In America, the consequences when crossing classes are usually implemented by an individual’s family and peers. If a person decides to date or marry someone of a lower class, the immediate concern would be if the person of a lower class is interested for monetary gain whereas, the person of a lower class may be concerned if they would be treated as an equal in the relationship. With these problems present the courtship or marriage could be domed from the beginning or made to work harder at leveling the playing field. I believe love in lower class groups build their foundation on love where relationships are concerned simply because high expectations are not placed upon them and they are free to love whomever their hearts desire. In the marriage market, characteristics such as income, education and occupation are key definitive qualities when looking for a perspective life long companion. In addition, the tendency of individuals to marry others with similar traits has important implications for social inequality, income redistribution and education. However, there is still little understanding about what generates this assertive matching. One possibility is that people like to follow horizontal preferences when choosing a spouse to share similar characteristics of their own. This approach is believed to provide the security of longevity in love. However, sometimes people will experience an attraction to someone outside their social class whether it’s above or below but not always follow through due to fear of failure or rejection from family and peers. According to Karl Marx, one percent of the population is considered upper class and their wealth is generally inherited. Members of this particular class are perceived as snobs by the lower classes because they tend to look down at anyone outside their circle. This group does not have to work but often serve as board of directors of major companies and they are careful to only socialize with peers of an elite group. In most cases, parents with young children are thinking ahead as to who would be a good match and what social events to come would provide excellent choices of companionship. Their expectations would be for their children to select a person of equal or greater than the wealth of their own. In many cases, if a selection of a lower class is the choice of an immediate family member there would be great consequences including releasing them from all or most of the family’s wealth. Some would perceive the choice as rebellious and some may feel that it’s simply true love. If a person is made to feel that options are limited it may be an act of rebellious. However, if they stumble across a person they feel a connection with and is able to communicate on a level of satisfaction than the ability to proceed should be encouraged. Too often, members of the upper class enter the union of marriage because it meet or exceed the expectation of family and peers and later become unhappy with their choice. When this happens, they are reluctant to free themselves in fear of what others would think. Women in most marriages of the upper class are unhappy because the husband is usually away from the home on extended stays for multiple reasons. To fill the void of their husbands’ temporary absenteeism, they will keep themselves busy with charities, hobbies and the children if they are not away in boarding school. Although the divorce rate is low for this class infidelity is high. Because this class is very much secluded from the others, persons on the outside believe they must be happy in love assuming the problems of the lower class would not be an issue due to their wealth. In fact, many of the same problems exist such as communication, loneliness and loyalty to name a few. However, the upper middle class makes up approximately ten percent of the U. S. population and are successful business people, executives and high ranking civil and military officials (Long 2010). This group acquires their wealth from investments, savings and little of their wealth is inherited. The possibility of marriage within these groups is very likely to have longevity, mostly because it is expected of them although happiness with their spouse may not last the duration of the union.