Imagine a man in tattered blue jeans. He’s dirty, overweight and his butt crack is showing. This is how American comedy views the blue collar worker.
Somehow blue collar workers have become the butt of white collar jokes. Their jobs, values and families are denigrated for the benefit of the upper class.
People working these “dirty jobs” are deemed culturally inferior to those in non-trade professions. White collar workers are considered to be more intelligent, and thus more reliable and worthy of media representation.
Although trade workers deserve our respect, in popular culture they’re instead portrayed as stupid, obese, poor, sleazy, lazy and rude.
These portrayals have real world consequences such as lowering interest for young people entering the workforce.
According to a study by The Wall Street Journal, apprenticeship programs declined 40 percent between 2003 and 2013.
Young people are pushed to go to college instead of joining a trade workforce, but that route doesn’t work for everyone. According to National Student Clearinghouse, only 55 percent of those who enter undergraduate studies graduate within six years.
Higher education isn’t for everyone, and it shouldn’t have to be. However, because trade jobs are viewed as lowly or dirty, society doesn’t encourage young people to seek trade work.
Trade workers have to go through extensive certification programs. For instance, River Parishes Community College in Sorrento, Louisiana, offers technical and trade certifications in welding, carpentry, business technology and automotive technology.
Staffing agency, Adecco predicts a shortage of trade workers as the baby boomers retire, which could devastate the economy. The work that trade workers do is crucial to a variety of other industries.
Blue collar workers deserve to be treated with respect by the media elite, and Americans need to understand that Kevin James doesn’t represent the average trade worker. A more accurate representative is Mike Rowe, the host of “Dirty Jobs” and “Somebody’s Gotta Do It.”
Even the titles of Rowe’s shows, which exist to praise the blue collar worker, are demeaning. Somebody doesn’t have to do it, but somebody should want to.
It’s time that Hollywood realizes accurate representation matters, and blue-collar workers deserve it.
Abbie Shull is a 23-year-old mass communication junior from St. Louis, Missouri.