Middle class identifiers 2022

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I read a similar thread a few years ago & the main middle class markers were hummus, organic food, private education, boden, ski trips etc, farrow & ball..
Are these unchanged for 2022 or have the identifiers shifted?
Since the pandemic I've seen a rise in the "hipster" style MC especially the men, maybe the working from home has allowed them to relax into the unshaven, casual look which wasn't there a few years ago...
Private education seems to be on the wane but that may be due to the cost of living..
Any other main MC identifiers I missed?

I agree, but the British hierarchical class system doesnt recognise that.

Working with your hands has historically been considered beneath working with your mind (which in turn was beneath not having to work at all) in the British class structure. Being "in trade" was seen as inferior.

It all comes down to 💷💷💷 at the end of the day. Not having to work at means you're minted, which in our class structure = "classy". Never mind that fact that you inherited the wealth through no personal effort or merit, and might well be a dreadful dullard....

@TeaAddict235 😆Thank you!

I don't know about trades and craftspeople being 'below' professionals. I think having a craft and practical skills (and the ability to market them) is pretty damn classy.

*I agree, but the British hierarchical class system doesnt recognise that.

Working with your hands has historically been considered beneath working with your mind (which in turn was beneath not having to work at all) in the British class structure. Being "in trade" was seen as inferior.*

Although ironically the upper classes would be far more likely to get misty eyed about trades and crafts and consider them as noble and interesting occupations, rather than the necessary but very dull doctors, lawyers, accountants etc...

@AnnieSnap Not all that unusual for the mental strain of a professional job to cause mental health constraints and seriously limit earning power.

@sunglassesonthetable and @dillydally24 . Yes, I have an axe to grind about class. If you think you were having a nice time and being non-judgemental, that’s because you weren’t really discussing people’s social class, you were discussing the fashion and lifestyles of groups of people. In that context, it is unhelpful to pigeonhole them into a social class in the first place - people will recognise the groups you are discussing without benefiting from being told that these markers mean these groups of people are middle class.

You only have to read this thread to see how ridiculous it is to try to pin specific behaviours and trends to one social class, as you end up with people wasting their time trying to assess how middle or working class they are in accordance with these artificial “class markers,” or even rejecting out of hand entire styles of music, fashion, art, career or culture for fear of being labelled as belonging to a class they have been brought up to resent or look down on.

It seems to be compulsory to own a stand up paddle board and/or an inflatable kayak.

Increasingly aware of people owning little holiday hut type things near the coast, assuming because a proper second home has become too expensive.

I thought white cars were all company cars - its base spec colour. You have to pay extra for different colours, and employers don't do that.

Absolutely! Never understood the way some people look down on someone with a trade. I've always favoured a talented and clever person building and fixing things around my house - I value what they do enormously.

Aren't Teslas the NHS company car of choice? I see Tesla, I think NHS worker with company car allowance

Class really is the last bastion of discrimination in this country.

I thought I was the bees knees when I got into university… what with having had a part time job, playing an instrument and having completed my Duke of Ed.

But I came across these completely unheard of things called gap years, internships and training contracts. And by the time I’d figured out what the hell they were, it was too late for me to do any of them.

And in conversations with randoms at uni… well I never got very far with that… because I wasn’t horsey, sporty or brilliantly musical. I’d been on holiday but never ‘travelled’, no one have ever heard of the town I came from let alone the school. I wore things from supermarkets, not the quiet, cool brands. As a young adult I never had any idea which wine to order, I had a hulking great student loan to pay off. Despite being young and bright in my first years as a professional, I was outside of the circles of my colleagues who were very much into private schooling, second homes, fancy extensions and going to villas in obscure places in Europe in holiday, as they were much older than me.

And my life is still like this somewhat. I can hold my own professionally and in conversation, but I’ve clearly never quite been enough for some people. And my DH has a trade, which I think many people dislike!!

Everyone who has had PCP Land Rovers/Range Rovers the last few years now seem to be switching to Teslas now in their new cycle.

On @VerveClique - similar experience here. Plus that conversation in freshers week where every other person asked me what school I'd been to. Errrr... an anonymous comprehensive in the the back end of beyond. Which wasn't the right answer and quickly railroaded the conversation! The questioner was trying to make connections... my cousin went to Radley, or my dad went to Eton/some minor public school in Dorset.

*Yes, I have an axe to grind about class. If you think you were having a nice time and being non-judgemental, that’s because you weren’t really discussing people’s social class, you were discussing the fashion and lifestyles of groups of people. In that context, it is unhelpful to pigeonhole them into a social class in the first place - people will recognise the groups you are discussing without benefiting from being told that these markers mean these groups of people are middle class.

You only have to read this thread to see how ridiculous it is to try to pin specific behaviours and trends to one social class, as you end up with people wasting their time trying to assess how middle or working class they are in accordance with these artificial “class markers,” or even rejecting out of hand entire styles of music, fashion, art, career or culture for fear of being labelled as belonging to a class they have been brought up to resent or look down on.*

ODFOD

@Walkaround

It’s an interesting subject for sure. I’m never sure where I fit. So much of it is relative and about the perceptions of others - I know some of my friends regard me as ‘posh’ while I’m sure others do not at all 😅 I have a fairly nondescript accent, but with northern pronunciation of words such as glass and bath. (I cannot read Julia Donaldson books out without moving words around as so many of her rhymes are things like ‘scarf’ and ‘laugh’, and they do not work for me). Have done lots of different jobs of varying levels of prestige, but currently work with my hands. Can ride, but can’t afford to at the moment. Solidly wc grandparents, dm was a nurse, dad a policeman.

What I do feel though is confidence in the company of most people, most of the time. I don’t get overawed by the ‘upper classes’ or officialdom. I’m currently working away at DS’s draft EHCP - and I have no problems with pulling it to bits and rewriting it, because I’ve done so many similar policy documents before. I think that’s a huge advantage - it will (hopefully) stand DS in good stead as I can and will fight for him effectively. That feels like a MC marker to me, rightly or wrongly - being confident to take on ‘the authorities’ and having the tools to do so.

1. Waitrose. It's the first supermarket as you walk down from the station. And they don't tend to have missing items in deliveries or sub vegan items for the intended gluten free on the rare occasion something is out of stock.
2. Ocado. Only had missing items twice since about 2005, when they were the only company who would carry the shopping up five flights of stairs to the flat where I lived at the time.
3. Lidl's only a saving if you would usually buy big name brands and a lot of processed foods, rather than ingredients. They've also apparently stopped stocking gluten free items as well. The market and butcher are both cheaper, as are the independents that do olives, cheeses, spices, things like artichokes or capers and olive oil.
4. Rescue cat (literally, she was being abused, I stepped in and she was practically flung at me with a 'you have it'). Allegedly a posh breed, about 147 in cat years, somewhat confused and sleeps 99.9999% when she isn't shitting or shouting for food she's forgotten is already in her bowl. But still pretty in a Tribble-Sleeping-on-the-back-of-the-Sofa during meetings way. And the other one's been disabled since birth. But he's sweet natured, if very clumsy.
5. Growing food. Have you seen the price of raspberries, cherries and blackberries in the supermarkets? Twenty pounds ten years ago, stick into the ground and no additional cost since. Nothing other than Mediterranean herbs, roses, lavender, woodbine and honeysuckle grow out front because it's south facing and over sand/an old river course.
6. Exercise. I like running. I also like the gym, particularly rowing - partly because it makes the running easier. Nobody does cycling here because being alive and sentient is more important. Definitely not thin.
7. Why would anybody want to pay seventy pounds for compression leggings when you can get almost identical for twenty pounds online? That money goes towards new running shoes and orthotics.
8. Isn't Lurpak in a tub margarine?
9. Radio 4's annoying with all that talking. Radio 3 is where it's at. Or Scala. A friend told me about Scala when she was giving me a lift to choir rehearsal.
10. 'Tabby'? DD1 was going to be called Tabitha until both grandmothers shoved their oars in
11. Coffee with milk is horrid. And it's cheaper to make it in a pot on the hob than spend hundreds plus electricity (and plastic) on a machine that does exactly the same thing as the pot but is even more difficult to clean.
12. One brand of gin. Preferably Navy Strength - and definitely not some flavoured syrup concoction that isn't Damson or Sloe.
13. No car. There's public transport within a short walk.
14. House Plants. OK, I'll accept I might have a small problem with plants. It's not my fault, I just rescue them when they look half dead and then the beggars decide to keep on growing. And DP's only got three in the spare room/music studio.
15. TV. I suppose I'll replace it when it gives up the ghost. It's only 17 years old. And 32" is plenty when it's not on that often - useful for switching between programs/apps when either WFH or studying compared to the laptop, though.
16. Books. There are a lot of books.
17. Shoes on or off? For me, shoes off as soon as I come in. I like being barefoot. Anybody else? It's not hard to clean the floor. Just scrape mud off before it's walked in - and there's a set of old walking boots by the back door for raspberry or rose picking.
18. What's on the walls? Excluding the guitars/cello/mandolins/violin/banjos in the 'studio' (spare room), some prints from old films like Metropolis, Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain in the main bathroom & Watership Down, I got DP and original in store display album cover from an artist whose music featured in his favourite film. And there's a gig poster from the night he joined my band and we met properly for the first time, along with a couple of his Grandfather's paintings of sailing ships from when he was in the Navy.

Is this MC? Or could appearances be deceptive?

Is it an identifier of your middle class status that you post something offensive and then post again to say nothing.

@sunglassesonthetable

I think it's a bit crap that your dh having a trade is somehow not enough but then again maybe it's a good way to rid yourself of superficial fuckers?

Is it an identifier of your middle class status that you post something offensive and then post again to say nothing.

No idea.

This is getting boring.

@NeverDropYourMooncup It isn’t that certain things make you middle class, it’s that MC people exhibit certain characteristics as a form of group belonging. So no, I can’t identify your class from your list.

My own mother had typically middle class interests eg reading, theatre, radio 4, visiting old things, but she was working class through and through and not interested in changing. If you came for tea at our house you’d know it in seconds. Actually, you’d know it well before that, by the way she talked and dressed.

@VerveClique Me too! I spent Freshers week bemused why anyone would ask me what school I’d gone to. I think subconsciously I’d just assumed we’d all been to anonymous comps up and down the country. How wrong I was…

I also remember coming back to university after the Easter holidays and wondering why so many people had a deep tan. Turns out the Easter holidays are prime ski season. Who knew?

I'll give you it all but Ocado - pre Waitrose/covid I was a committed early adopter - since then I wouldn't touch them. Love M&S - hate Ocado with an absolute passion! Can never forgive their shitty covid behaviour - they made an absolute killing whilst treating their customers like shit.

High earning WC household here.

• Loads and loads of books at home. Now and growing up. My mum read extensively. My kids need a library for theirs.
• Education is important.
• We shop everywhere, from the local farm to Asda to M&S to Lidl to Waitrose. I grow veg too.
• Kids in various clubs.
• We own our home. Kids have already received inheritance and will be getting cash from grandparents due to sale of property upon death.
• we both wfh
• Husband sorted out work experience for a family member interested in his (professional) field. (His parents had professional careers)
• I buy what clothes I like from where I like. (Nothing too expensive and I prefer my clothes to not look branded)
• We holiday/travel a lot. With the kids but not structured around them. We go where we want. No skiing, or camping, especially no activity holidays thanks... but no 'lay in the sun for hours and grow bored to death' holidays either.
• art and photography on walls (I'm no fan of photoshoots but I'm not against it)
• quite active in our community
• use 'Dove' deodorant because I think it smells nice

I am the grandchild of Caribbean immigrants. I do find these conversations fascinating. I agree with bits and pieces and disagree with the leftovers but it's a learning experience nonetheless. It's evident that outdated views on the working classes still persist (I don't know anyone who still reads the sun) but also, I've observed contradictory views on what defines MC. Sometimes I'm in, sometimes I'm not; there's certainly more gatekeeping around identifying as MC. Like a Buzzfeed quiz, I don't mind playing the class game to see where I might fit.

'Wagamama's; MC or nah?' is a serious sociocultural question here. I love that about these threads 😁