Middle class tribe - ever get on your nerves - light hearted rant 😄

[ginorwine]

I live in a middle class area which is dominated by lecturers , gp s , social workers etc -my Dh fits into that catagory and I am an x that catagory .
It's a really pretty area and the kids roam between houses etc
Recently - I seem to be a little irritated by its predictability and 'niceness '- tho am aware it's a good area I really am .
I'm
Grumpy menopausal creature at present !
The paint work is mainly Farrell and ball, same kitchen appliances , similar dress code .etc . Whilst I too have Farrell n ball in one room and may therefore fit into the cliche myself (!) I'm becoming quite amused by it all in a way but don't know why .Part of me loves it part of me wants to say rude words and act up and be a Harridan !
Why do we follow these 'tribal 'things ? .the estate agent once reffered to the area as all lentil s and lintels . 😃

paxillin Chips.

Oh, God. I'm so organic quinoa. But my children did have cornflakes for breakfast, so I'm not beyond hope.

As a matter of interest, consider how the upper class live: old television set, faded carpets and upholstered furnishings, inherited good quality furniture, Barbour jackets, old wellies, very old Landrovers which will be muddy and shabby, lots of dogs, dressing for dinner, education truly valued, masses of decent books, jumpers and pearls, tweed.

This view is a story book cliché and not at all how we live! It's just as much a stereotype as the WC "plasma television" stereotype.

And PS llhj yes, the Gregg's coffee puffs are real cream. 600 calories but worth it.

I've never really understood the Greggs hatred on Mumsnet.

*As a matter of interest, consider how the upper class live: old television set, faded carpets and upholstered furnishings, inherited good quality furniture, Barbour jackets, old wellies, very old Landrovers which will be muddy and shabby, lots of dogs, dressing for dinner, education truly valued, masses of decent books, jumpers and pearls, tweed... In a word - style.

Those ghastly identikit modern extensions and the wall to wall inability to prove any sort of independent thinking or choices or style - that is not classy. Being properly classy is about not trying too hard and being inclusive. Being properly classy is having excellent manners and being friendly or eccentric.*

I'm laughing so hard at this, that you can't see the irony in holding one of these statements up as ideal and deriding the other.

All notions of what's truly 'stylish' are subjective. I recommend Grayson Perry's documentary on the British class system to everyone, but you in particular could benefit from a watch, as he makes a great point about how the upper class 'style' you outline above is simply making a virtue out of necessity.

Whoops, bold fail

I've never really understood the Greggs hatred on Mumsnet

Well, I suppose because it's cheap, high fat, high carb comfort food, and it's indicative of a certain kind of poverty - another stereotype of class/money/poverty/lifestyle.

And maybe some people (or kinds/classes of people) wouldn't like to be associated with buying that sort of food, because of what it would seem to say about them. For coffee puffs, I don't really care.

If you want the sociologist's take on this, Pierre Bourdieu has a concept called "habitus." From Wikipedia:

"Habitus is one's physical and psychological demeanor as a result of habits developed over a period of time.[citation needed] It develops a person's attitudes towards society and influences the way that an individual reacts to the world around them. Habitus is a structuring feature of life and is determined by a series of influences on the individual, such as one’s socio-economic status, family, religion, education and ethnicity.[citation needed] That is, the attitudes, mannerisms, ideologies, actions and habits that a person has been subjected to in their personal life manifests to create the person that they are today. Therefore, an individual is a result of the internalised influences throughout their life."

habitus

LaurieMarlow:
Yep. Have caught a bit of Grayson's stuff. How ironic, however, that the acquisitive middle class, of the extension-owning variety, think they have got the class thing sussed when in reality they are way off the mark! They are merely playing at being "better" than they are. They will never actually be better. Hilarious.
It's the old adage again: money does not buy you class.

FoggyB:
"Well, I suppose because it's cheap, high fat, high carb comfort food, and it's indicative of a certain kind of poverty - another stereotype of class/money/poverty/lifestyle."

Only people with zero willpower would eat such things.

FB:
"And PS llhj yes, the Gregg's coffee puffs are real cream. 600 calories but worth it."

Wow! You actually know the number of calories. Wonder why...

How ironic, however, that the acquisitive middle class, of the extension-owning variety, think they have got the class thing sussed when in reality they are way off the mark! They are merely playing at being "better" than they are. They will never actually be better. Hilarious.

What a weird thing to say.

Who is the arbiter of 'class'? By whose judgement are the middle classes 'way off the mark'? What does 'better' even mean? The way you're talking, it's like the aristos get to declare the class codes and sit back and laugh while everyone else fucks them up (in their eyes).

I think the vast majority would reject that as a proviso (and Grayson Perry most definitely would).

I don't care what some old numpty aristo thinks of me and my kitchen extension (would that I had one). Why would I? Equally, I won't pass judgement on his shabby old pile. He can dress for dinner as much as he wants.

No-one is 'better' than anyone else.

LaurieMarlow:

Cool. Absolutely no need to feel defensive.

Of course no one is "better" than anyone else. The point is many in the middle class - classes? - think that they are by virtue of a vulgar display of wealth - for want of a better word.

No one is 'better' than anyone else Exactly Laurie

Consider the word "bourgeois":

"The adjective bourgeois means relating to or typical of the middle class. If someone says, "Oh, how bourgeois!" it's probably an insult, meaning you're preoccupied with middle-class small-mindedness."

Nailing it.

Note to ailith. The fact that someone's ancestors did the king a favour/screwed over some peasants/whatever else one might have done to establish entry to the upper classes hundreds of years ago does not automatically render them superior in moral, intellectual or taste terms to anyone else in the 21st century.

Because that seems to be the subtext of everything you're saying on this thread.

LaurieMarlow:

Stereotyping much?! Lol

English friends, on the other hand, are tripping over themselves to stealth-boast about how little Theo keeps asking for olives and Olivia refuses Dairylea triangles because her favourite food is organic goat's cheese.

I know, I'm always bemused by the olive-and-cheese bragging on MN. They are not markers of a sophisticated diet. Neither is hommous.

And ailith you do seem terribly preoccupied with class, which kind of marks you out as lower middle class if I'm not mistaken?

Guess what - people extend to, you know, to get more space. Not gain access to the upper classes.

I'm working class by origin, but through horse riding as a teen met some very posh, crumbling house types, and can confirm that they like flash cars just as much as the middle class strivers. So it's not all deshabille and peeling.

My house is a crumbling farmhouse with a hodgepodge of antiques, cheap bits and bobs, horsey stuff everywhere, and two large hounds that leave muddy trails in their wake. We let the team down, though, by having a movie projector. And my husband's car is a bit bling.

So it's not all deshabille and peeling.

I think ailith's stereotype of the upper classes is drawn from fiction - mostly written by satirical middle class writers, poking a bit of fun at the aristocracy.

The thing is, there's no longer one "middle class" (if there ever was). And it's generational. The bulk of today's "middle class" were aspirational w-class or lower middle one or two generations ago.

I wonder whether we [ or some of us] are more anxious now about class because more people who think they're MC are actually quite precarious in terms of class position.

Two things I cannot taste without heaving are olives and aubergines [shudders]

ailith Who wants to be superior? I certainly don't. I want to be fair, kind and hardworking and honest. I don't mind what class someone id, it's how they treat me that matters, rude is rude! I really don't think members of the aristocracy want to be superior either, they were just born into a different life.

AppleSetsSail:
Nope. You are mistaken. I find the subject fascinating, however, but clearly not as much as some veteran Mumsnet posters!

Even the DD and the DS stuff is hilariously "aspirational"! Yet judging by a thread on the Style forum many of you actually buy clothes in supermarkets like Asda and in places like Primark and Next!

"Guess what - people extend to, you know, to get more space. Not gain access to the upper classes."

But the extensions I have in mind are the glass, block-like protrusions which are very rarely in keeping with the style of a more historic property.
I really don't think they would gain anyone "access to the upper classes". What are these upper classes to which you refer? How many actually are there? Hmm?

PS!
I live in a listed building, on three levels, which is 351 years old. I certainly would not be permitted to attach a glass monstrosity to it! Lol

Olives are gorgeous.

: )