To ask what makes you working class? (Lighthearted)

[MissAlabamaWhitman]

So, the whole 'what makes you middle class' has been done to death hasn't it?

We're all pretty au fair with avocados, elephants sodding breath, the ubiquity of joules et cetera.
And lovely as it is to have such knowledge of the middle classes, none of it applies to me.

I'm working class and I'll explIn to you that which denotes this in just a minute.

Incidentally I heard that there's a few of us about so perhaps we can make our own list of our very own class signifiers.

Who's in?

I shall go first.....

Love of charity shops, this week I picked up a leather Hobbs bag for 3.99 and a couple of Abercrombie & Fitch tops for DD1 1.49 each!

Love of Iceland/Heron foods/Home bargains/B&M. Yes I know I could get everything I need in Sainsbury's but I actually prefer scrabbling around for bargains and topping up at Lidl.

Chardonnay. I love it, tastes fab. I can't be arsed to pretend that I prefer a Beaujolais or Cab Sav. I don't.

One bathroom/toilet in a five bed house.

Regional accent which I take pleasure in.

Children who play football and wear replica kits whilst doing so

Girls who wear pinkI draw the line at bloody Jojo bows though

Getting drunk at barbecues and performing impromptu Karaoke.

Allowing my children to 'play out' in the cul de sac from age seven.

Cleaning my own house.

Holidays at Center Parcs rather than overseas.

Owning a Huskita

Letting my children watch TV and eat crisps in full view of other parents.

Having a 'pop man'

Listening to LBC rather than R4

Not really giving a fuck about trans, one way or the other.

I'm sure there's lots more besides which I'll try to remember.
How about you?
What makes you sit back at the end of a hard day and think 'yep I'm a fully paid up member of the old working classes?'

Strong, northern accent.
Would die of shame if anybody came to me house and it wasn't sparkling.
Evening meal is tea.

Being WC is nothing to be ashamed of. Do ypu realky think MC people are better than you?

Looks like people who define themselves as wc are way more sneery about so called "underclass" than mc people would ever be.

Well said chasinghighs

I revel in being WC. We have all the fun

My job is wc and so is my husband's. I relate more to wc people. Middle classes are v angsty over food, schools, occupation and childrearing. They don't banter and , while nice, I always find them a bit serious and i feel as if i have to mind my ps and qs.

However, i did go to university. My father had a professional job but his parents were wc which rubbed off. My mum's background was very wc and came from a rough area always on the news. I went to the local comp with not so great reputation in a fairly cheap area though it was private housing. Most people privately rent there, though

Looks like people who define themselves as wc are way more sneery about so called "underclass" than mc people would ever be.

I don't think that. I think WC people may be more vocal about it whereas MC people may think it, but not say it.

But of course Tea

The MC sneer at the WC, the WC sneer at the UC.
To pretend otherwise is simply disingenuous.
Totally explains the popularity of Jeremy Kyle for example, it's borne out of insecurity in the main though isn't it.

Most people are guilty of it.

Did I mention how much I envy your fine looking high horse?

I hate the term underclass. I'm more likely to sneer at the MC tbh

I was pissing myself on holiday at the couple in Tesco Express saying 'It's so annoying they don't sell organic milk and sourdough bread

You've set up a thread to slag off those of us who really are working class.

Your attempt to be be light hearted is fucking shite and to imply an eating disorder is a WC affliction is twattish at best.

Sapphire, I'd eat it as you did, in fact I do so quite often.

(As I have a smaller family and bigger table than my mum I put side salad out a fair bit. I'm all for expanding my comfort zone as you can see!)

Highcastle I recognise what you describe.x

Didn't Monty Python do a sketch outlining the ridiculousness of the classs system?

Really SanDiego?

This thread is a celebration of the things that make us working class and you feel affronted by it?

If anything you're the one letting the side down.

I didn't imply anything, I posed a question and actually former was wholly correct it is far more prevalent amongst middle class teenagers so it could be described as an affliction which disproportionately affects the MC.

A MC affliction if you will.

I recognised it's status as an affliction, I didn't in any way denigrate those who suffer from it irrespective of their class.

Hth.

Jo, good to know!

You're 100% right StayingClassy

I have a step SIL who is thoroughly working class and these are the things that does that stand out to me:

dresses her children (when they were young) in matching, designer clothes
Hair gel and hair styles on young boys
Gold chains on young boys
Very into sunbathing and having as dark a tan as possible
AI holidays to Magaluf / Santa Ponsa
Not liking wine
Drinking very over the top cocktails with umbrellas
Decorating the house almost annually
Decorating in colour schemes - every single accessory in the room in teal for instance
Several tatoos
peroxide hair
lots of bling
no university / third level education
going overboard at Christmas / birthdays
lots of giant family photos on the walls
decals of text on walls
loving disney - going to USA disney being the ultimate goal
never shopping in charity shops
spending lots of time in shopping centres
liking clothes with obvious branding D&G,etc
having a colour themed christmas tree and regularly buying ALL new decorations

Don't see how it's celebrating wc to say that MC wear dull colours from Fat Face and don't bother their arse if they're made redundant.

Furthermore the only people taking the piss out of the WC are those who are MC and have decided to contribute their stereotyped views porobably garnered from the DM of what they consider to be WC.

And thus far I have roundly ignored them, which incidentally is the only polite response on what was intended to be a positive and lighthearted thread.

No! dont take notice of my doings, it is likely a case of the blind leading the blind!😁

If it tastes good and decreases the number of plates it's ok by me.

It's not exactly celebrating WC to say we are all fat with tattoos call our kids stupid names are thick and eat shite food.

No you're right Morris.

This was intended to be a thread detailing WC signifiers. There was absolutely no need for the predilections of the MC to be brought in to it at all

because God knows we're not short on those sorts of threads, there's one practically every other week

writinghome

That is a FANTASTIC list of WC behaviours

No it's not Chasing

But as I mentioned previously, it was the MC posters who vented their spleen and it wasn't in the intended spirit of the thread.

It's not exactly celebrating WC to say we are all fat with tattoos call our kids stupid names are thick and eat shite food.

Quite.

Lighthearted my arse.

The OP was asking WC mumnetters what being WC was. But instead all the MC mumnetters who have a WC MiL etc have to stick their oar in and trot put all the stereotypes.

Dying prematurely is a "Glasgow thing" - look up the Glasgow effect. It's not well understood, though.

What is "playing out"? (I'm not from the UK).