Why do some people feel the need to describe themselves as ‘middle class’?

[lottieandmia22]

I met a man who said

‘I am incredibly lucky. I’m a middle class, white, straight male which puts me at an advantage’

Frankly, this made my teeth itch. I thought ‘what a tosser’

Why do people feel the need to do this? I couldn’t care less which class I am.

Ah Kelvinside, don't forget to take the sex out.

"This class/accent thing is irrelevant amongst farmers"

Really?? I think the sort of drinks parties I will be going to over the next couple of days (and the ones I won't be going to) would show that to be wrong!

Really?? I think the sort of drinks parties I will be going to over the next couple of days (and the ones I won't be going to) would show that to be wrong! I should imagine that the sort of people that go to your drinks parties wouldn't say 'shit for a shilling' as my dear old farmer dad would have said. Every year I sell rams at Kelso and there are all sorts of accents. One of the farmers is John Jeffrey ex public school boy ex Scotland rugby player. If he tried any of that posh nonsense he would get his arse to play with. However none of us are working/middle/upper class. We all have to shovel the same sheep shit. I can't speak for East Anglian grain farmers though.

"We all have to shovel the same sheep shit."

Yep. That doesn't dictate your social class though.

They don’t speak Glaswegian! Well Glaswegian isn't one accent
theses.gla.ac.uk/7269/
There's even a specific Glaswegian Asian accent

Exactly.
I make up shit for a living.
Doesn't mean Julian Barnes and I have a shared history and heritage .

Well I'll have to agree to disagree. I've lived the English middle class life for years and it bores me rigid. I'm happy to be back amongst folk who have a different zeitgeist.

I should imagine that the sort of people that go to your drinks parties wouldn't say 'shit for a shilling' as my dear old farmer dad would have said. Every year I sell rams at Kelso and there are all sorts of accents. One of the farmers is John Jeffrey ex public school boy ex Scotland rugby player. If he tried any of that posh nonsense he would get his arse to play with. However none of us are working/middle/upper class. We all have to shovel the same sheep shit.  I can't speak for East Anglian grain farmers though.

Southern farmers are quite different.

You get the salt of the earth, been farming since before time began, always smell vaguely of cowshit and jeyes fluid. Speak in a mumble and are always the best, grumpy, funny people.

Or there's the ones who wear a thin quilted Barbour, Hunter wellies and always have clean jeans, all the gear and no idea.
(Because Hunter wellies are wank with no grip and quilted Barbour let the wind in)

And then the hobbyists, best not get started on Lynda and her three sheep, twelve ducks, the micro pig that was actually a Tamworth that's now the size of a mini.

And then the hobbyists, best not get started on Lynda and her three sheep, twelve ducks, the micro pig that was actually a Tamworth that's now the size of a mini. Is that the Escape to the Country crowd?
I suspect conditions are too harsh up here for them to survive.
Speak in a mumble Well I've never heard that much. Bellowing is the order of the day here.

And then the hobbyists, best not get started on Lynda and her three sheep, twelve ducks, the micro pig that was actually a Tamworth that's now the size of a mini. * Is that the Escape to the Country crowd?
I suspect conditions are too harsh up here for them to survive.*

Put it this way, I was bringing on two litters of TamXGOS at the time she got the "micropiglet" so we exchanged photos of the little buggers and the horror on her face when I said "they'll taste bloody lovely mind, if you want one"

Alpacas are all the rage now.

Alpacas are all the rage now. DS's DPs have alpacas. I asked what they did with them. Nothing apparently

DS's DPs have alpacas. I asked what they did with them. Nothing apparently

They stamp foxes to death. Honest to god. That is their selling point.

But you can't ride them or eat them so nope.

They stamp foxes to death.

I am incredibly lucky. I’m a middle class, white, straight male which puts me at an advantage

Unfortunately, even in this day and age, he is absolutely right, he is both lucky and at an advantage.

You can eat alpaca meat - it tastes absolutely delicious! You can also use their fur to make wool for clothes.

Knowing what class I'm from and identifying with it is part and parcel of my intrinsic confidence and self esteem

Why? If you don't mind me asking. And why is it to know what class youre from as opposed to what'class you are?

I don't know anyone in real life who feels defining their class as important or even talks about it. Never mind sees it as some form of confidence boost. Things like your family. Your relationships. Your appearance, your health, your intelligence, your job, your earnings, your home, these things add to folks I know confidence and self esteem. But never their class, that's irrelevant and a label surely?
.

The OP has made “the Man” up.
He doesn’t exist he just personifies what she dislikes

“Knowing what class I'm from and identifying with it is part and parcel of my intrinsic confidence and self esteem

You must lead a pretty sad life then (and pretend you don’t vote Tory even though you do)

blunt being deeply connected with your heritage and culture is life affirming I find.

It doesn't provide a confidence 'boost' but rather a base from which confidence and good self esteem arise.

And it isn't instead of the other things you list. I also have a lovely family, a great career, a beautiful home etc which all give me a sense of who I am.

overnight I'm very happy with my life. I have a long happy marriage, great kids, a successful career. I'm the master of my own destiny more or less. What's to be sad about?

And I've never voted Tory - life long Labour Party activist actually ( though am currently disenchanted with their stance on gender identification but that's a whole other can of worms).

I always laugh when people talk about other countries which supposedly don't have a class system. Every country has a class system - just because you're a foreigner and therefore don't understand it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Mind, not as funny as the prannets who say "I work therefore I am working class". The fucking queen works ffs.

'In Scotland ime the upper classes have no accent, the middle classes have a light Scottish accent, the working classes have a strong Scottish accent.'

True - Rose Leslie and Camilla from Love Island are examples of this. They sound Uber posh.

MrsDoyle, laugh all you want. Many other countries simply do not have the entrenched class system the UK has. They have rich people and poor people and people of varying levels of education, obviously, but there is no concept of belonging to a certain, named class.

Of course there is. Whether it's sneering at mountain folk or looking down your nose at rural dwellers or casting aspersions at people with slightly darker coloured skin, every country has a class system. Saying they don't is akin to the noble savage/why can't we just be like the simple people bullshit. Humans are tribal. Class is part of that.