Cultural Capital - what do you do in your household?

[californiagurl]

We have a huge range of books, frequent theatre visits (although these have been online in recent times), visits to art galleries/exhibitions, support with learning languages.

What's anyone else up to?

@MyMorningHairHasItsOwnVlog

"We consider swimming, not getting into an anti mask argument and making our own pizzas from scratch “modern culture"

Okay: your family understand what is and isn't appropriate to wear in a swimming pool, and how to behave there. You know the rules of polite conversation and debate. You have the knowledge and resources to make pizza.

All cultural capital. I also teach debating. I can tell you that over half my class do not understand how to have a reasonable conversation and debate a topic without: swearing, saying 'but I am right and you are stupid' or making fart noises with their hands while someone else speaks. They do not have the cultural capital to understand what the unwritten rules are. I would lay a small bet that a lot of those same children do not go swimming.

Oh, my uni tutor also publicly told me that I was there to make up the working-class numbers (we were discussing the significance of 'father's occupation' on the UCAS form). I had the grades.

What a boring thread - people competing to be uncultured. yawn.

[quote HereBeFuckery]@MyMorningHairHasItsOwnVlog

"We consider swimming, not getting into an anti mask argument and making our own pizzas from scratch “modern culture"

Okay: your family understand what is and isn't appropriate to wear in a swimming pool, and how to behave there. You know the rules of polite conversation and debate. You have the knowledge and resources to make pizza.

All cultural capital. I also teach debating. I can tell you that over half my class do not understand how to have a reasonable conversation and debate a topic without: swearing, saying 'but I am right and you are stupid' or making fart noises with their hands while someone else speaks. They do not have the cultural capital to understand what the unwritten rules are. I would lay a small bet that a lot of those same children do not go swimming. [/quote]
Aye, love, that an all.

FFS what a lot of ballix.

I have found lots of the comments and attitudes on here fascinating. I grew up in a cultured household and have been very well educated at home and school. I am grateful for that actually but at the same time, I am very intellectually lazy and am mainly interested in trashy reality TV, easy to read crime fiction and days out at theme parks. My worry now is that I am not passing on all the knowledge and experience I have had to my DD. I do spend time chastising myself and promising myself that I will talk to her more about art and literature and ideology etc but it is really difficult to put it into practice as it isn’t really a natural part of my life. I do take her to the theatre and abroad on holiday and on days out doing things we both find fun, but I do often wonder if I have a responsibility to broaden her horizons and expose her to more culture even though I have inadvertently rejected it myself.

Oh dear. Oh dear.oh dear. Do you live in a alternative universe? Posters actually kinder than you deserve.

Took me kids to the arcade then sat eating a chippy on the wall by the sea teaching them swear words so they could give the seagulls some grief.

Lazy fucks wanted to sit at home reading Chaucer. Sounded a bit french to me so fort I'd introduce them to proper British culture.

My son knows several half song on the electronic piano, I read a book a week and just finished the Idiot by Dostoyevsky ( that Russian writer) and am now reading the Handmaid tales. My husband knows everything that's to know about football... We also watched the entire Netflix during lockdown. Was planning to go the theatre again when the pandemic hit. Art feeds the soul... Is not about snobery

Honest answer:

RAH a few times a year, fortnightly visits to the local arts centre... I want to start the kids on piano as soon as they're old enough, although that was never something that was part of my experience. We're more outdoorsy than cultured though- just been on a deer safari across Exmoor with a wonderful guide, and yesterday we were on woolacombe beach at the same time as a funnel cloud started dropping from the sky and the older kid is now mad on tornadoes and has spoken of little else.

Oh, my uni tutor also publicly told me that I was there to make up the working-class numbers (we were discussing the significance of 'father's occupation' on the UCAS form). I had the grades

Fell FSM kid here. A tutor once made fun of me for using the word 'like' too much in a presentation. At the time I was embarrassed, now I'm a bit cross - he could have said it more sensitivily.

*fellow

We put Radio 3 on in the car and I watch ballet on YouTube 👍🏼😃

This thread is hilarious! Cultural capital! Ha!

Well we have Swedish and English family so are learning a second language anyway. I also speak basic french, German and Japanese. Nothing fancy just enough to ask directions, order food and book a hotel etc.

I’m a historian so we go to lots of castles and historical buildings and sites. I also love the theatre so sometimes I take the kids if it’s age appropriate and affordable. The house is absolutely FULL of books fiction and non fiction as I have practically built my own medieval history library in my sitting room.

My daughter does cheerleading and gymnastics, my son and I do archery.

However that doesn’t stop my kids from being more interested in YouTube videos about random pranks or something than in “cultural capital” or anything vaguely educational. But as long as most of the time their homework is done I pick my battles.

DS (9) has started his own publishing house, specialising in classical literature for pre-verbal infants. PM me for discounted rates for ‘That’s not my Iliad’.

We're more outdoorsy than cultured though

Cultural capital is tremendously dependent on outdoor pursuits and having either the financial means or social clout to enjoy them. Try standing in a central Oxford prep school foyer waiting for your child amongst other parents if you don't possess even a tiny boat, or pony or chalet at the right ski resort. Or don't belong to a tennis club, etc. You'd learn the meaning of frozen out ...

A million people have already explained - reading Dostoyevsky just doesn't cut it without the other stuff.

Similar @californiagurl

Big classical music and opera fans too. Both DC are choristers and played in the schools symphony orchestras, now dd1 is in the university orchestra and conducts the choir.

But what matters is whether you like it! I also rather like rock music and trashy tv.

@Thisseatisnotavailable

I just had to Google Cultural Capital, still don't get it. Google is talking about speech, dress and appearance, what's that got to do with books and going to museums??

It's not you that didn't get it.

WoomaWang gets it

Would've been handy to quote there!

WooMaWang

"seayork2020

Does Netflix count?

Yes. Because cultural capital is all about fitting in to various social situations.

When I was in primary school my parents started letting me watch neighbours because all the other kids did and I couldn’t join in conversations about it. Not knowing about Scott and charlene’s wedding was a serious lack of cultural capital in that context."

We listen to our neighbours curse in Spanish and try to pick out the words we know...chocha and beto come to mind.

@zurich09 I just do not understand this British obsession with homeownership. Some of the most cultured people I know live in rented flats in European cities (centrally) and have significant amounts of influence in their careers etc. - the kind of political/artistic connections I could only dream of. Some of their kids are very high brow and not allowed much access to tech, trilingual etc. Pretty sure those kids will end up in significant positions in the future. I have lots of friends who are academics and artists etc who live in rented accommodation in Central London with children through choice. If their lawyer friends etc as much as mention moving to Surrey, even Bristol etc the suggestions are met with disdain - as regards Surrey they do want to move to “Land Rover Ville“ but have chosen to be near their book clubs, artist friends, jammers etc, drama societies for a reason. Their children most definitely do not have less cultural capital than the children of my friends in independent schools with pools at home in Surrey. It is just a totally different life style choice and to be honest most of my friends at some point made the choice money/aka sell your soul vs passion/humanitarian pursuit.

Well i watch Netflix and amazon prime, Facebook and mumsnet. My children fortnite/Roblox/minecraft/youtube and play lots of avengers. We go for walks and our cat comes with us. I take them to town and soft plays (before the apocalypse of course) and I read to them.

fishywaters The British deeply distrust art and intellect and have built other gods.

(Am British myself, but fortunately not only so.)

I agree about the home ownership thing. Land, on the other hand ...

I'll be back after I google "cultural capital"