AIBU to think there has been far too many threads about class on mumsnet recently?

[Ginfordinner]

Why has there been so many class related threads on here lately?
I have read before that mumsnet posters are obsessed with class, but have managed to miss the threads about class, but over the last few days there have been so many.

After having read them I realise that I must be class blind, or that I just don't care what social class people are because I judge them on things like kindness, empathy, friendliness and respect, not how they hold their cutlery or how much they earn or what kind of TV shows they like.

For context I suppose that we would be considered middle class, but both DH and I have working class backgrounds.

For context I suppose that we would be considered middle class, but both DH and I have working class backgrounds
You would not be considered M.C by people born M.C.
That's another thing I find strange how people of MN believe they can change class, they might live a m.c lifestyle but growing up w.c doesn't make you m.c.
I know class has changed from inheritance to how much money you have.
If I won the euro millions I'd still be w.c living an u.c lifestyle.

@PortiasPlumUpduffedPudding

I think a lot of it is bullshit and fantasy though Simon

It is, but it always makes me smile.

Yes it's quite funny, do you remember 3or4 years ago there was a thread asking folk to show their bedrooms and a wazzock copied one from Google and posted it as her own, four poster bed, chandelier to swing from and all.
That was hysterical

My mum grew up in a difficult home- abusive, often out of work dad, mum who worked, rented terraced house.
She went to grammar school, removed her accent and married a man whose mum was in service so 'knew how things should be done'.

She's been fighting all her life to be seen as 'classy', and having good taste. She made our life miserable as a result, 'what would people think' etc.

All very Hyacinth.

Class isn't relevant any more, the market research people have much better ways of classifying us.

There is a lot of humble bragging on here though, lots of talk of Russel Group unis and six figure salaries, holiday cottages and the like.

Weirdly, along with the class obsession and talk of how much We Can Afford also goes a moralistic horror of anything deemed "unnecessary" or "wasteful". Hence the furious ire against Christmas Eve boxes (more gifts! Senseless commercialism! Landfill! Waste!), traditional weddings (your marriage is doomed if you didn't get married in an underpass and serve twigs and canal water), cake smashes (WASTING FOOD!!!) and everything else. A poster recently got an absolute slating for admitting she was struggling to work in a supermarket after losing her high up job in aviation thanks to the pandemic.

There's a hell of a lot of moralising on here over things with no moral value, and 99% of the time it's just a fig leaf for classism.

There was actually an AMA thread a while ago by an expat who lived in Saudi Arabia with her husband, who was earning crazy megabucks. (He could have made a shitload in Australia, but they chose SA because there he earned even more.) I expected outrage - I mean, if a Christmas Eve box is a sign of crass commercialism and dollar chasing, what the fuck must living in SA for the £££££££ be - but no. A couple of posters made some criticisms over the country's human rights record but they were quickly slapped down by many others, while OP made sarcastic comments about self flagellating for her crime.

I know it's not the same posters every time, but it builds up a picture of the culture overall.

Saw a brilliant one the other day on here, Cryalot. 'why wouldnt you just use one of your other bathrooms?'

awww Portia its usually me who brings that up.

@user1471565182

Saw a brilliant one the other day on here, Cryalot. 'why wouldnt you just use one of your other bathrooms?'

I had forgotten this one

“Just get a nanny”

I keep forgetting we can all pay for our homes, bills, food and still have enough money left to oay another adult an entire wage!

Oh yes the bragging is constant, thing is why do they need to tell the internet about their perfect houses and salaries?
When the chips are down and a person is on their last legs they're a human being and will go in their just box like everyone else.
My Mother always says there are things you cannot buy.......love health happiness also comparison is the thief of joy.
There's a few posters on here who claim to have wonderful jobs and earn six figure salaries but they're on MN all day so they're either lying or skiving

The solution is at your fingertips

Start the threads you would rather see

'awww Portia its usually me who brings that up.'

I think that's the same one that used to post pics on the steps of the private jet.

Of some random traveller ....

For context I suppose that we would be considered middle class, but both DH and I have working class backgrounds

It looks like I have shot myself in the foot with my last sentence , or maybe I should have added that “MN would consider me middle class”
Oh well

In reality I couldn’t give a toss about where I would be placed class-wise, but people will always draw their own conclusions. Also, none of my friends or family are as obsessed with class as some of the posters on MN.

I agree that there is some awful snobbery on MN especially on some of the higher education threads. Admittedly it is only a minority of posters who are insufferably snooty about university and make massive assumptions about posters whose DC don’t apply to Oxbridge/Durham/St Andrews, and will never get a job working as a lawyer/accountant/banker for a big city firm.

@Ginfordinner so why start another thread about class?! One in which you clearly state your perceived class!

I think, like a lot of things in the invisible knapsack, you don’t notice it until it’s suddenly relevant. Going to a traditionally posh uni was a wake-up call for me. I’ve definitely felt judged before but never in that specific ‘you’re not one of our lot’ way.

[quote Bixs]@Ginfordinner so why start another thread about class?! One in which you clearly state your perceived class![/quote]
I find it refreshing to talk about the class obsession culture openly rather than having to cut your way through all the fig leaves of "no, it's about waste/commercialism/inherent good and bad taste/morality" and all the other things people use to veil their classism.

[quote Bixs]@Ginfordinner so why start another thread about class?! One in which you clearly state your perceived class![/quote]
I clearly made a faux pas by stating what I thought mumsnetters might assume about me. Sorry for starting this thread. Maybe hide it and move on?

Thank you @GeordieGreigsButtButtZoom

Not gonna lie: I love all these class threads, and think social class, and how we decide if someone is working / middle /upper class is fascinating

I think there is a lot of class anxiety since the middle classes find it harder and harder to achieve to hit their class markers known to their parents, like private schooling and second homes, and so they compensate by doubling down on cultural markers, like they call their sofa and what they do in their spare time - but unlike cash markers this requires constant affirmation to assure them that they are actually different to the commoners.

Maybe they are replacing the wedding abroad threads?

I think there is a lot of class anxiety since the middle classes find it harder and harder to achieve to hit their class markers known to their parents, like private schooling and second homes, and so they compensate by doubling down on cultural markers, like they call their sofa and what they do in their spare time - but unlike cash markers this requires constant affirmation to assure them that they are actually different to the commoners.

do you mean middle classes are worried about the amount of money they have? hasn't that always been the case? the other ends of the spectrum never worrying about money

I remember a poster who said Mn is only for the middle class in the home counties.
She had her arse handed to her on a plate. Some of the replies on that particular thread were very funny though, I think it may have been about 8-10 years ago but the hilarity is what I remember.