What makes you middle class?

[Singlemum90]

So a comment from my mother a few years ago has stuck with me ever since then really. When I was no longer a single mum, and found myself a little less skint, she said 'oh it's so good now you're just a nice middle class mum, I'm so proud of you'

Aside from her clearly looking down at me before this, and deciding class was what defined how she felt about me- I have often wondered what made her decide I was middle class at this point.

How do you define it? (I feel it's very subjective) Is it what family you are born into? Your income?(And what income makes the 'classes'? Is it a specific job type? The way you stick your finger out when you drink tea?
Or is it just a shitty way to divide people and how they feel about themselves?

Yes, it's the Balenciaga and Gucci stuff with the logo visible so you know how much it cost. A lot of WC don't want to be perceived as poor so these things are a statement.

I have no idea, but - for me - it is nothing to do with possessions and beauty routines.

The nearest I could get to it is being in relaxed, confident control of your circumstances, leisure time and finances. But maybe that's less middle class, and more about just having your shit together

Class is man made construct its the ultimate in reductive thinking.

Honestly I think it's easy to say that but when you're part of the working class/underclass you don't really have the privilege of believing it!

TV in kids bedroom= working class

I’m sitting in DS’s large detached Victorian house, set in an acre. One of the DGC has a TV in the bedroom, the other doesn’t. He prefers the one in the games room.

DS and DDIL are highly paid professionals, DGC are on track to go to RG universities, but their class is defined by a TV in one of their bedrooms.

Interesting.

Can you name anything in society, aside from sex, that isn't a human made construct?

@Beezknees

Yes Gluchi and bensiaga

it’s also all on tick….

I think education used to be a very clear marker. However I was raised surrounded by books and by parents who valued knowledge and open mindedness but with no money (our clothes were donations , we definitely never had the latest craze and never holidayed abroad. We went on holiday once a year and it was always camping). I'd say we were middle class education wise but poor . Class is very hard to define.

Sneering at other people's taste is hardly middle class, is it?

Ha ha ha

@mercurial123

You’re right I have become wc 😂😂

I do think Balenciaga and Gucci are the new Burberry (like early 00s).

If you want to wear the price tag and advertise what you're wearing, to tell the world you earn well, go ahead. I prefer stealth. And TB fair, I am far far too old to give a cuss. Nobody notices.

Streetwear has always influenced certain designers, and then the middle class jumped on the athleisure bandwagon to name one trend.

www.refinery29.com/en-gb/working-class-streetwear-high-fashion

Confidence, confidence, confidence; mc and up have it in abundance most times - whether misguided or not. Wc can be ‘ballsy’ or ‘gutsy’ but rarely have that unshakeable ‘I couldn’t possibly be wrong/not brilliant’ air about them.

@Marine30 I don't disagree, but if you hold an opinion and are MC, then it almost certainly rests on the confidence that you have read and thought throught several alternative opinions before declaring your view. So the confidence comes from having thought.

MC kids are unwaveringly confident! They then grow up with that utter confidence...

MC is buying virgin olive oil in Waitrose.

MC is not buying virgin olive oil in Waitrose. MC is buying cooking olive oil in in Lidl and salad/dressing olive oil in a specialist deli.

@Papyrophile you is well posh like

Estate bottled olive oil, frankly, and to have two different olive oils and understand why you are choosing one over another.

@Onemoreterm , possibly, but very opinionated and with a chef DS.

It's hard not to end up being very critical of ingredients and very critical of poor quality ingredients if your family cooks at a high level. DS work has elevated my already high level cooking, because he challenges me to cook better. It doesn't mean more expensive ingredients. It means, in our house, buying the cheapest items and cuts and finding ways to make them taste as good as expensive ones. There's a cookbook: Salt, Fat, Acid Heat (Samin Nusrat) that's a good starting point.

Nah. It’s a completely different social more. I’d consider myself lower middle class by upbringing I reckon. Lots of friends both WC and middle class (met through uni, working in professions, etc).

However a few years back I went on a joint hen do (2 wives) and had a chance to spend time with my friend’s wife’s social circle. Clearly more on the ‘upper MC’ end of the spectrum, and a totally different way of relating to one another.

One thing that was striking to me was this: whereas among more WC / lower MC company there is an emphasis on British politeness culture and not being over-assertive in a way that steps on anyone’s toes (self-effaciveness as etiquette rather than a personality trait), among the other group there was a clear emphasis on asserting one’s opinions confidently.

This was a difference in culture and orientation and nothing to do with education or knowledge of a topic (no particular difference in educational level or professional advancement).

By the same token, I sometimes notice that people more WC than myself might describe themselves as thick or not knowing much (when they’re really not). I think it has to do more with not wanting to sound pompous as there’s no cache attached to being a know it all among peers. Different cultural values.

Would that this were true