Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How can you tell if Americans are "poor"?

434 replies

flavourable · 20/07/2024 14:15

Like most of us I watch quite a bit of US drama and box sets but remain baffled about the characters based on things like the house they live in etc...

Can American audiences tell that someone is poor or rich (or in between) based on things such as house size, style of house and other things that are part of TV series?

I know (well think I do so not assuming - please correct if wrong!) that middle and working class may mean different things to UK - but can US viewers pick up more based on cultural norms and things that may need explaining to non-American audiences?

An example is I watched some episodes of True Detective and thought the house was lovely and spacious but everything else in the plot pointed to the fact that this was a "poor rundown neighbourhood with substance issues etc..."

Are there any rules of thumb? Do American audiences get confused my things like this when watching UK or European dramas?

OP posts:
saltinesandcoffeecups · 20/07/2024 18:44

anon4net · 20/07/2024 18:42

@saltinesandcoffeecups - I hesitated to post these things. The top are very much my experience working in health care. The bottom are what I think was actually the opposite of what people often assume.

The fact is military recruitment, lack of access to health care etc etc etc is a staple of poverty in the US.

So there are no poor democrats then… well goodness that’s great news.

flavourable · 20/07/2024 18:45

saltinesandcoffeecups · 20/07/2024 18:36

That’s a loaded question.

In what way? Wasn't intended to assume anything bad? I'm regularly judged on my accent (good and bad) - just wondering if it happens elsewhere

OP posts:
anon4net · 20/07/2024 18:46

@saltinesandcoffeecups - I said 'are more likely to vote Republican' that statement clearly is not suggesting there are no poor Democrats! There are poor people in every political persuasion!

AllTheAll · 20/07/2024 18:47

DiamondTriangle · 20/07/2024 16:37

@Bjorkdidit

It's becoming a thing in the UK too . My neighbour tumble drys all the time even in hot days ! Their choice , their electric bill. I've rarely seen washing out on lines on the street where I live and my house backs onto their gardens . I think it's just laziness.

In the US the tumble dryers are more for expedience too. Electricity is cheap, tumble dryers are huge and they do dry clothes in about 20 minutes without ruining them. I did some huge loads at SILs and she encouraged me to put in anything and everything and it was all fine. I don't know what the temperatures were since they were all "regular" load, jumbo load and delicates. She also washes loads and loads of towels and sheets and is done in no time.

InternationalVelveteen · 20/07/2024 18:48

flavourable · 20/07/2024 18:35

Thanks all - very insightful.

Are there any accents or markers that US audiences would get straight away that may be odd to UK audiences? That may imply something IYKWIM?

Interesting that many people have mentioned personal appearance and grooming too.

Accents in the US are generally not predictors of class, as I wrote above. No one in the US would comment about someone's pronunciation of vowel sounds, for instance. Trump (the loathsome rat) grew up in a very wealthy family and his accent is indistinguishable from that of many New Yorkers. Biden comes from a more modest background but there is nothing in his speech to suggest a particular class. Just to use two examples of people that most in the UK have heard.

TemuSpecialBuy · 20/07/2024 18:52

lljkk · 20/07/2024 14:24

Some Americans think British culture is all Cambridge, Sherlock Holmes & afternoon tea.

Roseanne was about WC Americans. So is The Simpsons.

I was totally confused watching Rosanne as a child… but there was a thing in one episode about her being so poor she bought own brand cereal and just put it in a branded box…

I was baffled because they had two, TWO?!? bathrooms the girls shares a jack and Jill en-suite. I could only dream of such decadence 😅😅😅

AllTheAll · 20/07/2024 18:52

I'm not sure about IRL but on shows, if the detective needs to go in a shady part of town, for example, there will be kids outside or lots of kids in a kitchen getting yelled at (too many kids without activities means poor). People loitering (means they don't have jobs or activities) and of course they speak poorly and there will be creepy stairways (walkups) to apartments or trailer homes.

I think IRL people spend a lot of time at bus stops because they do work several jobs, probably speak English as a second language, and live in tidy medium sized homes with several generations and a community.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 20/07/2024 18:54

anon4net · 20/07/2024 18:46

@saltinesandcoffeecups - I said 'are more likely to vote Republican' that statement clearly is not suggesting there are no poor Democrats! There are poor people in every political persuasion!

Yeah ok. And I’m sure someone who was a healthcare professional in a different area… say Detroit, or Gary, IN may just have a different list of indicators than the one you listed.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 20/07/2024 19:00

flavourable · 20/07/2024 18:45

In what way? Wasn't intended to assume anything bad? I'm regularly judged on my accent (good and bad) - just wondering if it happens elsewhere

Because accent can be closely connected to racial demographic and is also used to stereotype people within demographics.

Two examples are Ebonics and southern drawls, less widely known is a south Boston accent pointing to poor Irish immigrants.

Luckypinkduck · 20/07/2024 19:09

Is Jane the virgin a realistic view of class (I know it's bonkers and not realistic in most ways but it seemed to show a different lifestyle than other American TV shows).
The house is still big in UK terms but one bathroom etc.

mondaytosunday · 20/07/2024 19:14

Of course. More US shows seem to feature well off people - more Dallas than East Enders. A few working class shows (Rosanne as mentioned, All in the Family etc). Shows like Friends they explained the hugely spacious flat by saying it was rent controlled, as no way a chef and a waitress could afford anything like that. Some other shows it's just ridiculous the property some if the people live in.
But most sitcoms/shows that showed home life were fairly well off suburbia. Plus some areas are far cheaper than others! Add to it that housing is a lot newer (people are less enamoured with period houses).
If you are talking about the first series of True Detective - Louisiana is not the most upmarket place by a country mile. Poverty rates are the second highest in the nation.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 20/07/2024 19:15

Has anyone seen Mike and Molly? I think that’s a fairly realistic show as it relates to middle class.

MyblackVWTiguan · 20/07/2024 19:16

@TemuSpecialBuy

I was baffled because they had two, TWO?!? bathrooms the girls shares a jack and Jill en-suite. I could only dream of such decadence 😅😅😅

I’ve always admired Tony Manalo’s (Saturday Night Fever) closet having an internal pull string light. I’m still waiting for that to be a thing here 😁😁😁.

sleepwouldbenice · 20/07/2024 19:24

lljkk · 20/07/2024 14:24

Some Americans think British culture is all Cambridge, Sherlock Holmes & afternoon tea.

Roseanne was about WC Americans. So is The Simpsons.

I was always amazed about the size of their house in Roseanne

saltinesandcoffeecups · 20/07/2024 19:24

MyblackVWTiguan · 20/07/2024 19:16

@TemuSpecialBuy

I was baffled because they had two, TWO?!? bathrooms the girls shares a jack and Jill en-suite. I could only dream of such decadence 😅😅😅

I’ve always admired Tony Manalo’s (Saturday Night Fever) closet having an internal pull string light. I’m still waiting for that to be a thing here 😁😁😁.

I have one in my hall closet and a few in my basement I can send one over if I ever get around to replacing them 🤷‍♀️.

Or you can buy one on Amazon 🙂

mathanxiety · 20/07/2024 19:30

Overweight older women with scraped back long hair tied in a pony tail, several tattoos, smoking, wearing cheap fashions/ footwear - sign of poverty.
For younger women, cheap fashions/ footwear, smoking, overweight/ obese.
Beer guts.
Hard facial expressions.

Tattoos are not a sign of poverty on their own.

Men - overweight, beer guts, wife beater shirts, consuming interest in cars, Nascar, WWF, combat 'sports' like mixed martial arts, machismo in general. Smoke, chew tobacco, weed before it was legal.

In Appalachia, skinny limbs and protruding bellies are a sign of poverty.

Neighborhoods - in the poorest, there's neglected housing (peeling paint, gutters in disrepair, unfashionable colours used for house exterior and trim, amateur repairs visible), litter, graffiti, chain link fences around front gardens, metal security bars across windows, metal bar security doors outside front doors, interiors cluttered, dogs chained up outside, too many pets inside, unkempt or minimally maintained gardens, paved-over gardens, fake turf, streets not maintained well, curbs crumbling, weeds poking through cracks in the sidewalk, broken glass on sidewalks, empty lots from the riots of the late 60s and subsequent decay. Lots of corner liquor / convenience stores. Children out with a parent and teens out on their own at all hours of the night, crowds gathered around liquor stores seemingly all night, or sitting out on stoops. Speed bumps everywhere. In rural areas, old fridges, ovens, sofas, junk cars all over the lot. House in need of repair.

Middling / somewhat struggling neighborhoods can look neat but you'll find more obvious consciousness of security than you'll see in affluent neighborhoods (signs declaring a neighborhood watch area, alarm systems very much in view) not much money spent on landscaping, and deferred maintenance to homes (maybe needing a paint job).

Attitudes - not many avid readers among the very poor, sometimes resistant to changing diet or exercise habits, beliefs around causes of diabetes and heart disease that indicate a serious lack of education in the area of nutrition and basic biology, seldom travel far from where they were born and raised.

Interiors - often very basic, cheap furniture, and maybe a bit shabby around the edges despite efforts to make homes look affluent in the form of very tailored curtains in the living room, fashionable knick knacks amd cheap, fashionable art. Usually very clean except in the case of dire poverty (look up videos of homes children are being removed from for examples of really bad living conditions that can go along with poverty/ substance abuse).

saltinesandcoffeecups · 20/07/2024 19:31

sleepwouldbenice · 20/07/2024 19:24

I was always amazed about the size of their house in Roseanne

That was a pretty typical house. Mine is 1550sqft/144 sqm on a .25 acre/1000sqm lot. 3 bed/2 bath.

Our lot is bigger than most in the area but not considered huge.

InternationalVelveteen · 20/07/2024 19:35

I can't think of a single popular TV show that accurately represents the working class in the US. Even the middle class (in the American sense) is usually presented in an aspirational rather than a realistic way.

DiamondTriangle · 20/07/2024 19:44

@SprigatitoYouAndIKnow

In your case fair enough . But in a lot of cases there is no excuse not to put washing out especially on a hot day .

mathanxiety · 20/07/2024 19:47

Vergus · 20/07/2024 17:24

What is going on with the not drying washing outside? Why not?

Climate - laundry would freeze solid on a line all wi ter where I live, and my fingers would freeze putting it out and taking it in again.
Living in apartments.
Allergies - pollen isn't a friend to all.
Small back yards, which are used for outdoor dining and relaxing, not easy with sheets flapping in your face.
Backyards used for BBQing and sitting around firepit with neighbours/ friends - laundry would smell of smoke and grilled chicken.
Convenience of a dryer - you can get laundry washed, dried, folded (rarely ironed thanks to dryers) and put away with no delay.
Washing machine in basement, necessitating schlepping wet washing up a flight of stairs and outside.
Association of laundry drying outdoors (and everyone seeing each other's unmentionables week in and week out) with tenement life and the horrors of life in the slums before WW2.

Whenwillitgetwarm · 20/07/2024 19:52

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 20/07/2024 14:52

Washing hanging outside is code for poor.

😮

Vergus · 20/07/2024 19:54

I’m still hung up (excuse the pun) on the washing issue. Are you allowed to hang your washing outside if it’s in the back garden so not visible to passers-by?

Pussycat22 · 20/07/2024 19:54

lljkk, and we all knew the Queen!!

YankTank · 20/07/2024 19:55

anon4net · 20/07/2024 18:42

@saltinesandcoffeecups - I hesitated to post these things. The top are very much my experience working in health care. The bottom are what I think was actually the opposite of what people often assume.

The fact is military recruitment, lack of access to health care etc etc etc is a staple of poverty in the US.

The military recruitment offices inside shopping malls is definitely a thing—shops close down and the Army (or Air Force, Navy, or Marines) rents out the vacant shop to become a recruitment centre. Never in an affluent area.

randoname · 20/07/2024 20:00

Bjorkdidit · 20/07/2024 16:21

Surely people don't adhere to that anymore?

I'd expect people to be more judged and looked down on for using a dryer in good weather than hanging washing out.

I would hang my washing out with pride and take it to the highest court in the land for my right to do so.

Tumble dryers ruin clothes and waste electricity, there's just no need if you have outside space and dry weather.

You’d think wouldn’t you.
But it’s really ingrained. I stayed on a Buddhist retreat in the US where chores were shared.
Everything was tumble dried. In the summer. 🤦🏻‍♀️