To wonder what really is the majority social demographic on Mumsnet?

[CestNoel]

I see soooo many threads along the lines of:

• should I sack my au-pair?

• anybody know any good cleaners?

• my career is too important for me to go to my child's concert...

• can I get free transport to a private school?!?!?!?

• my dd has been given a non-organic fruit drink at nursery

• drats. My new Boden trousers are too short.

And then, everyone is up in arms at the idea of spending £10 on a present to take to a child's birthday party and we have all sorts of suggestions as to how to buy something suitably non-tack like for about £1.49

Is the beauty of Mumsnet I suppose.......

ROFL Cruella. Only the mail could have that test. And use those descriptions in the answers.

When are we going to get onto Bourdieu and social, cultural, and intellectual capital? I'm good on that.

I am being very naughty this lunchtime baiting bucksfizz. She is a good sport. xx

gosh, am "desperately" upper mc! Would say mc but not specifically upper-mc, must stop trying so hard

BF is definately MC. Most people are MC now.

I'm in a minority apparently. Looks around bewildered. Didn't expect that.

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ya taking the piss Bucks Fizz?

I'm a minority too - i always knew i was in a class world of my own lol

Tell em to sod off then(from me too ).

A B.

what a weird questionnaire. Said I was a minority but couldn't answer some of the questions. I don't go on holiday and I have no idea what about Mandelsohn and gaucamole?

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I'm in a minority as well, don't worry, we defy catagorisation!

Just handed in my PhD, so it's MC all the way for me now. But parents are definitely WC (jobs requiring no qualifications that involve getting your hands dirty, money is for spending on big TV and Sky)

When I was in school I did a bti of sociology, and I remember from that that class isn't supposed to be about money (super-rich could be a chavvy footballer or Lord Bingley-Bong of Velvet Bottomly), but rather about how you get the money that you do have, and what you would do with it if you had more. (and education and things).

BucksFizz your lifestyle list sounds very middle class to me. Hope you are not offended by that. As far as I remember it's about whether, if you had more money, you would upgrade to free-range chicken or subscribe to Sky.

No, I am sorry Tinselian, a PhD dooms you to trying to live the life of an 18th century intellectual on the income of a 20th century hippy. Did they not tell you that?

I thought it went like this;

Working Class - people who work for a living, often have little and enjoy celebrating where possible (hence christmas gift giving being a big thing)

Upper Class - people who do not need to work for a living, tend to get wht they want and therefore do not need much (hence the old clothes etc).

Middle Class - not rich enough to be upper class but so desperate to prove that they "belong" to the upper classes relly that they look down on anything that is done by the working classes (hence the oooh you give gifts at christmas/do you say pardon discussions)

In reality the working classes and upper classes, traditionally, are actually closest to each other. The middle class efforts to raise themselves by putting down the working classes, in reality, marks them out as not being Upper class.

Which is why I am happy to say I abstain from the whole class race. (I know how terribly middle calss of me )

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rofl at VirginBoffinMum

I agree NC.Though I do have to say I find class related issues and how one defines class to be quite fascinating.
However I think it'd be better for everyone if the habit of grouping people into classes went away.

Not many of the lifestyle list questions apply to me - someone diagnose me please I'm not in the slightest bit bothered about class, but it would be interesting to know where people would pigeonhole me.

Parents - one from English convent education, one from Ayrshire fishing village. Both degree educated professionals

Me - aged 22, home-educated, 3 A-Levels, qualified nursery nurse and working professional actor.

Family situation - married to dh who is a teacher, one ds and one on the way.

Cook from scratch
Buy mostly from charity shops
Food comes from Asda and Aldi
Read the Telegraph
Dress hippy/goth/multi-coloured depending on mood
Don't agree with excess TV, sweets, fruit shoots etc. for ds
Do a lot of crafts, especially knitting.
Like going to rock/metal/punk gigs with friends.

The thing is, the lines I listed are a basic summing up of the old system. Then we decided that there should be no system so people stopped using it. Great...

... Then, the marketing industry needed a way to catagorise people and came up with a-e and we were back at square one, as soon as someone begins to catagorise for any reason everyone (by everyone read middle classes) starts to jump onto it! "have you heard I am A which must make me Upper Class don't you think? Well her over there, (points at unliked SAHM) she is an E"

It will probably never go away because a section of people like to be categorised to show they are better than someone else.

True NC it'll probably never go away and I do agree that the middle classes are by far the most class anxious.

However I'll admit to being very aware of class differences when I'm with my dp's family and his friends from school.

TTT you are very MC. Your parents were middle class, you are degree educated, so is your husband. The rest is details.

So does a degree define MC? My dad came from a family of labourers and fishermen, but all his siblings are now degree educated and in professions.

Why do some people say that buying organic food is somehow middle class, or that Daily Mail readers are WC? I don't really understand it tbh.