Misrepresentation of the working class in the media

[manchita]

There has just been a very interesting debate on radio 4 today, with one guest arguing that the working class are all being tarred with same brush as chavs/benefit cheats/dysfunctional families.
He argued that there are many well educated wc families with clear morals and a strong working ethic.
My family def fit into the latter category and I am from a family who fits into the latter and I do believe that working class has become a byword for poor/dysfuntional.
Does anyone have a view on this?

I don't think there's anything like a consensus on what the term "working class" means, anymore... which makes any discussion using that term quite meaningless. "Socially deprived" would be more accurate -- it is possible to measure relative deprivation. DH insists our family is working class even though our parents are well off, we both have University degrees with honours, DH works in an office, we only listen or watch BBC tv/radio, and we could probably afford to send our DC to private school.

DH says to be "middle class" you have to have influence in society, like being at least a headteacher or a doctor(!). Which I guess is why something like 70% or more of the population in Britain call themselves working class, regardless of education or mortgage status, etc.

In US, class is much easier to discuss... it's defined almost purely by personal wealth so everyone knows what it means, where they are placed, and what it takes to move between the classes: poor, middle (lots of fine distinctions in the middle) and rich. That's why we don't have a culture of envy, either.

Sorry, haven't read all thread, but this is Mumbles guide to class:

Upper Class - Royalty, other titled types, but not people who've been given a knighthood for doing something useful, eg Sir Richard Branson.

Middle Class - money irrelevant. Educated to degree level, reads the Times, Telegraph, Independent or Guardian depending on political leanings. Professional, charity giving, tax paying, Radio 4 listening, watches stuff like The Blair Years, West Wing, Spooks, anything with David Attenborough. Possibly privately educated/children at independent schools.

Working class - money irrelevant. Reads the Daily Mail/Express/Sun/Mirror depending on political leanings. Work in jobs like building, driving, cleaning, shop work. Radio 1 or 2 listening, watches Strictly Come Dancing, the X Factor, Big Brother, I'm a Celebrity. Possibly not quite so obsessed about education as middle classes.

There ya go.

60% of people identify themselves as working class, regardless of what jobs they do....or tv channels they watch, papers they read, etc.

And let's face it, in practice most British people categorise the "class" of others on the basis of what accent, fashion sense, and house decour, all completely impossible to quantify and describe objectively.

Mumbles' guide is not bad, but must allow for some overlaps. I am most definitely MC, and yet I listen to R2 more than R4. I know WC people who watch Spooks. Etc. And most MC people I know have children at state schools.

'Omnivorous theory' of the consumption of culture argues that the middle classes these days also watch X Factor, BB, etc etc, in addition to not instead of their highbrow stuff.

Also you can't say that the middle classes gives to charity and imply that the working class don't.If anything isn't it a higher proportion of their income that working class people give?

I think there has been a degree of mobility in recent years.

Many thousands of people who a generation ago would have been considered working class are now homeowners, and earn a substantial amount of money. Not just the extreme example of footballers, but builders, plumbers etc. I really don't think many of these people would feel that "working class" described their circumstances appropriately.

Likewise the star of such professions as teaching has fallen, and if someone now says they are a teacher, you tend to assume they are not well off.

fio - yes, I agree, local radio far more chavtastic than R2!

but i was under the impression that the Queen watches the soaps?

Of course she does. She needs a little "one time".

Rumour has it that she likes "One Too" on CBeebies.

lljk-But many working class people aren't socially deprived at all. They come from secure, loving and intelligent families.
Mumbles- I'm sorry, but I find most of your comments ridiculous. I am from a w/c family and my sister and I read broadsheets, don't watch much Tv at all tbh. My ds and my dh are heaith professionals. Both are from working class families.
And yes, we all care about our childrens education.
This is what I was discussing earlier in this post- many bright politicised and socially aware w/c people getting lumped in with uncultured people.

Kathy-your comments ring very true to me