It's been a while...

[year_x]

So, a while since the last entry. So I'll start with something heavy and lumpen.

I'm a snob. That shouldn't be much of a surprise to those who know me. I've a long history of snobbishness in my family, from my upper middle -class paternal side, to my aspirant working class maternal side. Snobby thoughts, whether 'inverted' or original flavour are

Comments

[gnomatron]

Edinburgh uni must be skewed for that, though - the Yah/public school quota is massive compared to most unis, and you end up very much insulated from lower class folk; there's a bunch of us working class folk here, but we all tend to end up looking middle class. I'm sure it happens at all unis to some extent, though.

[gnomatron]

I don't think it's so much about socialising with Yahs, but a knock on effect of that which is that it's not a very socially inclusive uni. The demographics of Edinburgh uni students are massively skewed towards the upper end of the income spectrum; at a uni with a more even demographic there won't be as much pressure to conform to a more snobbish ideal. It's not just Yahs, it's also tutors and lecturers and the general uni culture, which end up reflecting the makeup of the student population. A broad Northern - or even scottish - accent doesn't sit well with upper clash english kids; I don't recall any of my teachers at uni having a heavy regional British accent at all. I'd hazard a guess that any who did have such an accent would tone it down pretty quickly

[llamarines]

The best network admin I've ever met did his degree at Sunderland.

[year_x]

Haha. I keep having people suggest dinner parties. It'll turn into my guilty pleasure at some point.

[juice1]

"drinking nice red wine, listening to radio three.. and I couldn't be happier. What's that all about?"

Maybe you are enjoying life?

If you didn't bother associating anything with 'classes' then would it bother you?

[year_x]

I am conscious of how much I talk about 'class'. Though I've not yet found a good argument for the death of the British Class System. Nor have I met anyone who doesn't really disagree with it's existence. Or anyone brought up in Britain who doesn't innately understand it. Even if most people rightly disagree with it. I hate it. Doesn't mean I can escape it or deny it's reality.

What do you think? Does it exist? Am I furthering the myth by allocating my experiences to it? Am I snob?

[juice1]

Tbh, I think it is just another way to box people in and I find it a bit of a joke, literally, I do like to joke about it (probably all its good for).

I think that by relating your experiences to it, yes, you would be furthering the myth. Presuming certain activities are associated with a certain 'class' is a huge generalisation that is not true. If people stopped associating stereotypical behaviour to social groups then the groups would not be as well defined or even referred to.

I don't think you are a snob because you are very 'aware' and know that it is unfair to label people/'social groups', whereas (imo) a snob has no regard for the reasons why people maybe regarded as a certain 'class' and have no respect for these other 'classes'.
Unless you are talking about music then you are a snob.

"What do you think? Does it exist?"

I am going to reply to this bit when I have had more of a think, although I am not sure it does exist, in the way it used to anyway.

[juice1]

I do not think 'The British Class System' is as stagnant as it was. More recently (past 10 to 15 yrs, maybe) there are far more oportunities for people to earn more money than their parents or obtain 'better' jobs than their parents, or be the first to go into higher education. It is not like in the ol' days, where if you worked down the pit thats what your son did - allowing people in power to stay in high places and keeping the 'lower classes' 'down'.

It is far more complex, I think these days rather than a 'class system', it would be easy to classify people into 'social groupings' (charvas, anyone?). I don't see the point in this either like, but I suppose it would suit better than trying to accomodate modern lifestyles to dated 'classes'.

There is more of a snobbery towards 'charvas' or inverted snobbery these days and worryingly this seems to be more socially acceptable.

Personally I find it very interesting and stereotypes often amuse me, but I would like to/sort of think it isn't as relevant as it once was.

[glass_bubblegum]

Right, so you make class-based social jokes that are sometimes proven to be less harmless than you thought. You feel bad about it when it happens; this is the point at which you fail to be a snob. At the very heart of snobbery is a class-based sense of superiority that will not be shaken by someone else's offence or evidence to contradict your opinion.

Do you really think that everyone on a housing estate is a lazy, sponging cunt? I doubt it. What you're experiencing strikes me as the guilt and (understandable) anxiety that comes with being a middle-class white male, who will always get a kick in the balls for jokes that every Jew, woman and Asian can get away with.

If you're asking why you sprout jokes that express opinions you may not hold, the answer is in your post: 'those widely held opinions of the people who I tend to surround myself with'. You make the jokes because you know they'll make the audience laugh; it's not about your opinions, it's about theirs.

[year_x]

That's a point I'd not thought of. I'm quite used to getting a 'kick in the balls' (and a few slaps around the face if memory serves) from telling bad taste jokes. At work, as well as socially, it's people of fairly similar backgrounds/outlook, so I've just carried my opinions through - though the way they're expressed is necessarily watered down. But this lass is different to that, so I've had to re-assess what I come out with

[cr4k]

Regarding finding yourself in the environment you are in, I think you just have a great personal need for stability, security and boundaries and you are smart and talented enough to have realised what your base desires wanted you to have all along at a reasonably young age.

I don't know much about your upbringing, but I might guess that it was stable, secure (perhaps even boring?) and with well defined boundaries.

Hmmm!

[year_x]

Yeah, I think the stability of my upbringing must be evident in the choices I've made. I'm not sure where in my post that would be evident though. Do you mean my boring new pastimes?

[cr4k]

So now, I'm sat here on my yuppie apartment sofa, drinking nice red wine, listening to radio three.. and I couldn't be happier. What's that all about? Where have I got this feeling of satisfaction from? Do I feel like I've achieved something? Or is it the intrinsic relaxing qualities of the environment?

specifically a response to that

[bexinfrance]

I agree that you're reading too much into your pastimes. You worked hard at university and do the same in your job, and subsequently have the money to live in a nice flat and drink good wine. Being able to enjoy the finer things is what makes getting up every morning to go to work worthwhile - it doesn't make you a snob :)