Every year in preparation for the holidays, there’s a lot of talk about how it’s better to give than to receive. Many people say we should “give to the needy” and make the holiday about “family instead of stuff.” The idea here is that to want gifts is frivolous, shallow, and greedy. While this could […]
Classism in Everyday Life
Language Matters, Too
My brother, sister and I were all brought up to speak a very clear, accent-less English with good grammar and syntax. We were not “perfect,” but we were obliged to try. Our mother harassed us constantly about the way we talked. And she stressed that we would never be able to get a job or […]
3 Things to Keep In Mind as a Non-First Gen or Low-Income Student Leader
I dedicated the last two weeks this past summer to being a student leader for the incoming class of 2019. I’m an academic peer tutor, meaning that I serve as a residence-hall-based resource who fosters academic and personal well-being in the hall. As a low-income, first gen college student, I noticed that the standard summer […]
Fugg Off
One wintery day I settled into my seat to enjoy a snack at a Finagle a Bagel not far from my office. The shop happens to be in a wealthy suburban neighborhood just outside of a major city, and there is an interesting mix of patrons there on any given day. On this particular afternoon, […]
Taken-for-Granted Social Class Privileges
CLASS PRIVILEGE MEANS… A list compiled by the students in my sociology course on inequality: I can pay to have dental work and therefore keep my teeth intact. If I speak out, I am assumed to be worthy of a voice, and people will respond to me in a prompt and respectful way. I can […]
Women “having it all”
It seems not a day goes by when I’m not reading another headline arguing whether women can have it all, or, more accurately, why they can’t. In this week’s New York Times magazine, Jennifer Szalai’s “Had It All” does a fine job deconstructing the very origin of “having it all” as both a myth and […]
Broke vs. “Broke”: Bothered by Humble Brags
This summer, I had a “stay-cation,” meaning I stayed put in DC where I moved last year to attend grad school. My “stay-cation” was awful, imposed on me because of my lack of funds; I was completely broke. I take issue when people flippantly use the term “broke” to describe their financial situation (e.g. the […]
Demolition Derby
I remember my first demolition derby, years ago as a young parent. It was the thrill of illicit activity that drew me there. My parents—middle class academic types with progressive values—would never have dreamed of lending their support to such an uncouth spectacle; their disapproval would have been unconditional. A theme of my adult life […]
Top 10 Classist Things about College
I attended the University of Chicago, one of the most elite universities in the country and world. Privileged places like the U of C are making strides in opening their doors to low-income students like myself, but this didn’t automatically eliminate the classism that existed and still exists today. In reflecting on my experience, here […]
Should Americans Talk About Class?
Helllllllllllllll yes! “But why?” some ask. Good question. My short answer: because talking about class is revolutionary. American society as a whole, as judged by my Super Scientific Approach of paying attention to popular culture, has gotten steadily better at talking about gender, race, and sexual orientation. But start talking about class, and we approach… […]
Wondering how to respond to a classist guy
Is there any point to engaging with someone who’s rigidly dug in to their classism, or other oppressive attitudes? I had to think hard about that question after a difficult conversation over breakfast at a B&B. One of the guests was beyond oblivious, into the realm of deliberately offensive. As I tell the story, I […]
Toothpaste, Katrina and My Recovery from Classism
During my second week living in Boston, I faced one of those frightening moments of choosing whether or not to come out in front of a group that could go against me. I’d been faced with coming out before, but this time it wasn’t coming out as a lesbian, but coming out as poor. I […]
Holiday charity or year-round compassion?
‘Tis the season to be surrounded with warm fuzzy news stories about people volunteering at food banks or participating in clothing drives or raising money for non-profit groups. When a reporter for a nearby wealthy suburban newspaper called me this morning for my “expert opinion” about how to teach children a “sense of charity,” I […]
Class in the Skies
Some time ago, I read a New York Times Opinionator piece, “Class Struggle in the Sky.” Reading about the growing class divisions was particularly disheartening because I spent a fair amount of my childhood traveling in first or business class enjoying the extra leg room, the doting attention of the airline staff, and generous snack […]
“You Don’t Look Like a Homeowner”
For years my husband and I have nurtured the dream of homeownership, and when it finally came true last year, we were in heaven…but then reality caught up to us, as we ran into people who didn’t think we looked the part. We live in a condominium complex. All the units are privately owned, and […]
Gentrification and My New Old Neighborhood
In 1999 my classrooms in Somerville, Massachusetts– a culturally diverse city bordering Boston– were mosaics of colors and cultures, with students from as far away as Tibet to students whose families had lived in town since the Revolutionary War. Today in Somerville, hipsters are the name and gentrification is the game. In ’99, my neighborhood […]
Neighborhood Class Divisions and Hope for the Future
On Halloween in my neighborhood, kids come around dressed as princesses, super heroes and ghosts – nothing that would be offensive based on class, race or religion. Why not? What is different about my neighborhood is that it is a mixture of everyone. Black, white, poor, wealthy, conservative, liberal and pretty much all the religions […]
Parading Around in Privilege
Halloween is quickly approaching and low-quality polyester costumes are flying off shelves like Tickle Me Elmo on Black Friday. In the year of the Hipster, pricey immaculate store-bought costumes are out and pricey immaculate homemade DIY costumes are in. What is now the new Halloween trend is eerily evolving into an upper-crust high-cost arts and […]
9 Classist Halloween Themes to Think Twice About
I’ve been glad to see so much recent coverage exposing the cultural appropriation, racism and sexism inherent in so many Halloween costumes. Students at Ohio University have built a great campaign called “We’re a Culture, Not a Costume,” that highlights real people whose cultures are caricatured around Halloween. And one of my favorite YouTube videos […]
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
Working with couples who hail from different class backgrounds is one of my specialties as a counseling psychologist. I offer an example from my counseling practice to illustrate how different class backgrounds, and their cultural assumptions, can confound a marriage. One couple met in college, where she got a para-legal certificate and he got a […]
