Comments on: What Class Are You?

By: Queercents » Blog Archive » Class: realities, perceptions, and how wealth fits in

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:23:20 +0000

[...] is a complex topic. Paula previously covered the subject by exploring the assumptions people have in determining who is or is not lower class or upper class or in between. In her post, she notes [...]

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By: Queercents » Gay Affluence: fact, fiction, or somewhere in between?

Queercents » Gay Affluence: fact, fiction, or somewhere in between? — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:19:23 +0000

[...] For more on this topic, read Paula’s post about the realities and perceptions around the issue of class in America. Like what you're reading? Subscribe to our RSS Feed. [...]

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By: Personal Carnival #5 » The Weight of Money

Personal Carnival #5 » The Weight of Money — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:30:18 +0000

[...] What Class are You?: Paula at QueerCents touches on a topic that has interested me since first discussing it in a family studies class - class and our misperceptions of it. Her article seems to focuses on the professional side of class, but I really enjoyed thinking about the social side in terms of authority and power. [...]

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By: Queercents » Being “Middle Class” is burying us!

Queercents » Being “Middle Class” is burying us! — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 18:49:48 +0000

[...] Following on Paula's excellent and provocative post, "What Class Are You?" I wonder what we do to ourselves when we're not honest about what class we're actually in? For example, what happens when we think we are middle class, and try to behave middle class, but we're not? [...]

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By: moom

moom — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 01:05:06 +0000

I was born in the lower middle class in Britain but now I live in the US. By income ($75k), net worth ($380k), and education (PhD) I'm in the upper middle class. By some markers like multigenerational wealth I'm a member of the upper class in American terms. In Britain (where 70% of people identify as working class) I could never be considered upper class. But I pay $600 in rent I don't have a car etc. Consumption wise no-one will think I am as high in socio-economic status as I am. Class is very complex and no one set of definitions like this will work. There are many different elites. I'm certainly a member of the educational elite - a tenured professor at a top 50 US university. That's clearly the top 1% of the education spectrum. Income and wealth wise I'm on the edge of the top 25% in the US. How you earn your money is also important. One of Robert Kiyosaki's ideas I like is his class classification into employees, self-employees, business-owners, and investors. A middle class business owner might have very different politics from a government employee with the same income...

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By: Nina

Nina — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:33:13 +0000

In this week’s Carnival of Ethics, Values and Personal Finance:
http://tiredbuthappy.blogspot.com/2007/02/carnival-of-ethics-values-and-personal.html

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By: Check Out The Latest Carnival Of The Capitalists

Check Out The Latest Carnival Of The Capitalists — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 11:14:42 +0000

[...] Queercents - Paula at Queercents writes about the realities and perceptions around the issue of class and money in America in her post - What Class Are You? [...]

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By: dysblogistic

dysblogistic — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 01:36:57 +0000

While it may be impossible for a reasonably workable model to include, one thing that's not taken into account is the wide differences in cost of living in different parts of the US. $30K in NYC or San Francisco would not support a middle-class lifestyle, while in Podunk, Mississippi, it might.

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By: teatreebergamot

teatreebergamot — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 21:07:12 +0000

I think class means something different to Americans than to Brits. From a British point of view, you defined the middle class by income rather than by culture, and the income range seems far too broad. For a start $30,000 is only about Â£15,000. Most graduates starting out make more (starting salary in the provinces is at least Â£18,000)! I would say middle class starts at about Â£25,000 p.a. (about $50,000). In Britain class differences are mainly cultural - people in the different classes have different cultural styles and traditions, and the feeling is that you are born into your class/culture, you don't move in or out of it. A recent survey of British millionaires showed that 27% considered themselves to be "working class and proud of it". And quite right too! Why should someone wish to reject/be ashamed of, their roots?

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By: Harvard Student

Harvard Student — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 06:39:02 +0000

http://www.digitas.harvard.edu/~perspy/old/issues/1996/mar/queer.html

This is a good article on the differences between jockeying for marketing space and effective politics. A useful reminder too that not all of us have good jobs or much economic stability to take advantage of these lifestyle niches. I know I’ve read in a few places that lesbians and transgender folk are particularly vulnerable.

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