[ SECRET POST #2643 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2643 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 075 secrets from Secret Submission Post #378.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: Classism in fandom

[feotakahari]

All of the fandoms where I hear about prejudice against lower-class folks are British. Americans seem to have more of a thing against upper-class folks or folks with upper-class aspirations.

Re: Classism in fandom

[(Anonymous)]

I'd say Americans are less overtly classist than Brits -- they're far less likely to think it's an acceptable prejudice to voice. But Americans can still be very classist on a more subtle level, where they're judgey about issues that are a couple steps removed from class but still related to it (Education, for one. Race. Single motherhood. Criminality. Receiving welfare or food stamps. "Ghetto" culture. Portraying Generic Bad Guy in a fic as a poor, dirty thug rather than a nasty, rich asshole.)

Re: Classism in fandom

[(Anonymous)]

I thought that that was because American show have fewer upper and lower class people that canbe oobviously distinguished

Re: Classism in fandom

[intrigueing]

I think it's mostly because a lot of American classism falls along racial lines and the classism is generally submerged by the racism (see: illegal Mexican immigrants, people who don't speak English, "inner-city culture" as Paul Ryan just recently put it with such compassion and understanding, so that he could avoid saying "black people are lazy criminals and welfare queens who don't have a work ethic" out loud).

Re: Classism in fandom

[(Anonymous)]

da

I think race (and immigrants) definitely are factored in to the image of "poverty", but I think it's also about things that aren't necessarily visible at first glance. Of course, someone who doesn't look clean and is dressed in ragged clothes might suggest "poverty" to anyone. But things like, "low class" jobs (entry level, blue collar, etc), low education, etc. So much that if you (hypothetical you) meet someone without a college degree, you might assume low class.

In the UK, or my experience living there, there seems to be more of an established culture between classes, visible straight from the accent.

As far as FANDOM things, I think in the US, "noble poverty" is a really romantic theme, maybe moreso than the UK? Just my impression. In American media, poor people are often still cast as beautiful, fit, well-dressed models, who you wouldn't guess were poor unless they said so. Except, of course, if they are a non-white character.

Re: Classism in fandom

[(Anonymous)]

I was thinking a good example of this is The Big Bang Theory. Penny is supposedly broke all the time, working as a full time waitress (which, in premise, is not unbelievable). But she had a pretty big one bedroom apartment right next to men with prestigious jobs who I assume would have pretty good salaries.

Re: Classism in fandom

[(Anonymous)]

are you kidding. please tell me you are. because what rock or bridge do you live under.

Re: Classism in fandom

[mechanosapience]

Americans tend to root for underdogs, especially given the tendency to break things down into "poor, deserving, people who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps" and "rich, noble/old money snot who was born with a silver spoon in their mouth." When things get more complicated (rich person is also better educated), the dichotomy breaks down.

Another thing to keep in mind is that in America, class and race are very mixed together, so one can be easily mistaken for the other. A lot of the social indicators of poverty are also associated with black culture, and vice versa. There's a palpable undercurrent of racism in the conservative movement's attitude toward poor people (particularly the far-right, Tea Party types).

Re: Classism in fandom

[(Anonymous)]

Do you mean black person is viewed as poor a priori? Even if dressed well? I've been to Canada where all immigrants, white, asian or black are viewed about the same.

Re: Classism in fandom

[nyxelestia]

Yes and no. As many other people have mentioned, classism in America is closely tied to racism, and probably the more important difference is acceptability of classism more than anything else, as well as how it's judged.

In Britain, you'll get someone saying that someone is a "chav" or that their accent obviously makes them lower-class, and thus a whole host of other negative stereotypes just because they are poor. Conversely, in America, people will put up a few more 'layers' before hitting that point, so we won't say the mythical Welfare Queen is a bad person for being poor, but we will blame them for their poverty and load on a bunch of racism and then call them a bad person for needing government help, aka being poor enough to need government help.

So there is ample amounts of classism in both fandoms - it's just isolated as its own issue in Britain and more tangled up in other issues (namely race) in America.