A question of class
I've been listening to Micky Flanagan's What Chance Change recently and it's been making me think. The show describes his struggle to rise above his working class, East End roots and make a success of his life. What it brings into question, however, is whether there's even a problem being working class, whether it's possible to be successful if you're born into the wrong class, and whether being middle class is simply a case of going to nice restaurants and enjoying art galleries.
The show speaks to me in particular. I'm solidly middle class. I have a posh accent, went to a good school, can name several poets that aren't either Pam Eyre's or 'that bloke that did all the limericks'. My grandfather, however, spent his life working in a factory in Hull. He was solidly working class, including the desire to pull himself up by his bootstraps and make something of his life. During the 90's, when Mockney was being promoted by Blur and Oasis were making Northern working class cool, you could tell who was working class and was middle class by simply picking the opposite of what they aspired to be.
I used to think that everyone who was working class wanted to break out of the mould, either through music, or sport, or by winning the lottery. The street fighting man exists because he believes it's the system that's holding him down, and if he fights long and hard enough he'll find a way to beat it. It turns out that most of the system holding him down is self-inflicted. It's 'poncey' to want to do well in school, or learn a skill that doesn't involve working with your hands, or socialise with people who may be able to help you out in life.
I went to Cambridge University. Even from a middle class background, that seemed like reaching above my station. I remember arriving, terrified that I wasn't going to fit in, only to find that everyone around me was having exactly the same thoughts. Going to Cambridge University opened a lot of doors for me but, when I think back to that collection of scared kids who nearly didn't go because they thought it 'wasn't for them', I realise how much we all hold ourselves back in life. Nothing is wrong with working in a trade, or staying friends with the kids you grew up in, or eating in Nando's because you think it's a posh restaurant. But if you think I've just defined working class, then you're wrong because that description applies equally well to people I know from all walks of life.
Life is what you make of it. And if what you've got is what you want then you're very lucky. But if it's not, don't be afraid of striving for something different. You can only betray your roots by not being everything you can be.
The show speaks to me in particular. I'm solidly middle class. I have a posh accent, went to a good school, can name several poets that aren't either Pam Eyre's or 'that bloke that did all the limericks'. My grandfather, however, spent his life working in a factory in Hull. He was solidly working class, including the desire to pull himself up by his bootstraps and make something of his life. During the 90's, when Mockney was being promoted by Blur and Oasis were making Northern working class cool, you could tell who was working class and was middle class by simply picking the opposite of what they aspired to be.
I used to think that everyone who was working class wanted to break out of the mould, either through music, or sport, or by winning the lottery. The street fighting man exists because he believes it's the system that's holding him down, and if he fights long and hard enough he'll find a way to beat it. It turns out that most of the system holding him down is self-inflicted. It's 'poncey' to want to do well in school, or learn a skill that doesn't involve working with your hands, or socialise with people who may be able to help you out in life.
I went to Cambridge University. Even from a middle class background, that seemed like reaching above my station. I remember arriving, terrified that I wasn't going to fit in, only to find that everyone around me was having exactly the same thoughts. Going to Cambridge University opened a lot of doors for me but, when I think back to that collection of scared kids who nearly didn't go because they thought it 'wasn't for them', I realise how much we all hold ourselves back in life. Nothing is wrong with working in a trade, or staying friends with the kids you grew up in, or eating in Nando's because you think it's a posh restaurant. But if you think I've just defined working class, then you're wrong because that description applies equally well to people I know from all walks of life.
Life is what you make of it. And if what you've got is what you want then you're very lucky. But if it's not, don't be afraid of striving for something different. You can only betray your roots by not being everything you can be.
Comments
Post a Comment