Parsing Class

(Parts of this are from the comment I left on the following link.)

Aunt B. wrote a great, nuanced post on subtle classism -- in part spawned by the popularity of TLC's Honey Boo Boo --  something lacking in the feminist and social justice blog world. The nuance part, I mean.

I feel like class issues are jettisoned to the margins of the feminist blogosphere, due in no small part to progressive circles acceptance -- even encouragement  -- of the kind of the covert classism that allows its members to laugh at a show like Honey Boo Boo while othering those "not like us."

And at the same time, I don't know how to properly label my own experience. I grew up solidly working-class, but privileged in a lot of ways. I went to private schools; my home may not have been lined with bookshelves but I lived across the street from a good library. I generally didn't want for much, but I knew not to ask for too much, too. That being said, there was a lot of things I didn't have, but I'm hesitant to call myself "poor." Being an only child played a big part in that privilege.

We often define ourselves along these very narrow axes: rich/poor, privileged/not privileged. And when something doesn't fit, we rewrite our own narratives to make it fit. I wish it were addressed more; that limbo between worlds where a lot of fall, and what it means.