Self Analysis

When analyzing the definition of the middle class, one may find a multitude of different answers, depending on different criteria. According to this CBC article, the middle class ranges from 45,000 to 120,000. Although there is no official definition of middle class, it can be loosely determined if someone is not in the bottom 20% or top 20% of income earners. This is important to note as many people today may fit in that range, but do not have the same luxuries and amenities as the others. This causes an issue in society as people, especially those who have an online presence may induce forms of hatred known as classism onto an individual just because they may be on the ‘lower end of middle class. This form of wealth shaming ties into what many people may tie into as intersectionality, which in terms, means one may be disadvantaged in general aspects of life. Many people still believe that the middle class is full of wealthy, suburban soccer moms who live a comfortable life. But is that really the case? 

i) Normative Narratives;

Meg’s self-story displays the wealth difference illustrated through her peer’s Christmas hauls. The Christmas in 2014 would shape the other Christmases’ to come. In 2014, Meg recalls opening her gifts, excited to see what other children got as well. As she’s tapping through her peer’s Snapchat stories she notices that a child had gotten a lot less than her. Here we can see the comparison between what may a lot to Meg versus what may be a lot to someone else. She expresses what their haul was compared to for her. “What he got as large main gifts is what I got as stocking stuffers.” This comparison between gifts displays viewers with the idea that this child may be in the lower end of the middle class. This displays the possible difference and comparison of social class. Although the social class is a human construct, according to Is Everyone Really Equal? Meg was comparing their socioeconomic division. This is a comparison that allowed her to do some self-reflection on her family and their socioeconomic situation. Throughout the story, Meg acknowledges that she is privileged, due to her comparison in Christmas gifts. Which now, affects her overall outlook on her Christmas gifts for years to come. 

In Gavin’s story, he describes an instance where his friend thought of him as rich. His friend says ‘“Look at your house and all this stuff. You’re definitely rich.”’ Gavin reflects on himself, realizing that he has lots of things available to him for entertainment compared to others. Through his friend explaining that these are rare to come across opened Gavin’s eyes. Previously he hadn’t thought his socioeconomic class was special and that he was middle class, but through his friend comparing what he had compared to Gavin, his views changed. Gavin then describes himself as ‘wealthy’ in comparison to his friend, comparing his socioeconomic status to others. He accepts that he may be wealthy to others which shows that he understands the different levels of class, but he does not say that he is privileged. This displays that Gavin may not see economic class as some other people may because of his own socio-economic class. In this story Gavin expresses that his wealthy family is a normal thing to him, as it does for many, but only until someone brought up the idea of his family being wealthy compared to theirs, he accepts the difference. 

My own self-story is very similar to the others as I was able to get an understanding in the different levels of economic class. In my story, I explain how James and his family were not able to afford school supplies whereas my family was able to. This realization of James’s situation had me shocked as I was to believe that his socioeconomic status was similar to mine as far as I could tell on the surface level, but in reality, his family didn’t have much of the expenses my family did. This really opened my eyes to how I could be better in terms of acknowledging someone’s difference in class. Although someone’s socioeconomic class has never affected me in terms of being friends, I am now able to see how it may be hard for someone in a position where they may be in the working class to feel accepted and vulnerable. This ignorance of some other’s socioeconomic status has proven to be good in some situations, but mostly bad. This encounter with James has displayed that there may be other people I know who are in the same situation as him, someone who is afraid to admit and talk about their struggles because they’re embarrassed about what their friends may think. 

ii) Counter stories;

While many stories I have read explained how one person noticed someone else’s socioeconomic status, Lovelee’s story encaptures what it is like for her to get through school while working, playing sports and helping her parents. She displays a story that contrasts the other self-stories I have read. Lovelee explains how some girls behind her were talking about how she is late for practice, why she can’t pay on time and wondering why her parents are not involved. Lovelee explains to the readers that she has to have two jobs to help her parents pay bills as well as her family in different countries. This displays that Lovelee still makes enough time for things that she loves but she doesn’t have to explain her situation to others around her. This breaks the idea that just because Lovelee may be working two jobs and that her parents may need help it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t underestimate her privilege compared to everyone else. She says, “Though we do not live in a very wealthy life, we have a house, food, clean water, transportation, electricity and more.” While many people may feel sorry for her situation, she accepts that she is privileged in a sense too, even if she may be working or middle class. 

This story has really opened my eyes to the fact that while she may be living a busy life she is still happy and appreciative. Compared to many stories, Lovelee encaptured what it is like for her to experience classism and how she deals with negative comments that she has gone through. When analyzing Lovelee’s story through an intersectional analysis it explains more in detail. “People can experience privilege and oppression simultaneously depending on what situation or specific context they are in” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017) This explains how one may see Lovelee as privileged as she is still able to play sports and attain education as well as being oppressed, or made fun of for her current situation and her socioeconomic status. While many people are trying to escape the deep-rooted struggles of being working class, many people are finding a new label that encaptures how they are doing financially, this is where the middle class has become an umbrella term in a sense. While one wealthy, happy and privileged family may say they are in the middle class, there is always another family who are less fortunate, works harder and who are less happy who also define themselves as being part of the middle class.

References;

Hogan, S. (2019, October 13). Who is Canada’s middle class? | CBC News. CBCnews. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-votes-2019-middle-class-trudeau-scheer-definition-1.5317206.

Sensoy, Ö., & DiAngelo, R. J. (2017). Is everyone really equal?: Understanding Intersectionality Through Classism. In Is everyone really equal?: an introduction to key concepts in social justice education (pp. 156–177). essay, Teachers College Press.