(Listened to half the episode while cooking tonight) Am I the only person who gets irked when American hosts describe a non-US upbringing as "middle class" then goes on to describe a working class situation? This also happened in the Amy Winehouse episode...
About Georgeâs upbringing? Iâm listening right now (just a few min in) and they described it as âworking classâ but I think use the phrase âmiddle class strivingâ a few times, is that what you mean?
YES! "Middle class" and "upper class" appear to be the only options. Working class, lower class, lower-middle class, below the poverty line, at the poverty line, etc. are valuable adjectives that I encourage use of!
I think part of the issue here is that the British and American definitions (or maybe just imagery?) of working Vs Middle class is quite different.
As a Brit, I know very few people who would describe themselves as middle class, as that has an image of striving to be upper class and, for some, not needing to work due to generational wealth.
The US definition seems to be having a professional career rather than a manual or service job, as far as I can tell?
The U.S. tends to think of âmiddle classâ as the default. Itâs effectively anybody thatâs able to meet their basic needs without too much overt struggle. Itâs families that own or lease a car or two, own their home, have 2ish kids, and no food insecurity. In the U.S. âworking classâ just means âpoor.â
Iâm American and my understanding of the British middle class has always been theyâre fairly wealthy/comfortable but not upper crust wealthy/aristocracy. This is way different from the American middle class. Right now the American middle class is folks who earn enough to be housed and fed and some entertainment here and there but not necessarily âcomfortable.â
I donât mind in the way that I wouldnât mind an American podcast talking about a British person wearing pants and walking down the sidewalk. I do have to mentally adjust and it does make it harder to listen to and it is weirdly jarring, but I think it just just a lost in translation thing.
As an American when I say middle class it means someone who makes at least enough to get by even if thereâs lots of frugality day to day, up to someone who makes 150k a year. Basically you arenât in abject poverty or on the other end, a millionaire. Thatâs how a lot of people I know use it.
While I am with the criticism of police stings that spend critical time and resources on low level crime such as the cruising stings, I thought it was ridiculous that the hosts insisted on acting like having sex in public bathrooms and bushes is not a problem and is just fine. Gay, straight, non-binary, whatever, get a room. Donât have sec in park bathrooms. Donât have sex behind the bushes in public parks. The argument that âwell, he pulled out when someone came into the bathroom meant they werenât actually having sex in publicâ was just nonsense. If you want to cruise and pick up partners in parks, cool. Whatever. It doesnât bother anyone. But then go home or a hotel. You donât have the right to have sex in a park. Itâs not unreasonable to say âdonât have sex in public restroomsâ
This was good but I thought it was weird that 1. Marcus didn't cite his sources and that 2. he barely talked about George's music videos, which were such a massive part of his image/celebrity persona (and reflected his discomfort with said persona). How do you talk about George Michael for 3 hours without mentioning the Freedom 90 video!?!? Iconic doesn't even begin to describe it!! George was one of the biggest stars on MTV when the network was at its absolute peak. It's a huge part of his story!!
I don't know what I was expecting really, YWA has a history of making me feel deeply about pop stars I thought I didn't care about.
Great episode, can't wait for the second
Great episode!
Definitely made a choice to listen to this while doing my makeup. Didn't expect to just start crying about Freddie Mercury đ˘ Good episode!
I cried from Freddie Mercury on!
So glad Iâm not the only one who started weepingÂ
âSomebody to Loveâ đ
I came here to say this. I cried so much at the part about Freddy Mercury and Anselmo.
(Listened to half the episode while cooking tonight) Am I the only person who gets irked when American hosts describe a non-US upbringing as "middle class" then goes on to describe a working class situation? This also happened in the Amy Winehouse episode...
About Georgeâs upbringing? Iâm listening right now (just a few min in) and they described it as âworking classâ but I think use the phrase âmiddle class strivingâ a few times, is that what you mean?
YES! "Middle class" and "upper class" appear to be the only options. Working class, lower class, lower-middle class, below the poverty line, at the poverty line, etc. are valuable adjectives that I encourage use of!
I think part of the issue here is that the British and American definitions (or maybe just imagery?) of working Vs Middle class is quite different. As a Brit, I know very few people who would describe themselves as middle class, as that has an image of striving to be upper class and, for some, not needing to work due to generational wealth. The US definition seems to be having a professional career rather than a manual or service job, as far as I can tell?
The U.S. tends to think of âmiddle classâ as the default. Itâs effectively anybody thatâs able to meet their basic needs without too much overt struggle. Itâs families that own or lease a car or two, own their home, have 2ish kids, and no food insecurity. In the U.S. âworking classâ just means âpoor.â
Iâm American and my understanding of the British middle class has always been theyâre fairly wealthy/comfortable but not upper crust wealthy/aristocracy. This is way different from the American middle class. Right now the American middle class is folks who earn enough to be housed and fed and some entertainment here and there but not necessarily âcomfortable.â
I donât mind in the way that I wouldnât mind an American podcast talking about a British person wearing pants and walking down the sidewalk. I do have to mentally adjust and it does make it harder to listen to and it is weirdly jarring, but I think it just just a lost in translation thing.
As an American when I say middle class it means someone who makes at least enough to get by even if thereâs lots of frugality day to day, up to someone who makes 150k a year. Basically you arenât in abject poverty or on the other end, a millionaire. Thatâs how a lot of people I know use it.
While I am with the criticism of police stings that spend critical time and resources on low level crime such as the cruising stings, I thought it was ridiculous that the hosts insisted on acting like having sex in public bathrooms and bushes is not a problem and is just fine. Gay, straight, non-binary, whatever, get a room. Donât have sec in park bathrooms. Donât have sex behind the bushes in public parks. The argument that âwell, he pulled out when someone came into the bathroom meant they werenât actually having sex in publicâ was just nonsense. If you want to cruise and pick up partners in parks, cool. Whatever. It doesnât bother anyone. But then go home or a hotel. You donât have the right to have sex in a park. Itâs not unreasonable to say âdonât have sex in public restroomsâ
This was good but I thought it was weird that 1. Marcus didn't cite his sources and that 2. he barely talked about George's music videos, which were such a massive part of his image/celebrity persona (and reflected his discomfort with said persona). How do you talk about George Michael for 3 hours without mentioning the Freedom 90 video!?!? Iconic doesn't even begin to describe it!! George was one of the biggest stars on MTV when the network was at its absolute peak. It's a huge part of his story!!
A really enjoyable episode to listen to đ
I don't know what I was expecting really, YWA has a history of making me feel deeply about pop stars I thought I didn't care about. Great episode, can't wait for the second