Although America is advertised and known as the country based on freedom, egalitarianism, and equality, I believe otherwise. I think naturally people judge one another based on what is “different” from what they know themselves. I would say that I was well aware of class from a very early age. I remember examining other classmates’ clothing choices and remember certain kids looking “dirtier” than others. If their sneakers were sloppy and brown, hair not brushed, faces a mess and clothing with stains, I would think that they were from a lower class than I was… or in the mind of a child, possibly poor. I would say that I noticed these things from kindergarten, and I probably would have related a child that was clean, well dressed and had the latest toys affluent. Kids in kindergarten already were placed in different categories according to separate criteria including the attributes I named above. I am having a hard time distinguishing what else it may have been based off of, but I do remember having separate groups of kids, some more accepted than others.
Classism has affected my life in various ways. When I leave the house, I normally don’t think about what I am wearing is for comfort or warmth but depending on where I am going I care what people are going to think of me- but this is most recently occurring in my life after a certain event. My fiancé and I had a baby this past June, and she was unexpectedly born with many complications (GBS sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis, then later learned she had an asd, large/atypical vsd and narrow mitral valves) so we have gone to many, many doctor’s appointments where I feel they judge my competence as a parent on what I am wearing and how I appear to them. I think this is the easiest basis for judging a person’s class- how they appear. If I went into the doctor’s office with a bright pink sequined tank top with Abercrombie displayed, paired with a frayed jean skirt and some uggs, I honestly don’t think that they would take me as seriously as if I wore a black turtleneck, jeans and boots with a scarf and hair in a bun. In my opinion, I think that those two outfit choices would group me into two different classes, and they would misjudge my intellect based on that.. which would result me finding out less information about my daughter and thus leaving me less questions to ask etc.
I cannot possibly say that I am not a participant in this either. I think I do judge people based on what they look like. I think that it is human nature to gather as much information as possible about a subject for protection, so that you are prepared. However, humans have become advanced individuals that don’t necessarily always need that tactic to survive. I don’t think many people like to admit how invisible “classism” really is in this society and culture. I think as discussed in Johnson’s book, people are largely in denial that racism, classism, ageism, or sexism even occur. In order to change this, we need to openly analyze and asses our thought processes when we experience classism. If we do this, we can understand that it isn’t at all reasonable to see that man as part of the lower class because his shirt has stains on it and is wearing jeans and shoes that from walmart. If we hear other people judge others based on materiel possessions, we need to educate them that isn’t the correct way to evaluate a person, and that it doesn’t help them to do so. We can encourage more open discussions among students at a young age, where education on these subjects should begin. Even if their home life encourages negative assumptions about people, at the very least it could be counteracting with the positive.
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