Comment on Why is hatred/dehumanization of the working class so prominent in the UK, when about 60% of the UK population is working class?

serpineslair@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

• BlackArtist@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  I’d argue you aren’t using it right, Chav is definitely a slur & Owen Jones would agree it’s a slur. So if you ‘used it right’ what would it be?

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  • serpineslair@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Modern day wannabe-gangster tracksuit wearer. Causing trouble, giving other people a hard time cus it makes em feel bigger. Who the fuck is Owen Jones anyway?

    Where are you from anyway?

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    • BlackArtist@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Wow, truly impressive, every single thing you said managed to be wrong. Have you actually read Chavs, or are we just vibing off Facebook sections now? For the record, since you seem very invested in inventing backgrounds for strangers, I’m from the UK, I’m absolutely working class, I work two jobs, and I’m just scraping by. But sure, “OP’s alt account” was a bold swing. Not a clever one, but bold.

      Jones’ point, which you’d know if you’d bothered engaging with the argument instead of throwing labels around, is that the word “chav” strips people of individual dignity, turns real social hardship into a joke, and makes it easier to dismiss actual human struggles. And shockingly enough, when people are told the poor are just “lazy, irresponsible chavs,” they become much more comfortable supporting policies that punish them. Wild how language works like that.

      Using the word “chav” doesn’t just target “behaviour”, it functions socially as a neat little way of sneering at an entire group of people. That’s what makes it classist in effect, even when the user insists they “didn’t mean it like that”.

      But yes, clearly the only possible explanation for anyone disagreeing with you is a secret alt-account conspiracy. The much less dramatic truth is that I’m a knackered, working-class Brit with two jobs and enough life experience to see lazy class contempt when it’s dressed up as banter. I know, devastating to your narrative.

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      • Apepollo11@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Ok, I think I’ve worked out what the issue is here.

        First of all, let’s go back to where Owen Jones starts off.

        The term chav refers to a specific subset of young people who spend a disproportionate amount of their money on fashionable clothes and hang around being a nuisance to other people.

        He also argues that the term is used by right-wing media outlets as a broader generalisation of working-class people as a whole, to further push their arguments.

        These two things can be true at the same time.

        But I’d definitely agree it’s not a slur. It’s just lazy journalism presenting a caricature of the working-class because it’s easier for their deranged arguments.

        The majority of people are born into working class families, but only a become chavs.

        It is rubbish that the right-wing media is able to get away with writing absolute rubbish with abandon, and it’s unfortunate that a lot of people buy these papers without realising that they’re being told lies and half-truths.

        But that’s what the problem is. It’s not that the term itself is bad, it’s that bad people use it to caricature the working class in general.

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      • jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        I’ve taken a guess and tagged this account as “alt acct; invents slurs and gaslights”

        It might be wrong. I’m not interested enough to check.

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