Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Someone asked me the other day if I thought I was a snob, thinly disguising the fact that she thinks I am.
In certain ways I think I am too.
Not in the sense of coveting gold and Versace and a big house and an au pair (although I wouldn't say no to Marc Jacobs), but in terms of demanding a certain level of intelligence/taste/reasonability from my surroundings.
I don't care if people like Kelly Clarkson/Helen Fielding/Titanic, but I assert my right to utter derogatory comments about these things. Not people, but the things people like. Does that mean that I am making barely concealed comments about people, through their taste? Probably. The same way as people are allowed to hate what I like. My snobbery is not socially determinded, but intellectually (does that in itself make me sound far, far up my own ...?).
I find that most people are snobs, one way or the other. Inverted snobs, you may say, if not actual. I mean, look at this definition:
snob [ snob ] (plural snobs)
noun
1. somebody who looks down on others: somebody who admires and cultivates relationships with those considered socially superior, and disdains those considered inferior
2. somebody who feels superior: somebody who looks down on people considered to have inferior knowledge or tastes
[Mid-19th century. Origin unknown.]
Ad. 2: Somebody who looks down on people considered to have inferior knowledge or taste. Don't we all believe ourselves to be:
a. right
and
b. have good taste?
I do not like people just because they are rich. Or possess a so-called higher status in life. I like people because I like them. Some people have an inherent determination that I, because I am interested in art, art history, architecture, theatre and the like, is a superior-feeling, self-centered, patronising snob. This is a stereotype that I cannot be much bothered with. It is patronising my intelligence. I suspect that the British class-system strikes again and that the middle classes will always look down upon the upper classes (while still coveting what they have). But please feel free to hate my taste as long as you don't make assumptions about me based solely on it.
In certain ways I think I am too.
Not in the sense of coveting gold and Versace and a big house and an au pair (although I wouldn't say no to Marc Jacobs), but in terms of demanding a certain level of intelligence/taste/reasonability from my surroundings.
I don't care if people like Kelly Clarkson/Helen Fielding/Titanic, but I assert my right to utter derogatory comments about these things. Not people, but the things people like. Does that mean that I am making barely concealed comments about people, through their taste? Probably. The same way as people are allowed to hate what I like. My snobbery is not socially determinded, but intellectually (does that in itself make me sound far, far up my own ...?).
I find that most people are snobs, one way or the other. Inverted snobs, you may say, if not actual. I mean, look at this definition:
snob [ snob ] (plural snobs)
noun
1. somebody who looks down on others: somebody who admires and cultivates relationships with those considered socially superior, and disdains those considered inferior
2. somebody who feels superior: somebody who looks down on people considered to have inferior knowledge or tastes
[Mid-19th century. Origin unknown.]
Ad. 2: Somebody who looks down on people considered to have inferior knowledge or taste. Don't we all believe ourselves to be:
a. right
and
b. have good taste?
I do not like people just because they are rich. Or possess a so-called higher status in life. I like people because I like them. Some people have an inherent determination that I, because I am interested in art, art history, architecture, theatre and the like, is a superior-feeling, self-centered, patronising snob. This is a stereotype that I cannot be much bothered with. It is patronising my intelligence. I suspect that the British class-system strikes again and that the middle classes will always look down upon the upper classes (while still coveting what they have). But please feel free to hate my taste as long as you don't make assumptions about me based solely on it.
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