Social classes have been drastically downplayed in the last 200 years, but are still a prevalent part of our society. People within higher classes still own large houses, belong to exclusive country clubs, and dress, speak and act with an air of dignity. Stereotypically, people within lower classes still go out to run down bars, live in tenant houses, and are more rustic.
The gentry and noblemen of the 19th century had their designated spaces, and would not dare be caught in spaces for lower classes. The women had certain dress and fabric shops that they would go to, and the men had exclusive gentleman’s club memberships. They would throw parties and balls either at one of their own mansions, or at expensive hotels and inns. They would even only try to vacation in certain areas such as the Bath region in Emma.
The lower classes such as the farmers and day laborers did not have the luxury of being able to join these exclusive clubs, going to said exclusive stores, and vacationing in the country. They did not have the time, the money, or the invitation. People of lower classes had pubs, farms, and commercial clothing stores. They most likely would be mending and making their own clothes whenever they could. They did not have the time or money to prepare or attend extravagant balls thrown in extravagant mansions.
Nowadays classes are less distinct and the lines are blurred, but they are still very much present. Wealthier people still have large country houses or multiple, whole floors in apartment buildings in the city. Outside of the city and in suburbs, they belong to country clubs that are really like the old gentleman’s clubs but have expanded to include women and children. Inside of the city, they belong to exclusive committees that can only be joined by invitation. There are exclusive shops that only some people have the money or invitation to shop at. They attend elusive, top secret and exclusive parties now in large ballrooms in distinguished hotels. Men still have their stereotypical dark libraries, scotch and large comfy chairs. Even the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta has the aforementioned room for socializing and drinking.
Lower classes today at least have more time for entertainment, given the relatively recently passed labor laws. They have large department stores, food courts that often give out free samples (and if one circles it enough, they get a meal), public movie theatres, bars and pubs, and clubs such as the YMCA or local religious organizations.
Classes are still defined by wealth, but it is also okay to know where someone’s money came from. There are still rich spoiled kids who did not have to work a day in their life for the luxuries that they receive, but there are also a lot of self made people who have risen to their social and economic status based on merit. Exclusive clubs still allow for the opportunity to network and more often than not, give its members opportunities that people in lower classes may not receive.
Citation:
Austen, Jane. Emma London: Penguin, 1996. Print
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Public and Private time in Mrs. Dalloway (Blog #7)
Throughout Emma and Mrs. Dalloway, private time is at odds with public time. This is most apparent in Mrs. Dalloway. Throughout the day’s events, the characters stop and note when Big Ben strikes the hour. Since the concept of public time is still relatively new in the early 20th century, “one feels even in the midst of the traffic, or waking at night… an indescribable pause; a suspense before Big Ben strikes. There! Out it boomed. First a warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable.” The interesting wording here lies in ‘irrevocable’, as it makes a second appearance in the text; “Big Ben was beginning to strike, first the warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable.” This suggests finality; the last opportunity the character has to wallow in that particular hour. The text also hints at this wallowing by describing the sound of Big Ben as if it were a scent, wafting through the Westminster: “It was precisely twelve o’clock; twelve by Big Ben; whose stroke was wafted over the northern part of London; blent with that of other clocks, mixed in a thin ethereal way with the clouds and wisps of smoke, and died up there among the seagulls”. The finality of every hour implies a lack of time; a dwindling away of a finite amount of time. Perhaps this is the dwindling away of the hours leading up to the party, or perhaps the lingering time left in Clarissa’s life.
The strikes of Big Ben play another role in the text. They sit in the text, similar to road signage, marking the forward progression of time, despite the segmented recollection of events. Throughout the narration of the story, various characters often find their idle thoughts drifting towards the past, but Big Ben, as well as other clocks both public and private, play their role in “shredding and slicing, dividing and subdividing” the events of the day into distinctive segments. The episodic recollections of the past are punctuated by the clocks of the present, suggesting public time takes precedence over each character’s private time. Despite these forays into the past, time is still flowing linearly; marching relentlessly towards the beginning of the dinner party. This has a rather odd effect on the character’s private time, which seems to expand well beyond the boundaries of each hour or half hour, as every journey into the past is accompanied by vivid detail.
As stated earlier, despite the characters often daydreaming on a park bench or contemplating party arrangements, public time continuously advances. This struggle between both private and public time can be seen with Clarissa’s growing worries about her party’s success, and the clocks only serve to heighten these fears with every passing hour. It’s quite easy to see the vital role time plays in the story, be it time spent regretting the past, or time spent preparing for the future. Perhaps Woolf should have stuck with the original title of her story: The Hours.
Boy Space and Girl Space
For as long as I can remember there have been designated spaces for boys and girls. Such places include public restrooms or the locker rooms of high school. Although society has a set of rules for children as people grow up society accepts more intersection between the sexes. In the past society still held to a conservative standard of ‘dating’ in terms of acceptability. The social rules for girl space and boy space have become more liberal over time.
In current society there are designated boy bathrooms and girl bathrooms. While some can argue it is sexist because it separates people based on gender we can look at other factors. Efficiency plays a large part in public restrooms being separated. There are stalls and urinals for men but only stalls for woman. This is because a urinal being placed in a woman’s restroom would be useless. If it were sexist then no co-ed restrooms would exist although many do. Locker rooms are another story.
When we think of the locker rooms from high school we see that there is a separation for girls and boys. They are mostly identical unlike bathrooms where we can blame efficiency on the separation. It is safe to assume that the reason is sexist for this separation. Of course, the main reason for this separation is to keep the level of shenanigans from happening although we can’t avoid the homosexual ones due to same-sex locker rooms.
Though when people begin to grow up they make their own decisions on separation. It wasn’t acceptable for a boy and a girl to ever be alone as stated. Today it isn’t really accepted when you’re a minor, but as you grow up you get to make your own decisions. Just last week I spent the night with my friend Megan and we slept in the same room. There is no need for a separation between friends due to the time of night or not having someone else around as a buffer to sexual shenanigans because the taboo of pre-marital sex seems to have diminished.
In the early nineteenth century the social norm was to never let men and women alone together. As can be seen in the nineteenth century novel, Emma, by Jane Austin, Harriett was never alone with Mr. Martin or Mr. Elton her courters. It was unacceptable to be alone with someone of the opposite gender until marriage because of the social taboo of pre-marital sex and such scandals. In current society where there is a limited taboo of pre-marital sex ‘courting’ or dating is usually always done alone and away from groups.
Now we can answer that the reason for men and woman to be separated is mostly the protection from sexual shenanigans. As the times change and the taboo of sex diminishes it seems to allow men and woman more opportunities to have spaces of intersection. As we can see with the development of one-on-one dating or staying the night at a friend’s of the opposite gender. The only true question is what is causing the change in the opinion of sex from taboo to acceptable.
Austen, Jane. Emma London: Penguin, 1996. Print
In current society there are designated boy bathrooms and girl bathrooms. While some can argue it is sexist because it separates people based on gender we can look at other factors. Efficiency plays a large part in public restrooms being separated. There are stalls and urinals for men but only stalls for woman. This is because a urinal being placed in a woman’s restroom would be useless. If it were sexist then no co-ed restrooms would exist although many do. Locker rooms are another story.
When we think of the locker rooms from high school we see that there is a separation for girls and boys. They are mostly identical unlike bathrooms where we can blame efficiency on the separation. It is safe to assume that the reason is sexist for this separation. Of course, the main reason for this separation is to keep the level of shenanigans from happening although we can’t avoid the homosexual ones due to same-sex locker rooms.
Though when people begin to grow up they make their own decisions on separation. It wasn’t acceptable for a boy and a girl to ever be alone as stated. Today it isn’t really accepted when you’re a minor, but as you grow up you get to make your own decisions. Just last week I spent the night with my friend Megan and we slept in the same room. There is no need for a separation between friends due to the time of night or not having someone else around as a buffer to sexual shenanigans because the taboo of pre-marital sex seems to have diminished.
In the early nineteenth century the social norm was to never let men and women alone together. As can be seen in the nineteenth century novel, Emma, by Jane Austin, Harriett was never alone with Mr. Martin or Mr. Elton her courters. It was unacceptable to be alone with someone of the opposite gender until marriage because of the social taboo of pre-marital sex and such scandals. In current society where there is a limited taboo of pre-marital sex ‘courting’ or dating is usually always done alone and away from groups.
Now we can answer that the reason for men and woman to be separated is mostly the protection from sexual shenanigans. As the times change and the taboo of sex diminishes it seems to allow men and woman more opportunities to have spaces of intersection. As we can see with the development of one-on-one dating or staying the night at a friend’s of the opposite gender. The only true question is what is causing the change in the opinion of sex from taboo to acceptable.
Austen, Jane. Emma London: Penguin, 1996. Print
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