You step onto an airplane, and greeted by a serene, smiling airhostess. She looks at your ticket and depending on the two words in the top right hand corner she will either direct you to one of 2 fates; the first: spending the duration of your flights elbowed, cramped and relentlessly kicked by the devilish toddler in the seat behind you, or: gliding swiftly to your plush, luxury chair, a section where personal space is still valued and you receive complimentary champagne upon arrival. The class system on an airplane is something that no one blinks an eye at despite it echoing the racially segregated cinemas of pre-civil rights America. Of course one could argue that this is not so as those in first or business class pay to sit in luxury and that everyone has the choice to purchase these seats but that is not so on two counts. Firstly, the average British person earns around £20,000 a year and a European mid-distance flight costs £1,000 return per person. This means they would be spending 5% of their annual income on a single flight if it was truly a reality for everyone. Secondly as detailed in ‘life with a supermodel’, an article detailing the superior treatment so called ‘beautiful people’ get, if there are spare spaces on flights, it is all major airline’s customs to scout young, good looking solo flyers or couples to have a free upgrade. This treatment creates a division far beyond the labels of where one should sit.
This example of ‘secret’ classing can be extended to other examples within society for example council housing. The notion itself is a brilliant idea however 80% of council houses and blocks are within 1 mile of another affordable housing establishment. Additionally affluent towns such as Richmond engage in long battles about preventing council housing in their area and when they are forced to they build them, they do so on the outskirts of the town. This in effect is creating a large division between the working and middle class almost a ghetto, even if not publicized. However increasing numbers of young British film makers are documenting the social injustices they face if on the dole or living in a council estate. These themes are becoming more common in films for example Fish Tank.
The most common and dangerous form of social classing is to do with education. The Guardian reported that in the last decade only 1-5.5% of the students accepted into Oxbridge received free school meals. With the fees now implemented for all universities, not just elite ones, this diminishes the chance of breaking the working class poverty cycle even further as in previous years, university was free or significantly cheaper and still had a large imbalance in working to middle class students.
In conclusion, before we turn our noses up at the class systems in the east such as the lack of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia and deem their practices ‘inhumane’ and unthinkable we must remember that in our country women have only been deemed equals for less than 100 years and still face unequal wages and other sexist treatment. Perhaps instead, we should look to our society for what hidden injustices we may still be imposing.
