DON'T SUGAR-COAT IT

This is a postgrad blog written by a Masters student of Global Cultures at Cardiff University. I previously undertook my Undergraduate degree in French and Italian at the University of Leeds, graduating in Summer 2021.

My interests are quite varied but one theme that runs throughout my research is the relationship between culture and class. I believe that academia can at times fall into intellectual snobbery, and discount certain elements of what it deems ‘low culture’. However, in order to understand society fully, it is crucial to explore all elements of culture, from the tradition of going to the pub to Mozart. I am heavily inspired by the HighLow Podcast that was hosted by Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes, in which the two women discussed political topics such as violence against women, but they also discussed the widely frowned-upon genre of television that is Reality TV. This isn’t to say that everybody must take an interest in everything and write about everything - not at all. But we must be careful not to dismiss certain cultures on the basis of normative standards of culture set out by a small percentage of our society.

Growing up in South Wales and then going to a Russell Group university highlighted many cultural differences in my upbringing compared to the cosmopolitan middle-class students that I came across. I distinctly remember one girl being shell-shocked that I had never seen Madame Butterfly before. Not to say that my upbringing was any better or more grounded than my friend's, but that both experiences are valid and worthy of discussion. This is what the purpose of this blog is - not to discriminate against culture but to explore class in relation to it.