What class do you belong to? The Times will tell you. Though unlike most internet self-measurement quizzes this one does not involve lots of questions about pop culture. (Though surely someone has devised such a quiz...class distinctions on the basis of pop culture preferences? It's gotta be out there somewhere.)
So having a graduate degree puts me in the top three percent of Americans on the basis of education (which is funny given that I don't even have a real high school diploma and am mostly an autodidact). But economically, I'm firmly in the lower middle class. Now that my status is confirmed (and I have the bank statements and bills to prove it) I can begin saying folksy things like "kiss my working class ass."
And while I’m thinking of it, I have a question that may be related to the broader topic of class: what has become of pubic hair?
Seriously--is there someone out there chronicling the demise of pubic hair in Western culture? There must be some cultural studies geek at Brown or Berkeley writing about this no? I have a few questions. Is the gradual disappearance of pubic hair entirely attributable to the growing social acceptance of pornography? This is one place where the influence of culture on bodies is clearly visible.
And how did hairlessness become desirable? Is it the urge to make everything visible? Or is it tied to the sexualization of children? Is a hairless vagina meant to evoke pre-pubescent genitalia?
Do class distinctions play a role in pubic hair grooming? Are working class genitals visibly different than ivy league genitals? Or does this transcend class? I think there's a research project taking shape here…
