A Touchy Subject By Paul Fussell - 1442 Words

In the opening to Paul Fussell’s essay â€Å"A Touchy Subject†, he observes that no one really quite understands how class works, and each class theorizes the deciding factors between them, through the colored lenses of station. Of interest though, is the description he gives of the Upper Class, who â€Å"perceive that taste, values, ideas, style, and behavior are indispensable criteria of class, regardless of money or occupation or education† (McQuade) If that criteria is taken and applied to society, other social classes are revealed that lie hidden within the umbrella of Low, Middle and Upper. There is a group of people that embodies their own values, who celebrate their ideas, flaunt their style and act with a certain behaviors, and they have formed a class of their own; Geekdom. This class resides within the other classes, like a sleeper agent, and may at first be easily mistaken for a member of another class. However, being a Geek transcends traditional class labels, and one can find them within the lower, middle and upper class. The reason these members defy traditional labels is that regardless of their monetary or educational status, this class holds those values in it’s core. As the dictionary defines it, a geek is â€Å"an enthusiast or expert, especially in a technological field or activity† (Merriam-Webster), and that enthusiasm, that passion, bleeds into all aspects of the geek’s life. Because they have that enthusiasm, the geek values and purchases items, not because theyShow MoreRelatedThe Impact of Social Class Distinction in America Essay890 Words   |  4 PagesAccording to Paul Fussell, and his essay, class is a â€Å"touchy subject.† Class is often noted as â€Å"any group of plants or animals.† However, wh en it comes to defining class as social distinctions, the word becomes more complex. The social class structure has remained â€Å"murky† over the years, and to most Americans, extremely complicated. In today’s society, social class has become more and more intricate, but it has never been set to where Americans feel comfortable in their own skin. Today, when talkingRead MoreThe Inequalities of the Social Class in the United States and How to Improve It1315 Words   |  6 Pagescorrectly define every individual. And most Americans rather not but are defined by social class it’s a touchy subject and avoided by many. Author Paul Fussell says, â€Å"Although most Americans sense that they live within an extremely complicated system of social classes and suspect that much of what is thought and done here is prompted by considerations of status, the subject has remained murky. And always touchy. You can outrage people today simply by mentioning social class, very much the way, sipping teaRead MoreThe Appearance of Social Classes after World War II1894 Words   |  8 Pagespredisposed as an awkward subject among Americans; therefore it is rarely talked about because it makes people uncomfortable. Generally when interviewed, people claim there are no classes in the area where they live (Fussell). Class and status are two c ompletely different things because status associates a range of things and class is simply a unit (Goldschmidt). Americans often give away their class merely by the criteria they use to define what the word â€Å"class† means (Fussell). The United States’ ideology