As the year to comes to an end, I’ve decided to take some time to reflect. While 2010 did fly by, there were some memorable moments that I hold close to me. As I was in the middle of this reflective mindset, I looked out the window and saw what I have been seeing for the past 4 years. Demolition. I live in Regent Park, Canada’s oldest and largest “hood”. It’s been home to me my whole life, and now it is being torn down piece by piece. As I sit here and look at the demolition crew tearing down a row of houses, I see a group of kids maybe 6 of them aged about 16. They reminded me of myself at that age because of how they were dressed. Each one of them were flashing a big chain, a brand new pair of Air Jordans, and a noticeable interlocking G belt with a distinct red and green colour. Gucci. How do 16 year-olds afford jewelry and high-end clothing and accessories? That’s a different story. The sight of them made me laugh and it recalled our discussion of the social classes and the petit bourgeoisie.
Growing up in Regent Park, I didn’t have much. I probably belonged to one of the lower classes. What I did have was a T.V that showed music videos of my favourite rappers wearing oversized chains and expensive clothes. As a kid, all I thought about growing up was having diamonds and money. Nothing else mattered. As a teenager, I can admit that I was a petite bourgeoisie. I didn’t know anything about “being rich”. To me, being rich meant having nice stuff and flaunting that. I didn’t care how ridiculous I looked. I thought that by purchasing what I thought rich people purchased I was somehow joining their class. Every time I got my hands on money I was buy something ridiculous. By the age of 16 I was living what I felt was a dream: I had over 100 pairs of sneakers, mounds of clothes, and a lot of jewelry. I even had a set of grillz (removable gold teeth encrusted with diamonds) made! Not only was I tasteless, I was stupid. By the time I turned 18 I lost it all. It wasn’t until now that I began to understand why people of lower classes, well where I lived at least, felt the need to have things that they couldn’t afford.
Coming from the bottom rungs of society, people here do not own very much. One thing they do own is their appearance. In this society, clothing is one of the most significant ways of judging an persons wealth. As a society, the first thing we do when we meet someone is we take a quick look at them. From the way their hair is cut to what type of shoes they have on their feet, we judge them and then make an assumption as to where they belong in the social ladder. To some, appearance is everything. This is especially prominent in youths. They participate in what they believe is bourgeois behaviours without understanding that it really means to be bourgeois. This has come to be known as “swag”. Kids in the hood want to swag as though they are rich; they want that rich people swag. They want to be able to shop at Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Burberry. Instead of spending the money to better themselves, they do it to better their appearance because that is what society sees. What they don’t realize is that the reason why some people are bourgeois is the fact that they are able to maintain that type of lifestyle. This is probably the main reason why these kids (and myself) are classified as being petite bourgeois: we are unable to maintain that lifestyle. Sure we can go and by a really nice outfit from a high-end store. But that’s only one outfit. We can go to the club and pop bottles of Moet and Grey Goose, but that’s only one night. What we fail to recognize is that being bourgeois is less about what we own and how we look and more about how we carry ourselves. This is the class struggle of those living in Regent Park. I have to admit that even in my old age of 21 I am still a petite bourgeois. Although it may not be as apparent as it was when I was 16, I do participate in behaviours that I think are bourgeois. But at the end of the day, I really don’t care. I am a petite bourgeois and I am proud of it! (Well not really)
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