Hannah Cann tells us why she loves political correctness.
Do you have swine flu? No. Do you know anybody who does have swine flu? Probably not. So what's all the fuss about?
Can't afford ethical clothing but can afford a night out at Ziggy's? Jennifer Heyes discusses where students' priorities should really lie.
Three of The Yorker's blogs team have had a hard think about what general rules they live their lives by and written them down in the form of their own Personal Philosophies.
First things first, let’s establish a few facts here. There is no physical north-south divide; the boundary is subjective, mostly with regard to where you originate. For southerners of the London variety like me, anything north of The Smoke is to be associated with erect nipples, chips and gravy, and cheap house prices. Again, for northerners, precisely how far north you are from will determine the exact location of this psychological divide; a divide that generally entails “The Others” being snobby, daddy-paid-for-my-tuition fees, I-cry-at-foreign-films type people with no appreciation for the delights of Real Ale.
I’m a David Attenborough of the British institution, exploring and objectively reporting on all things divisional.
Now look at that list of stereotypes above. Do you find them ridiculous or are you sitting nodding your head in amusement at the truths these icons-of-division contain? I like to think I keep an open-mind on all things so negatively dichotomous. When my Geordie friend proclaimed, “I thought all southerners were knobs until I met you”, I interpreted this to mean that I transcend these boundaries; I’m a David Attenborough of the British institution, exploring and objectively reporting on all things divisional. A radical, if you will.
So I find this whole divide thing absurd. It has to be said, though, a large proportion of members in each “community” actively attempt to reinforce their given stereotype, particularly those generalisations which include features that are positively assessed in the respective areas. Often these are gender-based assumptions: northern men perpetuate their northern “strong in th’ arm and good in th’ bed” manliness (grr) whilst southern women tend to reiterate that they are, in fact darling, overly articulate princesses (yah?) If you need any proof of this, look no further than the language used in this dear article. Southerners tend (please note the ‘tend') to use and abuse their authoritarian-sounding wordiness whilst northerners prefer to “keep it real” with their affable, approachable demeanour. This leads me to believe, rightly or wrongly, that the north-south divide has strong ties with that seemingly very British obsession: class.
When I first arrived at university, I was confronted with people I had never before encountered, or perhaps more realistically, never noticed (no, not northerners); people who made assessments on the “variety” of person you were based on where you were from and your background. Not only that, but they actively used these judgements in determining whether they were to be your friend. These tended to be upper-class southerners and working-class northerners, supposedly divided yet judging from the same rickety old boat. I mean, where’s the love, guys? It’s human to judge and assess but does the divide need to be reinforced to such a ridiculous extent? We’re all here for the same reason and in my humble opinion, the dichotomy is self-fulfilling anyhow.
There are The Facts of course. The house prices, the standard of living, the general state of health. I’m not going to bore you with these details as they seem completely irrelevant to me. It would be like Jodie Marsh commenting on the Theory of Relativity. I’m not in the real world and have led an almost entirely southern existence, even now…they might as well have named York “Southern City of Oop North”. All I know is that this divide is darn-well silly; a breeding ground for unfounded prejudice. I’m all for the banter - call me a pretentious southern-lovie all you like, but we should all take heed of the stereotyped northern attitude and keep it in perspective. We should (all-together-now):
Keep. It. Real.
Some good points made, Kirsty. "Classism is the real issue" and the stereotypical associations between accent and class.
More northerners than you think make a deliberate effort to lose their accent or tone it down, to avoid the associations of class and capability. There's still active, albeit possibly subconscious discrimination in job interviews.
A northerner can sell you car insurance or work in a call centre, but they can't be an investment banker.
So after "What is it about nakedness?" and "What is it about the north-south divide?" can we expect "What is it about Kirsty Denison?"
"A northerner can sell you car insurance or work in a call centre, but they can't be an investment banker."
Bit of a sweeping statement don't you think? I don't think northerners tone down their accents to deliberately avoid class or capability associations, it's more a case of whether you will be understood.
Northern accents have even been found to be more trustworthy that southern ones!
Yes, it's meant to be a bit of sweeping, dramatic statement, but one that can sum up the subconscious of some of our "better" spoken counterparts. As for your thought, I have a few friends who do it or hold a firm belief that I am more likely to get a job easily because my accent isn't that strong. Some of the more well-off ones have even taken elocution lessons.
Which is exactly why they're preferred in telesales and call centres.
I know of many northern people, as well as southern people, who do deliberately play down their accents. According to the "accommodation theory" in the domain of sociolinguistics, people will either converge or diverge with or from their listener, to associate or disassociate themselves from the perceived status or background of such person. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery however and people tend to converge (or tone down particular features) when necessary. It seems northern people more than the southern due to the perceived negative associations.
Mitch: if you should so wish to write 'what is it about Kirsty Denison?' then please, go ahead
Very tempted to burst into a Cher rendition at this point
I agree that if you're accent isn't that strong you are more likely to get a job that requires good communication, and if you come across well in interview.
Therefore to say you can't become something purely on the north/south distinction is a distorted view. Employers are more concerned with how you communicate, and how well you are understood, whichever part of the country you're from.
So northerners can be investment bankers and southerners can work in call centres!
"So northerners can be investment bankers and southerners can work in call centres!"
I don't think anyone genuinely suggested they couldn't; that would of course be ridiculous. Unfortunately however, discrimination is proven to still be prevalent anon. Communication is key yes, but stupidly, accent still plays a key role with negative results in places not restricted to the south:
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/smyth.htm
You must log in to submit a comment.
Report