The Relationship Between The Middle And Working Classes - Essay Example

The relationship between the middle and working classes around the turn of the twentieth century Around the turn of the twentieth century, there was so much inequality that the middle class and the working class could not afford the same standards of living. However, some members of the middle class stretched their hands to help those who were in the working class. Addams (1912) explains how as a child belonging to the middle class helped the working class children not to feel bad about their situation when her father told her to wear a cloth that other kids wear so that she can be equal with them. This attitude helped the members of the working class in the twentieth century to feel that they belong to the same society and can share equally with other members of the society. Addams uses her life example to suggest that living among the poor is an opportunity to improve their lives in many ways. She says, “There were other genuine reasons for living among the poor than that of practicing medicine upon them” (Addams, 66). Improved live refers to several factors that make someone attain higher standards of living including increased wages, more food, better health, higher social status, more comfort, and higher financing standing in general. Addams says that people in the streets in East London were very poor, and that the middle class tried to help them in mitigating their problems. Those poor people did not have enough food to eat, and gathered in the streets at night to buy vegetables which were almost rotten, others eating them raw. The kind of assistance given to them by the middle class people was intended to improve their lives – improved live in this case refers to the ability of the working class to have more food, clothing and shelter. The middle class people achieved this by offering their fortunes with them. They participated in relief works and offered charities in churches and chapels in order to help those empty handed working class people. These were good efforts by the middle class in East London to help the working class improve their lives (afford the basics of lives). The middle class people at the turn of the twentieth century also interacted with the poor in their hard work. Addams (1912) suggests that she once experienced the plight of women who were engaged in beer brewing due to their poverty. She regarded these conditions as cruel conditions, and she was convinced to act against such cruel conditions. She used her energy to join the women and interact with them. She felt sad that even the prince could “ignore such conditions of life for the multitude of humble, hardworking folk” (Addams, 75). Indeed, this hardworking population had no one to depend on except the middle class people. The middle class sympathized with them, interacted with them to encourage them, supported them, and offered help to improve their lives as much as they could. Another way that the middle classes and the working classes related at the turn of the twentieth century was through philanthropy and social progress. Cultural societies made up of mainly the middle class met at Plymouth, Massachusetts. The middle class formed a movement referred to as Settlement movement. Through this movement, the middle class would strengthen their relationship with the middle class through an imminent brotherhood. Such brotherhood encouraged philanthropy and improved lives. Addams says that the Settlement movement met at Plymouth to “discuss with others the general theme of Philanthropy and Social Progress” (Addams, 113). This philanthropy and social progress improved the lives of the working class by improving their social status as mentioned earlier in this paper. In this case, it can be noted that the relationship between the middle class and the working class was strengthened by social movements. It was through masses of the people that the society sought to improve the life of everyone who was a member of the society. Improving the lives of the working class through social democracy was the key priority of the middle class. The middle class and the working class noted that “higher civic classes can be fostered by common intercourse” (Addams, 116). A common life among the middle class and the working class was the key aim of such social movements. The social movements brought together the two classes and allowed the middle class to support the working class as they sought refinement and good for improvement of their lives. Using her example as a student, Addams recognized that the lives of the working class can also be improved through education. This is shown by the role she played to enable her friend and classmate Alma Mater. They both joined the movement of full college education for women. The life of Mater improved despite her going through the labors of the women group (Addams, 54).. Addams observes that one of the best ways for the middle class to help the working class at the turn of the 20th century was through zeal and affection. This formed the basis of relationships that the middle class and the working class used to connect with each other. Fellowships became the foundations of the early Christian church which strengthened the human relationships between the middle class and the working class even better. The church then believed in cosmic forces and was highly opposed to iconoclasm. This made the relationship between the middle class and the working class even stronger. At the turn of the twentieth century, Christians loved all men and were ready to sacrifice for the weak, the aged and little children (Addams, 123). At the turn of the 20th century, women used popular culture to construct their identities (Enstad, 47). Through this approach, the working class women attracted attention from the middle class. The women participated in strikes, throwing eggs at scabs and ripping off buttons from their clothes. The popular culture played a crucial role in the strike in which working class women played key roles. Unlike Addams, Enstad identifies a discord between the middle class and the working class. She observes that the middle class women categorise fashion and fiction, valuing the products made for them and demeaning products for the working class (Enstad, 50). The middle class regards their products as tasteful, moral and sincere, while regarding the products of the working class as cheap and inferior. This shows that the middle class according to Enstad distanced themselves from the working class. The differences between the middle class and the working class were demonstrated by how the middle class perceived the strike performed by the working class women. While social advocators would argue that middle class people support the working class, the middle class of the early 20th century seemingly neglected this duty. They dismissed the fashionable dressing of working class women. Enstad (1999) argued that the working class women were depicted by middle class women as “charity cases of the deserving poor” pg 53. This deprived the women of their political agency. Therefore, according to Enstad the relationship between the middle class and the working class at the turn of 20th century was a poor relationship that worked against progress for the working class women. Instead of supporting the striking working class women, the middle class women questioned their approaches and opposed them. According to Enstad, what cause the differences between the working class and the middle class are the different views that each of the two classes views fashion and culture. The middle class consider their own fashion as superior, while they criticize the way the wealthy class utilize fashion. On the other hand, the working class seeks identity through fashion and popular culture by attempting to make their own middle class fashion. They are seeking identity in the society which the middle class attempt to control (Enstad, 1999). This brings about something like competition. As a result, the middle class do not want the working class to rise and take over their fashion, while the working class struggle to form their own identities and seek attention especially in the labour market, popular culture and fashion. Enstad (1999) argues that labor among working class women was an important way for them to improve their lives. One way of measuring improved lives for the women was increased wages. Therefore, they held strikes to demand for a rise in their wages. However, the middle class opposed those labor strikes (Enstad, 116). This shows that middle class women did not help working class women to improve their lives. From this analysis, it is clear that there are two sides of the relationship between the middle class and the working class at the turn of the 20th century. Addams (1912) used his own personal experience to explain how the middle class helped the working class improve their lives through social movements, religious fellowships, philanthropies, etc. On the other hand, Enstad (1999) argues that the middle class women opposed the striking approach of the working class. Enstad therefore thinks that the middle class did not help the working class improve their lives. Works cited Addams, Jane. Twenty Years at Hull-House with Autobiographical Notes. New York: The MacMillan Company. 1912. Print. Enstad, Nan. Ladies of Labor, Girls of Adventure: Working Women, Popular Culture, and Labor Politics at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1999. Print. Read More