New kitchen island or tattoos, it’s sheer class either way

As a leading light of the contemporary art scene, Grayson Perry — Turner Prizewinner, potter and crossdresser extraordinaire — is no stranger to controversy.

In fact, it’s fair to say he thrives on it. This time, however, it’s possible he may have bitten off slightly more than he can chew.

Talking with Twiggy about ‘cultural conditioning’ on her podcast, Perry got on to the subject of class. The working classes, he said, spend their money very differently from the middle classes. When it comes to taste, they tend to like very different things.

‘a traditional working-class person wants you to notice every damn penny they’ve spent,’ explained Perry on the podcast Tea With Twiggy. ‘and it’s going to be on gold and high-tech things.

‘They want to spend it on their clothes, on their car, on their hair, make-up, tattoos. Things you can see out in the world.’

By contrast, he explained, the middle classes spend most of their money on their houses, and leave ‘their curtains open’ so that passers-by can admire what a ‘lovely kitchen island they’ve got’.

PredIcTaBly, the armies of the professionally offended have rounded on poor Perry, accusing him of all sorts of terrible stereotyping and prejudice.

I listened to the podcast, and it was actually rather interesting: two genuine working-class people (as opposed to the pretend types we’re so used to hearing from these days) who obviously don’t give two hoots what anyone thinks about them, discussing everything from PG Tips to posh dinner parties.

But we live in an age when everything is taken out of context, and sensitivities are such that openness and honesty matter less than political correctness. This is a great shame, because it means we have so few interesting conversations.

The truth is: Perry is right. class is a huge determiner of how a person spends their cash. What’s really interesting, though, is why.

Both he and Twiggy belong to that 1960s and 1970s generation where being working class was rather cool. and it still is, which is why so many posh people (embarrassingly) spend so much time pretending to be from the wrong side of the tracks.

But for many, the reality of being working-class means being stuck in menial, poorly paid work with very few prospects. Feeling that people are looking down on you and judging you. and wanting to show the world that you are just as good as the rest, if not better.

The middle classes don’t have this problem. No one criticises our lifestyle or suggests we might be getting above our station for wanting our kids to go to university or for shopping at Waitrose. These things are expected. We have absolute confidence in our status, and no need to prove it to anybody.

In fact, the middle or upper classes will often deliberately downplay the outward signs of success. They will drive ancient, beaten-up cars and dress deliberately shabbily. That’s because that frayed shirt collar or moth-eaten old jumper does not, to them, represent any kind of threat.

If they wanted new clothes, they could easily afford them; it’s just that appearance doesn’t matter so much because their status is not a source of anxiety. They don’t have to wear their confidence on their backs; to them it’s like a second skin.

But if you’re working class, a frayed collar or a hole in your shoe represents something far more tangible. It is the prospect of failure, forever snapping at your heels. That is why showing the world your success is so important: it helps make it real, both to yourself and to others.

acknowledging this is not an insult to either party. Perry is not being a snob or a bigot. He’s just recognising the differences that still exist in society today — and having, unlike so many, the courage to admit them.