Page 45 - Issue 39

ELITE Vol.1, Issue 39, January 2022
Vol.1, Issue 39, January

The Prevalence of Classism

Noor Khaled - Level 2 - Economics - noor.awad2020@feps.edu.eg

No matter where you go, you will always find some
form of discrimination occurring. Be it racism,
hatred towards religions (or the lack thereof), or
sexism, discrimination exists even when we cannot
see it. Here in Egypt, some prejudices are out in the
open, especially classism, which is the process of
treating people better or worse based on their social they make it so that anyone could afford to buy
Photo by Susanne Jutzeler from Pexels
class position. And while many discussions have their properties - shows just how normalized the
been held to denounce all kinds of discrimination, idea has become. Ads like these only proceed to
classism is a topic that needs more attention in feed the monster of classism in Egypt.
Egypt, given how it is so prevalent in our society. Ads are not the only example of how widespread
We will begin this discussion by discussing how classism is in this country. Although they are not
classism has become so common that we do not exclusive to Egypt, gated communities have a
question it anymore. Take television ads, for reputation of being a catalyst to classist
example. One minute you’re watching assumptions. Within these beautiful gates, a
advertisements for philanthropic causes that include disgusting secret festers. The people that reside
low-income families and the next, you’re watching within these communities are generally of a similar
a residential advertisement that features a social class, yet they still try to classify each other
glamourized version of an upper/upper-middle-class based on other possessions or features. For instance,
family. Ironically, a lot of the time, the people that parents may want their kids to hang out with kids

invest in these residential areas aren’t upper- that seem more “refined” or those with markers of
middle-class. Moreover, the fact that low-income wealth. They may also try to distance themselves
consumers are almost always never shown as from people who speak in certain accents. Now,
valuable potential buyers - even when these ads these may seem like extreme cases, but it is an
target them by specifically mentioning how easy
unfortunate truth and one that prevails.

44