Essay

1. MARCH 2012
Skeggs and Wood (2011) maintain that “all
representations are at some level always about
class. Television in particular, with its stories
of everyday life and ‘ordinary people’,
represents the structures of social
relationships, from the most intimate to the
most global, which are always about class.”
Discuss.
IDEAS, POLITICS & POLICY
4,185 words
Student 1160350

2. Introduction
The statement of Skeggs and Wood (2008), forming the title of this essay, comes from their study of
a relatively new genre of programming: reality television. Emerging in the late 1990s and early 2000s
in the form of fly-on-the-wall set-ups like Big Brother (Endemol 1999) and lifestyle-contrasting shows
like Wife Swap (RDF Media 2003), reality TV purports to portray real people going about their lives,
while providing entertainment value through these depictions. Using a series of examples from both
sides of the Atlantic, the authors argue that the new genre is particularly reflective of class
differences and antagonisms. Not only this, but they assert that both the formats and apparent
ideologies in programmes such as Ladette to Lady (RDF Media 2005) betray an imposition of middle
class normativity, using a number of convincing examples and surrounding social context.
This essay will examine their position in relation to the latest step in the evolution of reality
television: structured reality (SR). Originating in the United States in the mid-2000s and quickly
making the transition to British television, the sub-genre marks a new step by presenting the lives of
its subjects in the format of a conventional drama, blurring the traditional lines between
documentary and soap. In the UK as in the US, the programmes depict certain classes of people in
highly stylised and sensational manners. The genre provides potential for class-based insights on two
counts: it portrays real people in their real lives and thus reveals more about reality than a scripted
drama in the style of Eastenders, while the very fact of its heavy orchestration and editing betrays
the class-based viewpoints of producers, who reproduce class-based stereotypes in anticipation of
what the audience expects from certain types of people.
The essay begins by providing a social context, outlining the development of social class in Britain,
arriving at the ways in which the British view and experience class today in light of recent history. A
brief look at the role of British television content in mediating class is followed by introducing the
specific genre of SR. In order to explore Skeggs’ and Wood’s assertion, I will present a class-based
comparative analysis of two contemporary British SR programmes, depicting lives of the fabulously

3. rich and the glamour-seeking working class respectively: Made in Chelsea (Monkey 2011) and
Desperate Scousewives (Lime Pictures 2011). Through this analysis key insights about the
representations of class emerge, and conclusions emerge about the extent and implications of this
culture of televised class representation.
Class in Britain: The past and the present
‘It is widely believed, both in Britain and abroad, that the British are obsessed with class in the way that
other nations are obsessed with food or race or sex or drugs or alcohol’
(Cannadine, 1998)
So wrote David Cannadine in his work Class in Britain (1998). He acknowledges the difficulty of
proving or disproving this belief, but its existence is nonetheless indicative of a long social history
that shapes the way that class is perceived and experienced in post-millennial Britain.
For hundreds of years, dating from the Norman Conquest (1066), British society was strictly
organised under the feudal system. The king was at the head of a social pyramid which placed the
peasantry under knightly liege-lords, who answered in turn to the Crown. The fiscal system of taxes
and tributes reflected this, as did the absolute power of the monarch and the nobility. What
complicated matters from the 16th century onwards was the rise of trade and a prosperous
merchant class – precursors of the Marxian bourgeoisie. This new class grew over the following
centuries, truly blossoming during the Industrial Revolution (c. 1750-1850), when the concentration
and mechanisation of production laid the grounds for modern-day capitalism. This period also saw a
break-up of agrarian society, as country peasants moved to the cities to work under intense labour
conditions, creating the new industrial working class. This class found its expression in the trade
union movements and ultimately achieved political power as the Labour Party (1924). After two
unsettling World Wars, the old social order of powerful aristocracy and underprivileged workers
gave way to a new welfare capitalism, under which income and living standards improved greatly for

4. the middle bulk of British society. The new middle class – large, well-off, influential – was firmly
established.
Margaret Thatcher (1979-90) avowed a desire to break down class stratification, dismantling
organised labour unions and promoting individual endeavour and upward mobility. But Tony Blair’s
(1997-2007) subsequent declaration that ‘We’re all middle-class now’ (Jones 2011) was a denial of
the class difference that still exists in today’s Britain. In fact, 50% of Britons surveyed in 2002
believed the country to be more divided by class than in 1979. (MORI) Moreover, studies reveal that
individual fortunes are still largely determined by socioeconomic class at birth. (Skeggs and
Wood,p11). In 2012, the country finds itself experiencing mass unemployment and deep recession,
under a government whose Cabinet of twenty-nine includes twenty-three millionaires (Owen 2010).
We are debating both welfare cuts and corporate tax breaks, and still nominally ruled by a Queen of
sixty years’ reign. Unlike the economy, class in Britain is very much alive and well.
Class on British television
Cannadine claimed that, ‘Britons are always thinking about who they are, what kind of society they
belong to, and where they themselves belong in it.’ (1998,p23) The consumption of television is a
very British pursuit; figures show that Britons watch an average of 28 hours per week, more than in
any nation except America. (Nationmaster 2011). Given this, where better to turn for insights into
British society than the television schedules?
Hollywood, of course, is fond of portraying British society through an overtly classist lense, with its
long-held predilection for upper class romances like Four Weddings and a Funeral (Newell 1994) and
The King’s Speech (Hooper 2010). But despite popular British complaints on this score (Collins 2011),
this obsession with class is also shared by British TV producers and viewers, with the significant
difference being that lower classes seem to be more frequently represented on the small screen
than on the large.

5. The working classes are depicted in popular soaps including Coronation Street and Emmerdale, and
also in daytime get-rich-quick shows like Deal or No Deal. In the former, there is more than a hint of
regional caricature, which plays on the perception of provincial deprivation in the UK. I will argue
later that region-based class distinction is a key feature of the new SR shows. Class-based moralising
is nowhere more obvious than on The Jeremy Kyle Show, which are accused of ‘presenting the less
well-off as "undeserving" objects of derision.’ (Sparrow 2008).
Unlike American television, with its O.C.s (Fox 2003) and Desperate Housewives, (ABC 2004) the
British offering is remarkably lacking in fictional portrayals of middle or upper-class people. This may
be linked to the earlier point about the general hesitation to engage with the issue of class privilege,
and the traditionally British dislike of overt shows of wealth, derided as ‘nouveau riche’. (Turnock
2007) It may also be attributed to a hidden media power balance, to which I will return later. Aside
from Made in Chelsea, there is really only one dramatic account of the British privileged classes that
has found success in recent years: Edwardian servants-and-masters drama Downton Abbey (Carnival
2011). It seems the British can only stomach overt depictions of class-based inequality when situated
in a suitably-distant romantic past.
I believe that the current British TV landscape betrays an enduring preoccupation with class, albeit a
one-sided one. The fictional portrayal of working-class people by middle-class actors and producers
is a recipe for distortion and class-based stereotyping. Surely then, the new wave of reality-based
drama would afford the opportunity for a restoration of justice, by allowing ‘real-life’ subjects to tell
their own, unmediated stories?
Structured reality (SR) hits the UK
SR is a new post-millenial genre with its origins in US productions like Laguna Beach (MTV 2004) and
Jersey Shore (MTV 2009). Designated by Hill (2005) as the ‘third wave’ of reality television, these
‘dramalities’ purport to show us life as it really is, but in fact this is doubtful. There is evidence of
heavy manipulation of everything from the selection of character-subjects to the locations and

6. situations depicted. The Only Way is Essex (Lime Pictures 2010), Britain’s flagship SR show, opens
each episode with a reminder that ‘While the people are real, some of what they do has been set up
purely for your entertainment.’ The often blatantly engineered selection processes for participators
in American reality TV shows that Grindstaff (Skeggs 2011:188-95) notes have been reproduced,
along with the unashamed glamour and break with gritty reality pioneered by The Hills. (Skeggs
2011) I will argue that the products of this blurring of reality and fiction betray a great deal about
class representation in British television.
The (structured) reality of British class: a comparative analysis
In order to fully bring out the class discourse, I have chosen to compare and contrast two SR
programmes: Made in Chelsea and Desperate Scousewives. At first glance, the premise and aesthetic
appear alike: depictions of glamorous young people entangled in webs of romantic intrigue, played
out at champagne-popping extravaganzas that invariably give rise to plenty of food for gossip the
following day. However, on closer inspection, the characters, situations, language all reveal that the
two programmes are engineered to depict the ultimate stereotypes of class in Britain, with a
regional North-South polarisation providing added emphasis.
Made in Chelsea (MIC)
When James Walcott wrote that ‘Reality TV wages class warfare and promotes proletarian
exploitation,’ (Vanity Fair, December 2009) he failed to predict the recent wave of aristophilia.
Paradoxically, during an economic recession, the British public seems more enthralled than ever
with the upper classes. MIC was impeccably timed to launch hot on the heels of 2011’s Royal
Wedding, itself a fascinating topic for class analysis. For the first time, the heir to the throne was
united with a ‘commoner,’ a fact made much of in the countless column inches and television
programmes devoted to investigating Kate Middleton’s non-noble yet highly privileged background.
(Rayner 2010) In the UK, at least, the public appetite was there for a spot of aristocratic exploitation.

7. You may have heard rumours that Chelsea is an exclusive world of royals, aristocrats and playboys,
where the gossip is as startling as the prices. Well it’s all true. I’m Caggie Dunlop, and this is my world.
(MIC episode 1, May 2011)
So begins our entree into the gilded circles that inhabit one of the world’s most expensive locales:
South West London, specifically the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Building on a well-
established popular perception of the area, MIC is concerned with the affluent lives and turbulent
loves of a group of privileged twenty-somethings in Chelsea. It goes a step further than The Hills in
making its exploration of privilege explicit and conscious, rather than glossing over it as incidental.
The programme employs a kitsch British aesthetic centring on the Union Jack motif, and takes a
tongue-in-cheek approach to its subject matter. At the heart of the narrative is a tortuous love story
between stockbroker Spencer Matthews and globetrotting singer/songwriter Caggie Dunlop.
Desperate Scousewives (DS)
In November 2011, a new incarnation of the SR genre promised us insight into a very different social
enclave. Situated opposite to MIC both geographically and socially, DS was set in Liverpool, a city in
the North-West still popularly associated with social deprivation, tawdry taste and the notoriously
incomprehensible Scouse accent, despite significant rebranding efforts. (Bartlett 2011) No wonder
then, that local residents took such exception (Collinson 2011) to the show’s stereotypical portrayal
of their city on the national stage:
We’re loud and we’re proud. It must be something they put in that water – the Mersey that is... I’m
Jodie, and I’m back. Just like the others, I’m ready to grab life by the scruff of the neck, to get what I
want.
(DS, Episode 1, November 2011)
The opening sequence, narrated in a broad Liverpudlian accent by the platinum blonde Jodie
Lundstram, features shots of glamorous parties and apparently fabulous lifestyles, interspersed with

8. fleeting vistas of terraced housing and inner city dereliction. This is emblematic of the programme
itself, which is essentially concerned with the working-class subjects’ aspirations to worldly success
and quality of life, despite their humble surroundings and backgrounds. While the MIC story is about
living with wealth and privilege, DS is about the struggle to get hold of a piece of it, ‘by the scruff of
the neck’ if necessary.
Occupation and identity
Occupation is one of the key criteria for official socioeconomic classification, with unskilled manual
labourers placed at the bottom and highly skilled professionals ranked highest. (ONS) Despite being
of similar ages, the casts make (or don’t make) their livings in very different fields. Those of MIC’s
subjects who do work pursue careers in decidedly luxury industries: designer jewellery,
entertainment PR and lifestyle journalism. Comical ‘entrepreneur’ Francis Boulle, is the heir to a
diamond-mining company. At the other end of the scale, the DS are salon workers and shop
assistants. In an unusually poignant moment, Amanda Harrington reveals her struggles to succeed as
a glamour model while raising a child she had at 19. Their low-powered jobs reflect their position in
a society still characterised by low social mobility. (Sutton Trust 2007) Even their names reveal clues
about the class divisions still apparent in contemporary Britain. Debbie O’Toole and Joe McMahon
bear surnames characteristic of traditionally impoverished Irish settlers in Liverpool (Aughton 2003)
while Rosie Fortescue and Alexandra Felstead (of MIC) could almost only be names from a public
school register. Research shows that surnames continue to be a rough indicator of social class in the
UK (BBC 2006), and they were almost certainly a consideration in the casting of these two
programmes.
Appearance
The way that people dress is another significant social indicator (Bennett 2010). In a manner that
sometimes appears paradoxical to foreign observers, the British upper classes traditionally eschew
flamboyant dress on all but special occasions, preferring understated (but expensive) styles

9. reminiscent of country living, from designers like Dunhill and Barbour. This is the dress code for MIC:
the boys don quietly superior tweed suits and cricket cardigans, while the girls sport subtle make-up
and simple designer dresses. Once again, DS offers a startling contrast. Here the emphasis is on
flaunting everything; many of the scenes are built around the salon makeover or dressing for a night
out, and the aesthetic reflects a philosophy of ‘More is more’ – from the fake eyelashes and the
surgically enhanced breasts to the sparkling jewellery and obligatory spray tan. When MIC’s Rosie
declares in her cut-glass accent, ‘I think fake tan is probably the most offensive thing in the world,’ or
Mark-Francis announces, ‘Topshop *a popular high street clothing brand] is not allowed!’ these are
more than just casual expressions of preference. British viewers familiar with the cultural context
instantly recognise the subjects’ attempts to distance themselves from cheaper, ‘lowbrow’ forms of
aesthetic expression – the ones which DS flaunts. Good taste is thus reinforced as an upper class
attribute, while the regional working class is portrayed as tawdry and garish.
Language and accent
Despite its relatively small size, the UK has a wealth of diverse regional accents and dialects.
Traditionally, the ‘BBC tones’ associated with the South-East and the upper classes, were favoured as
the ‘received pronunciation,’ and regional accents were poorly represented on national television.
(Rowbotham 2001) People with strong provincial accents are still often regarded as less intelligent,
and lower down the social scale, as exemplified by Rampton’s study of reaction to accents (2003)
and Tolson’s discussion of the British media’s treatment of reality star, Jade Goody (Skeggs, pp52-
55].
While the cast of MIC all speak with the plummy received pronunciation associated in the popular
imagination with the privately-educated upper-class ‘toff,’ the DS characters without exception have
broad regional twangs. Both groups use slang, which by its disparity highlights the social divide.
Lazily drawling use of semi-ironic abbreviations like ‘yah’ (yes) and ‘totes amaze’ (totally amazing) in
Chelsea contrast with earthier terms like ‘boss’ (brilliant) and ‘bang tidy’ (attractive) in Liverpool.

10. This marked contrast in itself indicates a manipulated expression of reality; there are surely plenty of
Liverpudlians who speak more mainstream English, and London is famous for its urban street slang,
associated with lower socioeconomic classes. However, there is another dimension to the language-
linked representation: content. While both programmes deal with romantic adventures, MIC is far
more coy about intimate matters. The Chelsea characters speak in terms of ‘Something happened’
and ‘Did you go there,’ while the Scousers refer openly to ‘anal bleaching’ and ‘giving someone a go.’
Along with the high amount of nudity from both male and female characters in DS, compared to MIC
which depicts none despite being shown post-watershed, a picture begins to emerge of class-based
sexualisation. The old Victorian idea of the vulgar, oversexed working class begins to resurface,
contrasted by the restraint of the morally superior upper classes. (Skeggs, pp225-35)
Social interaction
The ways in which the subjects behave and interact betrays further differences that can be
interpreted in a class framework. Conflicts and conflict resolution, as may be imagined, forms the
bulk of the subject matter. The MIC characters adhere largely to the WASP1 stereotype by eschewing
open confrontation and pursuing grudges in the form of rumour-mongering, whispered comments
and would-be subtle innuendo, masked by pristine politeness. None of Lakoff’s increasing
belligerence of televised confrontation here. (Skeggs,p56) On the other hand, DS would lead us to
believe that all grievances in Liverpool are expressed in the form of shouted arguments littered with
obscenities, and frequently venturing into the physical. Local celebrity Amanda Harrington’s clash
with ‘bitchy blogger’ Jaiden Micheal is a prime example: a public exchange of insults at a party
followed by the throwing of a drink. Overblown theatrics? Very likely. But this only reinforces the
point that there is a conscious portrayal of the working class subjects of DS as given to excess and
uncivilised social habits, while the well-off denizens of the Royal Borough know how to behave in
1
WASP is a North American abbreviation strictly denoting ‘White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant.’ In its wider current
sense it refers to a set of cultural characteristics and values popularly associated with privileged White
communities, including high social influence, and aversion to emotional display and open conflict. (Feldman
2010)

11. polite society. This equation of good class with good manners is an ancient one that continues to
find expression in SR, as it did in its less subtle reality predecessors like Ladette to Lady (Skeggs
2011). The only difference is that where that was overtly pedagogic, DS and MIC are chiefly
concerned with exaggerating and exploiting class-stereotyped behaviour for voyeuristic
entertainment.
Making cultural sense of MIC and DS
The fact that these programmes are manipulated and stage-managed to a significant degree
enhances, rather than reduces, their significance in terms of class-based representation. Rather than
being true documentary accounts, they are exaggerated and stylised portrayals of class stereotypes,
crystallising the idea of continued class polarisation in modern Britain. For example, the DS boys are
frequently shown playing or watching football, a stereotypically working-class but in reality national
sport, (Bennett 2010) while their MIC counterparts engage in polo and rowing, popularly associated
with the privileged classes.
Moreover, there is a moral and behavioural framing of this polarisation. Both programmes
frequently depict scenes in nightclubs or at parties. Yet while the DS are frequently portrayed as
under the influence of alcohol and raucous or emotional because of this, the Chelsea girls are never
shown in this way. It would be unrealistic to conclude from this that non-working class English girls
don’t become very inebriated – in fact research (Randhawa 2011) and personal experience proves
the opposite to be true! The more informed conclusion is that there is a conscious equation of poor
self-control with lower social class. This should lead us to consider who exactly is making and
representing these class-based judgements, since it is unlikely that the subjects themselves are in
control.

12. The third class
If MIC’s subjects stand in for the upper class, and the DS for the working class, then we are missing
an important component of contemporary British society: the middle class. As mentioned before,
there is very little dramatic/fictional programming depicting the middle class on British television,
but this underrepresentation is not indicative of weakness, but in fact of control.
As Skeggs and Wood [2011,p19+ note, media invisibility can be a clue to ‘hidden power.’ Rather than
themselves being represented for entertainment purposes, I would argue that the overwhelmingly
middle-class British media producers (Sica 2011) have created two extreme caricatures of the upper
and lower scales of society, portraying not only the disreputable poor, but also the frivolous rich, as
sensationalised Others, in a manner recalling Foucault’s observations:
The middle class thus defined itself as different from the aristocracy and the working classes who spent,
sexually and economically, without moderation... It differed by virtue of its sexual restraint, its monogamy
and its economic restraint or thrift.
(Foucault 1979,p100)
Thus it follows that the ideal viewer is middle-class, which is frequently equated with ‘normal.’
(Skeggs and Wood 2009,p629) That these programmes exemplify the phenomenon of creating
media through and for the ‘middle-class gaze’ (Lyle 2008) corresponds with the current political
discourse in the UK. Mainstream media is preoccupied with waging a war of words on two economic
fronts: on the one hand there is continued obsession with the idea of ‘benefit scroungers’ and
parasites draining resources from society (Jones 2011), and on the other uproar abounds over
bankers’ bonuses, tax cuts for the very rich and the idea that money can still buy power and
influence. (BBC 2012) The ‘squeezed middle,’ a term implying undue pressures exerted from both
the upper and lower scales of society, seems to be fighting its corner by holding up the imprudence
of the other two classes in implicit contrast to its own traditional ‘economic restraint or thrift.’

13. Exploitation or aspiration?
The SR genre employs a new form of labour: performing oneself (Skeggs 2011). On the one hand, the
subjects are living the neoliberal dream to its fullest: making their way in the world by using not only
their talents or skills but their very identities, arguably the ultimate form of capital. In doing this they
potentially achieve fame, fortune and free products – the subjects and characters inevitably acting
as vehicles for promotion of various consumer goods. SR programming is a direct product of the
dream of social mobility based on consumerism and individual fortune. The old prejudices against
upstarts and climbers may still exist, but they seem weak in post-Thatcherist Britain where everyone,
whether living in a Chelsea townhouse or a terraced estate in Merseyside, can demand a glamorous
lifestyle. But does this come at the price of performing the ultimate alienated labour?
When Marx complained that production had become the aim of man (Baxandall,p63-4), he could not
have predicted that people would one day live out their lives on camera in order to create personal
wealth and corporate revenue. However, the phenomenon could be interpreted as a contemporary
vindication of his lament. The fact of ‘privileged access to the means of making reality’ (Couldry
2000) intensifies this problem of exploitation, as producers control the story and manipulate
representations according to their own class-based judgements of appropriateness and
entertainment value. This power relationship considered, we could even regard the middle-class
media producers as cultural capitalists, controlling a set of fame-seeking wage-labourers from both
the working and the upper classes.
Conclusion
Through analysing MIC and DS, contemporary British SR programmes claiming to depict life at two
extremes of the social scale, it has been argued that the representations made are loaded with class-
based meaning. The deliberate selection and manipulation of the subjects’ occupations, appearance,
language and social behaviour is all calculated to convey caricatured impressions of social class. The
regional working class is presented as vulgar and indiscreet, while London’s upper class is portrayed

14. as more tasteful and restrained, but ultimately frivolous and irresponsible. I have also argued that
these exploitative representations point to the existence of a hidden middle-class, through whose
lens of judgment the programmes are both produced and intended to be viewed, in line with a wider
middle-class media discourse blaming both the thriftless poor and the extravagant rich for the UK’s
current economic and social woes.
Britain’s taste for class-centred SR programming shows little sign of abating, with the continuing
success of nouveau-riche drama, The Only Way is Essex and a new show centred on Welsh working
class youth recently announced. (Bull 2012) This contemporary mediascape yields robust support for
Skeggs and Wood in their assertion that television’s ‘stories of everyday lives and ordinary
people...are always about class.’

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