The September Meetup explored the many perceptions of class and its effect on our familial relationships and generational shifts. We asked our audience in a journaling exercise: What is your definition of success?
With a few new faces to join our community and our seasoned meetup members, our audience shared their experiences balancing their definition of success with a sense of identity. Whether it is through a traditional career path or following their passions, our community brought stories that shaped who they are today.
Our host Mike Avila opened the meetup with a quote from bell hooks’ book Where We Stand: Class Matters, “it is fashionable to talk about race or gender; the uncool subject is class.” He spoke about how rare it is to hear the term ‘class’ publicly, yet the topic of success finds its way into newscasts, books, and social media. We took that as a moment to open up immediately.
Mike continued by saying that while we don’t get to choose the class we are born into, it still shapes our identities. “As a child, I was drawn to music and playing instruments,” Mike explained, “While I was not discouraged from learning to play any instrument, I was not encouraged to pursue music as a career. Instead, my family urged me to study hard and focus on learning with the goal that I could pursue traditional working class desires like becoming a doctor or a lawyer.” Which opened the question, why do our families often push us to be doctors, lawyers, or engineers and nothing else?
With a few new faces to join our community and our seasoned meetup members, our audience shared their experiences balancing their definition of success with a sense of identity. Whether it is through a traditional career path or following their passions, our community brought stories that shaped who they are today.
Our host Mike Avila opened the meetup with a quote from bell hooks’ book Where We Stand: Class Matters, “it is fashionable to talk about race or gender; the uncool subject is class.” He spoke about how rare it is to hear the term ‘class’ publicly, yet the topic of success finds its way into newscasts, books, and social media. We took that as a moment to open up immediately.
Mike continued by saying that while we don’t get to choose the class we are born into, it still shapes our identities. “As a child, I was drawn to music and playing instruments,” Mike explained, “While I was not discouraged from learning to play any instrument, I was not encouraged to pursue music as a career. Instead, my family urged me to study hard and focus on learning with the goal that I could pursue traditional working class desires like becoming a doctor or a lawyer.” Which opened the question, why do our families often push us to be doctors, lawyers, or engineers and nothing else?
