The Role of Wealth & Class in Lifestyle Content | Internet Analysis
Internet analysis: how do wealth & class impact your success in creating lifestyle content?// Visit bit.ly/34uo0D0 and use code TIFFFERG for 50% off your first order of Care/of!
time stamps below:
0:00 - intro
0:40 - is social media democratized?
2:42 - the "OG beauty gurus" of the 2010s
3:37 - aspirational lifestyles & indicators of wealth
6:40 - "disclaimer: I am NOT trying to brag!!"
8:40 - shout out to Care/of for sponsoring today's vid!
10:40 - the advantages of "coming from money" on social media
11:32 - appearance & aesthetics
12:27 - pretty privilege
15:01 - lack of class consciousness
16:30 - my personal relationship with money
17:30 - putting your family's wealth (or lack thereof) into context
19:29 - how we label ourselves & the wide range of "middle class"
20:36 - the rich living "paycheck to paycheck" ??
22:33 - social media & the opportunity for upward class mobility
25:30 - on being "self-made"
27:10 - the story of Wildflower Cases
29:10 - is there more class consciousness on social media these days?
SOURCES / REFERENCES:
Updated Room Tour - otherjuicystar07 - • Updated Room Tour!
answering your assumptions about me - Hannah Meloche - • answering your assumpt...
Lukas reads your assumptions about me - Claudia Sulewski - • LUKAS READS YOUR ASSUM...
Why Americans All Believe They Are Middle Class - www.theatlantic.com/politics/...
$100,000 and up is not enough -- even the 'rich' live paycheck to paycheck -www.theguardian.com/business/...
Model sisters Devon and Sydney Carlson tell us all about their brand, Wildflower Cases - www.forbes.com/sites/felicity...
♥ Instagram: / tferg__
♥ My podcast, Previously Gifted: bit.ly/previouslygifted
♥ Vlog / Second Channel: bit.ly/tfergvlogs
Tiffany Ferguson (she/her), 25 years old, currently in NYC. Here on Tiffanyferg, my main series is called Internet Analysis, where I research and discuss topics related to social issues and media.
Business Inquiries: tiffanyferguson@select.co
FTC: This video is sponsored by Care/of. Links with * are affiliate, meaning I am compensated monetarily if you join or make a purchase.
new internet analysis!! let's discuss wealth & class in lifestyle content. ps English captions are live now! || check out Care/of for easy, convenient vitamins in cute lil compostable packs! bit.ly/34uo0D0
What an interesting discussion on necessary topic tbh. GREAT VIDEO TIFFANY
also if you want to help out with your privalige, maybe look into mutual aid
A video on about people getting new veneer teeth as it’s quite popular online
Logical analysis makes me so happy The internet is so full of people who don't use logic and it's just a mess Not enough people take time and question what they see Loved the video!
why use word like democracy instead of word like meritocracy? How does it relate? (bad eng)
The whole “ it’s not polite to talk about money “ is rooted from the 1% not wanting an open discussion of just how unbalanced our economy is
Exactly. No one ever says it's impolite when we are talking about how much money they saved vs. how much they spent. And only rich people dislike discussing money because they know how ridiculous it sounds when they take the numbers off of paper
True, although I know around my rich friend, I also don't necessarily like the money talk, so I appreciate it not being talked about as well. She's only really ever had her lifestyle plateau or improve regarding how much disposable income she's had. It grates on the nerves to realize she doesn't understand what it's like to not have any money. She doesn't try to rub it in my face or anything, but she talks about investing and some related things, and how it's frustrating for her because it's not making her much money, and I have an out of body experience because I only recently started feeling financially secure enough to buy the brand name ketchup.
Also avoiding saying how exactly they make money. It is easier to say it's "improper" than explain "oh I don't pay taxes, have my money in an offshore account and I exploit my workers" fx
When I was about 18, I had a friend who refused to believe that I'd never been to the theatre and never been to a restaurant with my family. She insisted that everyone has done that, and I felt so embarrased to tell her that my family didn't have money to do that. Like, it's usually kids who are 'well off' who don't know about their family's status because they've never had to think about it. But poor kids are extremely aware. even at like 6 years old, our teachers asked us to describe what we did on our break, I lied and said we went to theme parks etc, cos in reality we stayed home because we had no money. I never had friends over at my house because my mum didn't have food to feed them. Kids pointed out that my shoes had holes in them, but I had to lie and say I liked them like that, because I only got one new pair of shoes per year. People don't believe that children could live like this in the UK, but we did.
I hope you can go to all the theme parks, theaters, and restaurants you want now. I’ve seen the affects of things like this on my dad who grew up in a trailer park with 2 brothers. Luckily for me he and my mom both worked very hard and I have never had to worry about money, but I know that sometimes hard work isn’t enough depending on the circumstances.
I just realised I am rich? I always thought I was kinda just middle classes cause everyone around me was more “well of” but after reading yours and others comments I know this is not true. They are just RICHER than me I guess? I have always thought it was normal to go to the theatre and restaurants but I guess it’s not. I’m only 14 though so I have time to be an aware adult some time in the future. I just want to say thanks for, idk(?) telling ur story. Bye
ngl my family is at least middle class since we moved to a country where the currency is higher but its true bc back before we moved i realized we were pretty well off. maybe bc i was a kid i didnt have to think about our status but now that im wondering... ngl i still dunno. i'm not familiar with these things and i dont like thinking about it but recently my mom was fired so 😬
@@augusta2638 it does not necessarily mean your are rich, my family can afford to go out eat at a restaurant a few times a year, or go to the theater once a year or on a vacation every 3 to 5 years.... But we don't have a car for example, we can't afford that, not being poor does not automatically mean being rich. Sometimes it's also about where you put 'excess' money, for example if i have 50€ extra a month, do i purchase some cheap thing from h&m every month to have a huge closet with cheap things or do i put it on the side, have only a really small capsule wardrobe, but buy a new mac book every 7 years from my 50€ a month.... Having A luxury doesn't mean you are rich, there is an in between, also i do understand that livig in America is much different, i don't have to spend money on my education oder doctors appointments, we have good infrastructure that is relatively cheap so we don't need a car...
This is so interesting - I'm so glad you've brought this up. Shamefully, I have definitely been that person in the past. When I went to university (in traditionally working class city) it was the first time I'd been exposed to people who had come from a different class to me (after being from the Home Counties, and going to boarding school) - I was taken aback by it. After many years of research, listening, understanding, I can't believe I ever behaved in that way, so on behalf of anyone who has ever made you feel like that, I'm so sorry.
I HATE that Kylie Jenner can even be labeled "self-made." Yes, I'm sure she worked incredibly hard to create her brands and help build her wealth. However, she was raised by millionaires. I'm sure she always had Mommy Kris to write her a check if she ever had to cut her losses at something
i dont even think she worked incredibly hard. celebrities get approached all the time with ready-made concepts for apps, clothing lines, make-up lines to put their name on it. Paris Hilton has said it herself, she was on Hot Ones and they approached her to put her name on replica sex dolls, apps, etc. Her and Kim were INVITED by music industry insiders to record music and make tv and movie cameos. I'm pretty fucking sure Kylie Jenner's lip thing was about to blow up and someone approached her with a PR strategy to tell the truth about her lips then start selling lip kits which turned into her boring makeup empire. this is totally different from endorsements. while i know they endorse skinny teas and such on instagram posts. clothing lines etc that they "created" and heavily advertise are also someone else's ideas that they just have a vested interest in and the bigger it gets the more credit they get for it
I have a hard time believing that people above the age of 21 or with a minimum of critical can think that the last daughter of an already existing empire with all the connections, free publicity and oportunities that come with it can be defined as "self-made". All of these people are second, third generations of real safe-made people (and even then, we would have to look into history to know how the first fortune was generated). We are witnessing modern nepotism. The lack of self-awareness in a multidimensional matrix that builds each individuals is all I see. And even while writing this, I understand that it's quite unfair to expect from these kids to be or even want to be this aware of their own circumstances. As she said, what would motivate ourselves from wondering about these things, our own disconfort, feeling of unjustice...
@@monochromatic_melodramatic Kylie Cosmetics was her idea... that Kris used her position and power to approach the owner of Seed Beauty (a massive company, with a not-public owner) to create it. Because of her power, it wasn't hard to make it happen. However Seed Beauty ALREADY had the materials and existing manufacturing, so all she had to do was pick some colors, pour them into a lipstick tube, and slap her copyright-infringing logo on it. I hate how she is considered "self-made" when mommy Kris did (does???) all the real work.
@@TheLaurieJi Well said! Also, some people don't know that the Kardashians were already wealthy before they became famous. If you read Kris Jenner's memoir, she talked about how she was hanging out with all these rich & famous people in LA in the 80s and 90s. Even if Keeping Up With the Kardashians never happened, Kylie would still be extremely privileged.
No one is self made. No one can survive in this world without help. No one.
I am so hyped for this upcoming video about teeth
same!!!
Of course this comment had to come from Micarah
Fr I hope she makes it
Hope she addresses how teeth are an inherent part of us and thus we have the right to KEEP them! Lol
Yeah same. Feel like this is becoming more n more of an obsession online now
it's interesting because i think rich kids are really thriving on tiktok. every time i see one of those haul videos or "a day in my life" vlogs, there's just a lot of comments saying "i wish this was me" "want this for myself." and i feel like it's because of tiktok's unique algorithm? maybe people who like/share hyper-consumerist content are genuinely interested in that stuff so the algorithm creates an echo chamber in the comments. whereas people who are anti-consumerist/anti-capitalist don't see any of these vids on their for you pages, and therefore can't interact with them. it just leads to a lack of class consciousness because no one is checking anyone.
Yesss that’s a great point! Tik tok can be extra insular in that way
yea
@@DyslexicMitochondria Hey bro I watch ur channeII. Big fan of ur vidss
True, I'm always shocked when I see other peoples FY pages bc mine is so targeted and not full of hyper-consumerism
ily mina!!
I HATE the ‘my parents worked so hard’ argument. Like, ok, mine too, but that does not defines class of justyfies privilege.
Yes! I feel those comments were worse. It makes people feel like their parents aren't. I would have like if she referenced Alana Arbuccis video about her money. She's in ther 20s and a good example of everything mentioned but now a days
Yep. Also, you can’t claim your parents work as your own. If you are benefiting off of someone else’s work, that’s privilege. You don’t have to apologize for it, but don’t pretend like you were puttin’ in the hours if the work happened before you were born.
@@Kaybye555 Alana's comments in that video were a mess lmao. she really could not comprehend that hard work doesn't always mean financial success, esp if you're bipoc & you're literally not given loans at the same rate as your white counterparts. she also said most wealthy people were self-made lol. I think she really needs to take a sociology/history class or something...
@@nalad9387 I used to like her but I unsubscribed. Her ideas have been a mess lately. That particular video was an eye opener for me. She really finds success in money only (and apparently looking good) and I just don't agree. I think she just perpetuates the idea that white and beautiful got things because they worked hard. Most of not all of her subscribers found her because they find her attractive
What kind of kid doesn't think their parents are working hard. I feel like people say "my parents worked hard" to "make up" for the fact that their parents are rich. I think these people do have class consciousness, they just know that if they admitted to being rich it would break their down to earth "girl next door" persona and they'd lose followers.
Something that I really can't stand is when people my age (in their twenties) tell me: "oh you've never been a year abroad?" or "you only have visited these few places? You have to travel, it opens your mind, it's so important to see the world!" Like, ok I know that, I would love to travel but I don't have the money.
i honestly wanna punch a wall whenever i hear "You haven't traveled the country/world?" How am I supposed to travel the world when I'm broke with debt? tell me!
And any spare time is spent working.
This also pisses me off when Europeans say this to Americans like sorry my country is fucking huge. I’ve only ever been to the west coast once and it’s still so expensive to travel never mind the process of exchanging money. It’s honestly easier and cheaper to travel around our own country and see what we have to offer. When I was in college I asked my dad if we could look into studying abroad for one semester but he said it was too expensive. He worked 2 jobs for a year to save enough to pay the last 2 years of my college in full. And that was hard enough. But there’s such a stupid stigma about not being “worldly and well traveled” most people don’t make enough money to travel abroad or even get jobs that allow enough time off to truly experience a new place. It’s so elitist and the ignorant when people don’t realize that travel is not accessible to everyone, it makes me so angry.
Same
@@kerdunne3422 EXACTLY. I like I'd love to travel all around the world some day but I have to take it one place at a time. I live in England and travelling even just within the uk costs a ton so flying around the rest of Europe would be so costly especially due to our economic and political standing rn. We have really beautiful countryside and brilliant city landmarks that dont get boring.
“My parents worked really hard for what we have” is my personal nemesis. As if poor people don’t work hard? A single mother working 3 jobs is working hard but statistically, her kids probably don’t have this much money.
And let’s be honest, a single mother working 3 jobs works a lot harder than most wealthy/middle-class people ever worked in their lives.
Erm, wealthy people often do work hard. They've +taken risks, +been innovative, +creative, +made sacrifices and +persisted with ideas when everyone was telling them they're crazy etc. Sure a single mother working 3 jobs works hard. But poor people don't have a monopoly on hard work and industriousness. Often the wealthy often work "smarter", too. Not all hard work is positive, sometimes there more efficient ways of doing a task. Why should the wealthy feel guilty? Single mother made her choice to continue with her pregnancy. She made her choice to not get educated to better. She made her choice not to find opportunities to make money. Why wasn't she buying cryptocurrencies @ just $2 in 2009 ? Plenty of rich kids knew about bitcoin over 10 years ago. Kids from rich backgrounds know about wealth management, investment, financial education. There's privileged 8 year olds who know about inflation and commodities. It's not the wealthy person's fault the poor don't teach their kids about financial education. Why isn't single mother coming up with ideas in her work sphere? She's a cleaner? Come up with a cleaning innovation etc. She chose to be a single mum. The wealthy person didn't force her to have kids.
@@michelleannor6944 the point is not that poor people have a monopoly on hard work, the point is that rich people don't because they will often fall back on that when people talk about how incredibly rare that someone attains that kind of wealth. You're not as rich as you are simply because you worked hard, if that were how it worked then a shit ton more poor people would be rich.
@@michelleannor6944 I hope the boot tastes good. In all seriousness. Risk is a lot easier to take when you have a safety net. Amazon didn’t make money for years because of their strategy of undercutting pricing. It’s a lot easier to stick with that if you can still eat and have a roof over your head and don’t risk the welfare of other people. It’s easy to invest in things that might not work out if you are happy to lose some money. I knew about crypto in 2012 as well and to be honest I thought it was dumb and a joke. Haha look who is laughing now. But the point is that investing needs a starting capital. Investments bring greater returns the more you invest. But if you have a choice between risking $500 on an investment (and often it should be more than that to make a difference) or using that money to feed your kids and put towards your rent? Feed your kids and pay your bills. It is extra money that you have after paying your costs that can and should be invested but a lot of people do not have that extra money. But also, coming up with ideas and building technology is easier with education and at least in the US, the entry barrier there is money as well. I come from a country where I didn’t pay money for university and it is still not feasible for a lot of people because they’d need to work while studying to pay for cost of living, which often means worse grades etc if your parents cannot support you. You can live comfortably working a normal job if you are smart with your money, too. However, you cannot be ultra-rich unless you exploit someone. No ones time is that valuable. They are not that smart. A lot of ultra-smart people do not make billions. A lot of CEOs say they work 80 hour weeks but count reading a book towards that because “they better themselves”. Ok well if we count reading I don’t even want to know how many hours I “work”. The point here is that these people had starting capital, a safety net, and access to an education that gave them the tools to have these ideas and then make them reality. Not everyone has those. Not everyone needs or wants to be ultra-rich but they become ultra-rich by paying that single mother a poverty wage. Every job is a skilled job. Labour is valuable, otherwise there wouldn’t be such a demand for it. That single mother might be working long shifts for Jeff Bezos but he will profit far more from it. Lastly, I know that single mother we are talking about is not a specific person but I find your lack of empathy for your fellow man disappointing.
@@michelleannor6944 I get the impression you think I am a single mother working 3 jobs. I assure you I am not. I was very fortunate with my parents who gave me a stable background to build my own career on but I know that it was a privilege not everyone has. 1) where did I say this was rich peoples fault? I did not. I purely stated that the argument of hard work isn’t great 2) if ultra-rich people paid their taxes and paid their employees living wages, it would make a huge difference, actually. They also lobby politicians for lower wages and fewer protections which is a whole other can of worms 3) in the US, birth control is made super expensive for no reason. In the UK, you get it free on the NHS which makes it easier for poor people to not have unplanned children 4) I am fine, actually, if my tax money is used to support people in financially precarious situations. There are people with disabilities that CANT work full time. I think they still deserve to live. 5) there is a world of difference between a dentist or someone working in tech, and ultra-rich people like Jeff Bezos. They are not at all the same 6) I don’t think I am guilt tripping anyone, but as is mentioned in the video, a lot of people don’t like to outright say that they are rich, so they default to saying their parents work hard. All I meant to say was that it really is a bad argument and it implies things that simply aren’t true 🤷🏼♀️ 7) lastly. Lots of people try to be innovative and create something but there can’t be 50 Facebooks. Some people work hard and just have bad luck.
They avoid saying they're rich to have their cake and eat it, too. Want to benefit from wealth without alienating their audience, or seeming out of touch because of that wealth and privilege. They want to stay rElAtaBle and the rich are not relatable.
Rich means they didn't earn anything they show off. You can't have their life if your family isn't already rich. A much less compelling story than I'm a lucky girl who receives lots of love and buys things with my hard earned money, you and I are the same, you can be me. Gag
this is so succinct and well said
i agree! so many people deflected and rambled when asked if they were rich instead of simply just acknowledging they come from money.
I've just kinda learned to decode phrases like "were comfortable", "well off" and "we get by" well off means rich as hell, comfortable means slightly rich, getting by means paycheck to paycheck
Which is why even though she’s problematic, I liked fancy vlogs with Gabby. She never tried to pretend she wasn’t privileged.
Fun fact: In the US, disabled people who receive supplemental income from the government (usually not totaling more than $7,000 a year) can’t get married because they lose their supplemental income. You also can’t have more than $2,000 in the bank, if you make any money that reduces the amount of supplemental income you receive (so if you make 5k a year, you’ll only receive 2k), and living with family also means you’ll receive less income. Basically, don’t get married, don’t make any money and live on your own somehow, too, don’t save any money, and don’t work even if you can. The whole system in incredibly broken and keeps disabled people poor. 🙃
Yes thank you!! It’s such an impossible situation. Our SSI system needs a complete overhaul
This makes perfect sense. You can't make enough money to sustain yourself then still require help from the government.
@@Bandito.Swiftie ugh, sorry you experienced that! It sucks that they do that and don’t warn you and punish you for everything. People seem to think you can live off disability (payments) alone, but you can’t live off 7k a year. And again, if you can work part-time, you’re often not eligible. I know it’s absurdly hard to get disability in the US. I’m 25, too, and am able to work part-time, but it’s such a struggle not feeling like my worth is tied to what I make/my job. It might not mean much from a random internet stranger, but please know you are inherently valuable and worthy. Sending good vibes and spoons your way!
@@emilydeaton1169 it actually means a lot. It might sound pathetic but I don't really hear that very often and I sort of have a hard time comforting myself. It's very overwhelming. We're currently hopping from sublet to sublet, roommates to roommates, because we can't pay for 1st and last, a deposit, and a non refundable administration fee at time of application which won't be returned if we get denied. We already go to the food bank so we can't exactly save each month to get an apartment. Trying. There's got to be some relief somewhere. Sometimes it just takes kind words like yours to keep going towards that future. All this to say thank you for caring about a random internet stranger :)
Yes this! My little brother has Down syndrome and currently supplemental income is charging my parents almost $5k because they made a mistake on their paper work in 2017 to 2018. So my mom is going to appeal it because it’s not their fault for their mistake. It’s ridiculous because my parents don’t even make more than 40k a year. They also had to lie about me living at the house when they use to visit so they wouldn’t reduce the pay. As well as my parents are thinking of getting a divorce just so they can receive more help for my brother 🤦🏻♀️
“Anyone can become famous on the internet” is a huge myth. You have to be above average in looks, have some money, and have charisma. Not everyone can film a video for KZhead and get noticed.
A lot of it depends on what kind of content you make. For example, I am a big fan of Swell Entertainment and she is hardly a 10/10. You probably won't be famous, but you could very well be mildly successful.
The need for high production values these days too.
@@chengliu872 also helps having a special talent like being a great cook or make up. Doing make up tutorials can work you dont need to brag about every product Just put it on box coments. Lisa Eldridge is a great example. She is a make up artist Who happens yo have a KZhead chanel. There is also Laura Vitale she gives great Home made recipes. She doent flaunt her life style or makes tour homes. Her chanel is about cooking and Its what makes her great. Adult KZheadrs like lisa Eldridge or shea whitney are the Best. Shea does her hauls but i like that latley she does target or Amazon hauls. She started with luxury and does some luxury videos sometimes. But latley she has more affordable Hauls we cant get everything she buys but we can sometimes buy one or two things from her hauls. I find Adult KZheadrs more interesting
@@sarizonana Yeah talent and charisma. You need to draw people in and then have the talent to keep them there or you will only get a large influx of money once and not make it your career.
I disagree. It mostly luck what gets people noticed online.
I think “kids being born in a family that could give them comfortable life styles aren’t evil millionaires and they shouldn’t feel responsible for financial inequality that they didn’t cause” and “they should acknowledge their status and privilege even if it makes them less relatable” can both be true.
Totally agree!
Charlie Damelio
Yesss exactly!
perfect wording
As someone who also grew up lower income In Orange County I completely get your frustration with wealth around you and people not seeing how wealth played a role in their upbringings
Amanda !!!!
I vividly remember being 18 and living in England. I was talking to my housemates about another girl we all knew and they were saying “oh, but she is super wealthy” and my reaction was “nah. She’s normal” (we went to the same school. her sister was in my class) Their reply was “yeah, because you are rich too”. I honestly never considered it. Ever. Not once. Even as a Colombian getting a gap year in the UK. Payed for by mum & dad. It really does come down to being sheltered and living in a bubble. I’ve grown out of that and take my privilege into account every day and I am thankful for it. I also use it well to help others. Btw. Love your content.
💛💛💛
I grew up/currently live in OC. When we first moved here we were pretty money tight for a long time. It was crazy to see how I became more popular once my parents started to make more money. Money definitely plays a huge role in everyone's development here, and I feel like no parent has taught their kid the value of the dollar. I'm wrapping up college now, and I can't tell you how many of the kids I grew up with have still never had a job. It's honestly depressing
Amanda omg! I love your videos and happy you watch Tiffany too.
I remember back in those Bethany Mota days, she would share "OOTDs" and link where she bought clothes. So one time when I went to a new shopping mall, I saw J. Crew and Anthropology, ready to buy the cute tops that she had, and saw the tag, my heart sank. As a young girl that was hard for me. I thought my mom giving me $50 for the mall was so much money and it couldn't even get me one shirt that the youtuber I liked had.
also can we talk about her Aeropostale collab and how the clothes were pretty expensive for her audience of young girls at the time
I know somebody who got an allowance from her grandma to get clothes on top of the 900dlls her dad gave her monthly for her expenses, as a teenager, living at home, driving the car her parents bought for her. What expenses she could possibly have? But she wouldn't have said she was rich.
I watched a lot of her videos when I was a teenager. I really enjoyed her content and I thought that all American teenagers live like her; casually eating fruits mixed with greek yoghurt for breakfast, bring a can of whole almond only as a snack for flight, and I also remember one of the "Back to School" videos by Meredith Foster and was surprised when she said that her new bag costs around $90. I really thought that that was the standard price for a bag in the US, so it made me believe that American students must be really rich. It made me insecure that I can't obtain the same lifestyle like theirs considering that I'm from a third world country and live in a small village. I still watch some of their old videos for nostalgia tho. edit: I just realized Bethany deleted her old videos 😔
At least you got to go to the mall in the first place
I’m 28 and make okay money. People push madewell to young people and even I, someone aging out of madewell products, cannot afford madewell. I can barely afford it 2nd hand. It’s very detached from their market.
I legit felt the same about the KZheadrs i used to watch, and became really unsatisfied with what I had because my room and lifestyle didn't look like a beauty vloggers!
!!!!!
same, i always watched these room tours and would yearn to have something like that because I thought everyone had their own “aesthetic tumblr” room
i love your channel!!
@@lunarraii this... ahahaha. relate.
I know this isn’t a perfect solution, but there are a lot of videos about creating cool, pretty home decor from stuff from dollar tree. Trick your friends! Spend $5 instead of $60! ... that sounded insincere, but I really like those videos lol
I am 24 now and recently started to make a really decent living. I asked my 12 year old godniece what she wanted for Christmas and she said “I’m really into pens lately”. I immediately knew what that meant. Her family is poor and she goes to school with wealthier kids. She really just wanted to be able to blend in or shine in her own way with her school supplies. I went and bought her some cute, fluffy notebooks and really cute pens with the fuzzy poof balls on top. I know how much it would’ve meant to me as a kid to go to school and be able to flex. That’s really what she was asking me for, so I’m doing my best to make it happen for her. It’ll do wonders for her self esteem.
Maybe she was speaking about calligraphy
i remember thinking mechanical pencils were fancy 😂
@@janelle9652 I’m an adult and I still think they’re fancy. I like splurging on myself by buying them😂
💖
I remember my mom would have this one nice pen (a pilot pen I think?) and it was like so cool to me. We never significantly struggled (at least not in a way that I had to be violently aware of) but I was definitely not of the same class as most of my school. I think I was able to get one book once from the infamously expensive scholastic book fair one year and it was so magical for me. I knew we weren’t the same as others at my school, but I knew we were safe ❤
Being on the internet young really warped my perception of money and how easy it is to make it. I used to think it’s normal to spend $200 on a haul and get a luxury vehicle for your birthday and don’t even get me started on the what I got for Christmas videos and I could never understand why I couldn’t have those things because when they described how wealthy they were they said “I’m comfortable”, because I would’ve described my middle class family as comfortable but we couldn’t afford half of those things.
Their in debt
YES this is exactly my experience as well! also, in retrospect, i realize now that when i was watching lifestyle/beauty vloggers heavily in my teens, i can absolutely say that i was also spending the most money on clothes/makeup etc that i’ve ever spent in my life (even though i was a broke highschooler with a part-time job). i really had to rewire my brain after highschool and realize that the people i was watching and trying to mimic weren’t actually MAKING all of their money - they came from it, which is fine, but unrealistic for most of us
Always good to focus on creators revenue model (or lack thereof).
@@gabrielar9611 THIS. I know a guy like this in real life who always has new stuff from "hype" brands (LV, gucci, off white, supreme, just to name a few) and he was actually buying it all on credit and having to borrow credit from his girlfriend so that he wouldn't accumulate interest. It was pretty unfortunate and unnecessary because he had like $20,000 worth of stuff lying around his house that he could resell. Almost felt like a shopping addiction tbh. I remember one time he skipped dinner with our friends to go shop at the luxury mall nearby to buy things with money he didn't have... I also knew another girl who's family went into debt while she was only in high school because they were always buying her the newest tech (iPhones, Apple Watch, new Mac, etc) that she didn't need
yeees I had a best friend in high-school who was constantly spending tons of money on clothing and expensive make up pallets and she HATED to be called rich but I grew up in poverty so to me she was... her family would even Uber us back and forth between our houses twice a day most days (and we lived an hour away from eachother) so to me she was very rich but her insistence that she wasn't rich and I was blowing it way out of proportion made me feel even poorer because even though my family has been in poverty all my life my parents were always good at budgeting and making sure we had food and everything else we needed so I never truly felt how poor I was until I saw people who were well off telling me they were poor
it’s like all these tiktokers being like “yeah i just got up and decided to move to nyc after high school!!!” and they have these ‘aesthetic’ videos of going out w their friends, in their giant apartments and walking along the streets of manhattan and cute outfits- and there are so many people seeing that and not realizing these aren’t smart teenagers “living their lives” they are incredibly wealthy individuals who have the privilege to be able to live rhat life. it’s so frustrating.
preach
There's a tiktoker who brags about being unemployed (idk if before or during the pandemic) doing day in the life vids in NYC that just shits on the ppl who live here being "unconventional," while having their own apartment with a partner closer to Manhattan 🙄
@@DMCpawn who?i think i know tho
I see these people whenever I have to go through the west village or soho. They just look like tourists to me.
@@jaym18082they are @furbylesbian I absolutely can't stand their videos!!!! (And can't be bothered to check pronouns so staying gender neutral) Like I'm not a native nyer, I don't live there anymore, but it just feels like she's mocking poor ppl and saying they and their parts of town are stinky, gross, and weird :(
It was such a trip to realize that wealth = popularity as a kid. I would always wonder why the other girls had such nice hair and trendy clothing, cute school supplies, etc. They would go on fun international trips. I would go to birthday parties or other kids houses and they had huge backyards with pools. And of course, they were wildly popular at school. Then one day, it just clicked.
Lmao ikr. When I was in High School, most of the popular kids in my school were wealthy. Most of the non popular ones were, you guessed it, poor. Hint: I wasn’t very popular. That’s when I started to grasp the concept of wealth, money, class, and how it affected the way how people see and treat you, sadly.
It is so true, with sooo few exceptions to it
I don’t know how much of this is true. Like a lot of the popular kids in my school are middle class and like i grew up a more priviledged lifestyle than them(i won’t say rich bcuz it wasn’t rich but like upper middle class) and i certainly wasn’t popular bcuz i was so shy and awkward and didn’t know how to interact with other ppl. But like in my school the material stuff actually didn’t matter much like it mattered to know how to socialize and be nice(even tho some of the popular kids were complete assholes but most of them were actually sweet) but like there was this rich girl in our school who was constantly bragging about Versace and Gucci and like nobody actually liked her bcuz she was so shallow and always criticizing “how broke others were”(wanna mention that the whole Versace thing was bcuz her mom is a seamstress and she’d make her her clothes look like Versace and Gucci)
funny, in my school the "comfortable" could go either ways. 1 local family used to make big birthday/halloween bashes that anyone she personally invites could go to, but it was the stuff in the house and not externally that showed their affluence. another classmate was considered ok, but just kept bragging to me about her wealthy grandma that bought her stuff from nordstom. rich people houses were only talked about if they worked there somehow, or brownnosed a kid of theirs.
@@Moana_moo hey i totally hear where you’re coming from, not all the affluent kids will necessarily be more popular! But coming from that background of wealth gives them an undeniable edge that those from middle and especially lower income backgrounds have to work harder to overcome.
The funniest thing to me is when wealthy tiktokers or youtubers purposely ignore questions like “how do you afford all of this?” “where do you work?” because they know that they have never worked for anything and that their lifestyle is funded by their parents. And it’s always so sad to see kids ask those questions because you can sense their desperation for a lifestyle such as theirs.
omg I’m actually so excited for the video on teeth and dentistry, my constant struggle
Hope your implant process is going well! ❤️❤️
Me too! I haven’t been to the dentist in years because I don’t have benefits or dental coverage, it’ll be an interesting one for sure.
YES!!! I’m crying typing this. My parents brought me to America from Mexico. We were low income and had zero insurance plus I know my parents hate me for saying this but they never instilled dental hygiene. I would brush my teeth sporadically. Fast forward I’m now 32 I’ve had about $10k+ worth of work and need more. I didn’t go to the dentist until I was 18 then needed a root canal. I never had braces although thankfully my teeth are relatively straight. I didn’t go back to the dentist until I was 25 and had a dental insurance through work. I remember the assistant asking very rudely WTF was up with me and why my teeth were so bad. I could’ve died right then and there.
I think we all thought of Sarah when Tiffany mentioned dentistry ahaha
i swear i instantly thought of you when i heard that
Something I’ve always found interesting is how my dad refuses to accept that we’re rich. He’s an immigrant and had a really rough childhood and young adulthood and struggled financially to the point where he basically had to join the army. But by the time I came around, my parents were very well off. They have no debt and because of their money management and income, neither do I. I’m starting off life on my own with a tremendous amount of advantages. Yet when I try to explain to my parents that “reasons x, y, and z make us upper middle class” my dad doesn’t want to accept that. It’s interesting how he’s simultaneously grateful he’s not in the financial situation he was in 30 years ago but he’s still attached to his identity from then.
I think that’s common! (And probably even more so coming from a poor immigrant background) - we internalize our upbringing and it can be difficult to reassess and process where we currently stand
While wealth and classes certainly do help and give us advantages, being upper middle class and being truly “rich” are world’s apart. And provide different opportunities, I think acknowledging privilege is extremely important but it can also include realizing that most of the population is still a “working class” and do not own the means of production (I do realize this isn’t the main point of your comment, I just see people commonly conflate upper middle class and rich)
I can relate to this feeling. I grew up quite poor - a lot more poor than I realized when I was actually living in it. But many of the things we had to do to save money growing up are so internalized in my lifestyle that I feel like I will always identify with it. I made it through college on need-based scholarships and I am now working as a behavior therapist, and even though I make more money than my mom ever did growing up, I haven't quite figured out the line where I don't feel "poor" anymore. On paper, I am middle class, but I still find myself engaging in the same kinds of behaviors that many lower income families engage in, like hoarding supplies in case I can't afford them later and refusing to buy expensive brands, even if they are better quality and I could realistically afford them now. I've had to push myself past the feelings of guilt and anxiety when spending my money on more expensive things, even if the increase in quality justifies it. And I don't know if I'll ever lose that feeling.
Same here!
Same with my immigrant parents! And we are from Europe.
I feel like if you don’t know what class you are or what’s your parents’ financial situation when you’re a teenager, it means that you’re pretty good financially (most times at least). When I was younger and kept asking my mom money for clothes and makeup or to go out with friends or money for a phone etc, she sat down with me and literally showed me what our income was and what our expenses were. I was shocked to see that, and I never talked about getting those things again. Since then I grew up knowing exactly what my situation is. “Rich” kids do not have an idea of what’s going on, what’s their situation or/and where they stand in society.
That's true. Lower income kids grow up to a constant tune of "that's too expensive" and "we cannot afford that". We know exactly what our financial situation is. 😂
Sadly true X'D
I think that just falls on the parents. If I were to have that privilege in the future to not have to worry about bills or whatever, I will make sure my kids understand how privileged they are, to the extent of even traveling to show them how other kids live so they can see how lucky they are. I think parents shouldn't shelter their kids so much. It's not gonna take away the kids innocence as much as people think.
I'm 22 and my parents still refuse to tell me our annual income as a household. I have no idea what's a splurge and what's normal for us
I was talking to a now ex and the topic of social status came up somehow. He told me "you don't realize what you are", and I had literally never thought about it. Since then, I have been paying more attention. And it's true that some guys I have met talked or mentioned "pegar un pelotazo" around me, which is a Spanish way of saying that they hit the jackpot, or something like that, by going out with a rich girl.... At one point I told one of them "I've got one word for you: prenup." Laughed about it.. but I was dead serious. And as I mature I realize the only ones I feel comfortable around are people at the same station as me. It's ridiculous to try to deny it. I really feel uncomfortable when they even mention money. I never talk about it, not because it's tacky, but because it's boring and unnecessary unless we are married or need to take care of business with family. But I guess that just speaks of how money has never been a big deal for me bc I never had to worry about it. Honestly. I have had some hardships in my life. I always say my life was comfortable but never easy. And I wouldn't wish hardships like taking care of an alcoholic verbally abusive father on anyone. I am glad and somewhat confused when I meet people who have never seen their parents drunk and shouting at their spouse. I am happy for them and realize how hard I've had it and how far I've come despite it all. Why can't people be happy for others good circumstances? Nothing makes sense in this life. Why bother worrying about how much or how little someone has and just try to be happy with what we have? And if it isn't enough for someone, they should go out and do all they can to make it happen. Once your basic needs are covered, it's true that money does not buy happiness. I am eternally grateful for what I have and wish others felt the same with what they have too.
I think the most ridiculous thing about this, that you didn’t mention, is the reason these people are making so much money is because they’re literally just walking advertisements. When you realise that advertising companies are just using young people to sell their products, it makes a lot more sense why influencers make so much money and why it feels so wrong to the average person that they do. Its consumerism disguised as entertainment
Well, they are making massive amounts of money bc the people that complain about their wealth are also the very same people who help them get that wealth by being their viewers.
ebgbjo2025 ok?
🎯
!!! You said well
So true
It’s so funny how people “don’t know” if they came from a rich background, if you were poor you would KNOW.
Accurate
yea when I think abt this it makes me pretty confident that I was lower middle class in my early childhood and upper middle class near the end. it was confusing bc I didn't know we were on food stamps and got financial aid from school and free breakfast and only shopped at thrift stores and budget groceries. I thought all of that was normal, but I also went to private school so for the other kids that was definitely not normal lol. nowadays my parents still have a cheap mindset but are willing to fork over money for a new phone to replace my 5 yr old one, they'd prolly pay for my college and buy the bigger things for me if I needed them like maybe a $100 piece of furniture. but im moved out with flatmates and living paycheck to paycheck and am appalled when my friends say some $80 pants at a vintage store was a good deal 🤨🤨 so anyway at this point I'm just reminiscing and ranting lol
BINGO!
It’s so true. My cousin lives rent free in her parents Oceanside vacation home and drives a car her parents bought her, while going to University (tuition paid fully paid by her parents). She doesn’t think her family is rich 😳. I was so shocked I didn’t even try to set her straight,
💯
i hate when rich people say "we're comfortable" when they're clearly just rich. or "my parents have money" that means you do too. even if they don't buy you everything you want you have the privilege of growing up in a wealthy home, having better access to healthcare, education, possibly growing up in a neighborhood with a low crime rate, or even gated community, and having access to better food. all of that gives someone massive privilege. not to mention connections their parents may have in the workplace that give their children opportunities the rest of us don't get
And that’s how children should be brought to experience this world in families that cactually can afford them a “comfortable” life. What’s the point to have 4-5 kids in a 3 bedroom house? Having children when you can’t feed them “better food”? When you can’t afford to give them “better” education, healthcare, a healthy environment with low crime rates? Where’s the accountability when it comes to parenting…
@@lt.2992 we shouldn't be going at the problem by saying "poor people shouldn't have kids", poverty just shouldn't exist.
@@lt.2992 that line of thinking is really popular amongst the ultra wealthy actually, it’s called eugenics
@@AAAAAAAHHHHHHH !!
@Kill Bm nah the wealthy owe the people they got rich off of (their workers) a lifestyle with dignity. Whether that be through living wages or tax dollars going to social programs, idc
it's crazy how many people who went to private school k-12 genuinely consider their childhood middle class
i vaguely know a guy who goes to this crazy private school with like the prime ministers kid and apparently its bc his mom is a diplomat so the government pays but also like. he is SO rich i do not care what he thinks
I went to a private school, because of My grandma. Of never realized how much it was because my parents were terrible with money. 😂
I think people don’t talk enough about how challenging it can be to date someone from a different socioeconomic status. I had a boyfriend whose parents had three houses, and was genuinely confused why my family did not have a lake house. But on the flip side, I have also dated someone who was houseless at times growing up. It’s so easy for even middle class people to be so unaware of their privilege (myself included)
Dating rich people sucks so bad. I hate when men talk about money cus I know they’ll be so out of touch.
As somebody who came from an affluent community (though I’m about 5 years older than you,) I can tell you that no, young people don’t realize that they’re rich if they’re surrounded by other rich people. People say culture is like water, and the fish don’t notice the water. That’s 100% true. If you’re not exposed to the way other teens with less means live, you don’t realize that what you have is a luxury to many. It’s only once you get into a more diverse setting, whether it’s college or a different community in the “real world”, that you realize how much privilege you have/had.
Yes, and simultaneously it’s easy for them to STAY in the “super rich” bubble when they go to uni. “Normal” people cannot afford to go to a uni out of state in a big, expensive city, and if they manage to, they’re usually working their way through it. My boyfriend comes from a very wealthy family and his sister went to uni in NYC (they’re not even from the US). All her friends are similarly wealthy to her, their parents pay their tuition/rent/credit card bills and they don’t really hang around the crowds of people who aren’t that fortunate because their lives are totally incompatible. They think what they experience is normal, and even I didn’t realize until I was 18/19 that despite being middle class and always financially comfortable, my parents couldn’t come close to affording to send me to uni in another city and pay my way through it.
Right, my college was expensive but gave a lot of scholarships, and that was the first time I saw a huge range of incomes/how people get by. For some, $100 was way too much money to spend, and then we also had students who wore new $5000 shoes every week.
"My parents worked really hard for their money" is quite an ignorant and insensitive thing to say when addressing wealth. Like I'm sure your parents did work hard for their money, but that doesn't mean they've worked harder than those who do not have money. Not all people who have money have worked for it, especially those who come from intergenerational wealth where money is passed down through the family. It also implies that people who work jobs that are lower income (retail workers, hospitality etc) don't work hard and aren't faced with challenges of their own which is not true, and anyone who has worked those jobs knows that.
I don’t understand how “my parents worked really hard for their money” implies that other people don’t work hard to earn what they have. Doesn’t it just mean that they weren’t the mega-rich people who had intergenerational wealth? Sometimes I don’t understand what people expect of these rich teenagers, surely they don’t have to apologize for being born into a rich family should they?
@@user-ns9ku3eq2r Thank you--I was going to ask the same thing. I don't understand where people get these alleged implications from; that's not what saying "my parents worked hard" is implying at all. It boggles the mind how one can do such mental gymnastics to arrive there, but I personally think it all boils down to projection (that stems from jealousy and insecurity for their own perceived inadequacies, be quite frank).
@@user-ns9ku3eq2r honestly I think the self awareness is good. I would always take this instead of not acknowledging that you benefited from your parents wealth (ie it's my parents money, not mine) One of my college friends was really well off and she said this line a lot, and not once did I feel spoken down to as a kid from a lower middle class family. But that's just based on my own experiences.
I’ve always worked in the service industry and what is disgusting is the way rich people treat us. They treat us like they own us. I’ve had many encounters with rude customers.
@@lisar.271 yaassss! I feel like Tiffany, along with a lot of people in the comment section are projecting their insecurities on other people who had it better early on in life. And what bugs me even more is when she straight up says that the teenage girls should admit that they’re “rich,” but tbh isn’t “working really hard to provide a comfortable life” exactly the definition of a well of middle/upper middle class? Tiffany needs to stop ranting like a thirteen year old and then covering it up by saying they could’ve acknowledged their privileges blablabla It’s not that acknowledging one’s privileges isn’t important, it’s just really ironic when she got to live in a wealthy city in California. Despite being on the low income end, I’m sure she would come across as one of the rich people in other areas of the country.
I grew up in upper-middle class, and honestly didn't even realize how well-off we were until my fiance. He grew up extremely poor, often going without meals entirely. When we talk about our experiences, he's helped me see that I grew up with a lot of privilege; I didn't realize it because my mother made sure to raise me not to be spoiled, I just never went wonting for anything. I agree with a lot of comments here that kids who grow up wealthy or at least comfortable have no idea and don't need to think about it.
this was my experience. my partner really was very poor growing up and when he tells me that they didnt have lunch at school or a bus to take them and I had everythign plus more. it does make me think.
damn girl what was that like
This this this
I never want to forget or brush aside how much privilege I come from. My parents, while they didn't have the money to have family vacations abroad or a big house or new cars, could always pay for my music lessons. They're both college professors, and with that came with enough disposable income to pay for things like music lessons, tickets to the local theater, my sister's dance classes, things in that vein (not to mention the best gift they could possibly have given us, free undergrad tuition at the college my mom works at). I'm a trained composer with a degree and a half now, and if I ever make it big I will never say it's because of hard work. Yes, I work hard, but anyone can work hard. If hard work got you success then every creator would be successful. It's all luck. Luck to be born into a family that could pay for me to learn music at a young age, luck to have a mom working at a school that gives kids of faculty free tuition, luck to have a family that's been stable enough to let me stay at home and save up before moving to a big city so I don't need a full time job for a while and can focus on my creative work. Not everyone is so lucky, and that needs to change.
Yeah, that is quite a bit a privilege... growing up poor I wouldn't ever dream of music or dance lessons. I'm actually surprised your parents didn't have other nice things, but it might depend on the area you grew up, too. Usually college professors make really good money.
@@NickaLah It really depends on the type of professor and the college. State colleges pay less than private ones, and lesser known private ones pay less than really famous schools. Also, when I was a very young child my parents were adjunct professors (which are essentially criminally underpaid teaching slaves, the concept of adjuncts/contingent faculty needs to go away or at least be extremely reformed), but that was before I had music lessons. I grew up in a town with an ivy league university, but my parents worked at smaller colleges. Because of the ivy league school, housing prices are suuuuper inflated so even families with solidly middle class incomes can't find affordable housing easily. But it's so important to fight for solid arts programs in public schools and music schools that give free lessons to low income students, because it's awful how cost prohibitive music can be, everyone should have the chance to learn it
Nah if you make it big you ARE definitely allowed to say it was because of hard work, just don’t disregard all the advantages and privilege you’ve had, as it’s a combination of both. Also thanks for sharing, I like how honest you were cause a lot of people with wealth, privilege and the ability to afford things, try to shy away from the fact they grew up with money/have money. I wish you the most luck in the future.✨✨
I kinda agree, but not with everything. It’s true that luck should be taken into account, but it shouldn’t just build down to that. I don’t want my hard work to be diminished just to make others feel better. I worked hard, and so do other successful people.
the thing about the rich people not being able to cook reminded me of that one scene from arrested development. "its a banana, michael, how much could it cost? $10?" "you've never actually been inside a grocery store, have you?"
The whole arrested development lol
luv arrested development forever!!
@@tiffanyferg I started watching Among Us content when it popped off. One of the creators I've been watching was Hafu and I startled when I learned that she never even boiled water in her life. In fact, I am still having hard time understanding how one can live 30 years without boiling water even for once :) But the most shocking part was how half of the audience was trying to normalize this.
A girl I went to high school with FaceTimed my friend to ask what boiling water looked like - she was trying to make Mac n cheese. We were 16/17
👀 I feel called out. I never used to look at the prices of anything when shopping, because my parents thought it was in bad taste. I never even realized how privileged I grew up until I went to a magnet high school across the county. I met people for whom living off of food stamps was a normal way of life, and to get free lunch was expected. I’m not ashamed of it; my parents worked really hard to get where they are, but as a result they did their very best to insulate me from a lot of harsh realities. Just a reminder that sometimes the picture is a little more complicated than you think. Some folks really are that naïve, simply because of a lack of exposure to how other people live. I’m so glad I got that reality check as I was growing into my sense of self. It was painful and awkward at times, but I honestly think I’m a better person because of it.
that moment when Parasite, a story about class struggle, won an Oscar for best film and millionaire celebrities all stood up giving a roaring applause Edit: replying to some comments, no i did not mean that the audience shouldn't have applauded, but rather that the whole thing is just quite ironic
Just a few weeks later, smash cut to Ellen furloughing her unionized employees and getting a non-union crew up to her mansion to film. Also all those other Hollywood dummies singing "Imagine" to the service class from next to their pools.
To be fair, parasite is not only criticizing the rich, but also the poor and how part of why they are in the circumstances they are in is partly their fault.
Especially when Elon Musk tweeted that it was his favorite movie...
I mean, if they didn't stand and clap it probably would have come across as rude and racist instead of "oh wow look at them knowing their privilege". You are right in that it's very ironic, though.
@@KillerQueen-gx4vb I've watched a lot of videos of Bong Joon Ho, almost obsessively... and he's never worded it like you have. The only way Parasite criticizes the poor, which it only does somewhat, is that our circumstances cause us to fight with other poor people. But he's not saying being poor is usually a poor person's fault, like how you're making it sound. The inspiration for this movie actually came to him because he was a tutor for a wealthy family, and he admits he didn't deserve the job.... he was a math tutor despite being bad at math. He said, that's how those jobs work, though, it's entirely dependent on who you know and luck.
As a European I’m always shocked to hear about people not being able to go to the doctor or endless student debt... not that poverty doesn’t exist here and there aren’t people who struggle, but health care and education are free...
Because health care and higher education are free, it makes European poverty, especially Western European, more mind boggling.
I'm Middle European too. What's important to keep in mind about free education though is that when your family's income too low to support you not making money when you could, it doesn't matter that the education would be free. The thing that's not affordable is family members not making any money because they're pursuing further education and not the education itself. Granted it obviously still opens up more opportunities than if it was as expensive as in other regions, it's just another aspect to keep in mind
but is it good healthcare and education?? Is great that is free but doesn't the people have to be in waiting list for months until a doctor can see you??
Sana all haha
tax funded. not free. we work for those.
When I was a kid my dad would describe our economic status as: ''We have enough so we dont have to worry if we will be able to pay the bills and not be hungry.'' And that was accurate, the food was basic food, we didnt get sweets and ice scream was a once in a while treat, I wore a lot of hand me downs from my brother, we would buy jackets that were too big and fold the sleeves so that we could wear them for at least one or 2 extra years cause kids grow. We maybe didnt understand class and money properly, but we had a decent idea, recently I was on a walk with my mom and saw a huge doll house in a store window, I commented how silly it was how much i wanted to have one of those as a kid, she was confused cause I never told her. And I didnt, neither did my brother, we knew we cant afford expensive stuff so why even ask. But I still feel uncomfortable talking about money and generally would rather not. I had a few run ins with a couple of my friends from college recently, where they complained to no end about how their income is horrible and how hard they are struggling. One of them is earning double that I do and the other a bit over a tripple of my current income, no kids etc. They are far more well off than the majority of people in my country. But when you grew up in a family where have a near live in maid to clean and cook for the family, your idea of struggling is different.
omg the doll house thing is so real
Rich kid here! I think you were pretty spot on in guessing that rich kids assume they're middle class as a result of having little understanding of the spectrum of wealth in the world. Most rich people exist in communities that poorer people can't enter, and so the boundary for being middle class in rich kids' perspectives switches from "not being able to afford healthcare or house repairs" to "only owning a couple houses". I remember one day at the private school I was going to, in my social studies class, the teacher put up a graphic showing the five quintiles of wealth in the world. Without telling us the boundaries for each quintile, she asked us to guess whether we fell into the poorest, second poorest, middle, second richest, or richest quintile. No one in the class guessed the richest. Once we had all answered and placed ourselves in the third or fourth quintile, the teacher described the daily lives of each quintile. The example family for the third quintile all shared the same toothbrush, and the example for the fourth quintile couldn't afford to heat or cool their house. It turned out every single person in my class fit into the upper part of the fifth quintile, where the first example of families having matching silverware sets and their own individual rooms started popping up. When rich communities make up your entire world, you're more likely to fit yourself on a spectrum of "wearing hand-me-down clothes" to "having a pop star perform at your birthday party" than on the actual spectrum of class that the majority of the world lives in.
wow this is fascinating, thank you!!
Yes this! I went to public school and had a friend who’s dad couldn’t afford to put fuel in his car to drive her to my house, and even then the ball didn’t drop about what wealth I had. It’s only now as a 22 year old am I beginning to understand the privilege I have. For instance, I’m a musician, and the only reason I can be is because my parents could afford to give me piano lessons, could afford to buy me a piano, could afford to let me enter piano exams, could afford to send me to a music university, and can afford to let me live at home rent-free to pursue my career. It makes me angry that only the children of the wealthy can afford to be artists. It makes me feel guilty and underserving. And even then, a lot of peers don’t have the social consciousness to begin understanding their privilege, because they compare themselves to me, the richest of the people they surround themselves with, and go “oh yeah, I’m middle class”.
I moved to one of the most affluent places in California when I was 15, and I came from a very poor background. My mom and I were homeless, so I moved in with my aunt and uncle, and when I told people that at my new high school, they literally looked at me like I was an alien. It was almost like they didn’t know people suffered like that.
The funny thing is even my aunt and uncle were at the low end of income for the area they lived in, so I was still “the poor one” to the people in my high school even though I was living in the biggest house I’d ever lived in, had a room to myself for the first time ever, and didn’t have to worry about my next meal.
damn what? third quintile all shared the same toothbrush? what country you living in? that's crazy I mean I know like half the world still shits outside like a bear in the woods but sharing a toothbrush is just unsanitary.
It’s truly a sign of how much capitalism gaslights us all that budding class consciousness must be apologized for as ‘pettiness’ or ‘jealousy’ or ‘being a hater’ on the part of the not-rich/less-privileged. I can so relate to younger Tiffany - I was constantly in awe of the lifestyles of my rich peers…..but for some reason **I** was the weird one for thinking their lives were not normal and shouldn’t be normalized 🤔
@Kill Bm in over excess yes.
@Kill Bm better question is how is over consumption not a bad thing?
@Kill Bm A fundamental effect of overconsumption is a reduction in the planet's carrying capacity. Excessive unsustainable consumption will exceed the long-term carrying capacity of its environment (ecological overshoot) and subsequent resource depletion, environmental degradation and reduced ecosystem health.
@Kill Bm how is “spoiling” not a bad thing? It’s one thing to provide for your child and give them treats but spoiling is excess. Children are still learning the value of items and how they’re earned. Being provided every desire with no sense of their value creates entitlement that effects consumption in adulthood. Spoiled children grow up with less financial responsibility for themselves - it leaves them less able or willing to earn on their own or plan for their own spending. It also makes them less understanding of people who earn less and increases the gap between classes. Spoiled children can learn to manage their own money and work hard and empathize with those who were not spoiled but it’s much harder to do so. You’re not doing your child any favors by “spoiling” them, you’re just setting them up for a very hard reality check.
@Kill Bm idk why you’re aggressive or speaking as if you know me personally but spoiling a child has always been considered a negative thing - hence the use of the word “spoil” which denotes something literally going bad. It has less to do with providing for your children and more to do with behavioral problems resulting from overindulgence of parents. That’s not my subjective opinion, that’s the very definition of “spoiled children.” If you’re not comfortable with people responding to your questions with an explanation, perhaps don’t ask.
so I'm ten minutes in and I'm already crying even tho there's nothing emotional in the video? I'm someone from a third world country and my perception of the West came from these KZhead videos. I remember feeling pitiful and sad about not having a teenage like this. When you said that you felt left out of this niche of teenagers I actually feel seen for once. Thank u for being my best friend Tiff ilysm
I grew up in a middle class family with 4 siblings. I knew that at times money was tight but i never had to worry abt having food, shelter, etc. Moving out and living paycheck to paycheck has been so so different then what I grew up with. I really took being financially secure for granted
Felt that one
your teeth video idea actually sounds so interesting. i'm 100% down for that
maybe speaking a little bit about the recent smile direct club law suits in that vid as well?
Same! Like, I wanna know how ppl think good teeth represent and stuff. Yup, I'm interested in teeth. No need to say that I'm weird cuz we all love something that is supposedly "weird" so... I wanna become a dentist so that's a HUGE factor abt why I'm looking into teeth and what ppl think of her good teeth and bad teeth represent or some stuff, get what I mean?
Same, I grew up with some really unfortunate teeth issues from genetics so I'd love a video on it. I've been wearing braces, had teeth implants that failed (which had to be paid for by my grandparents and other family coming together), and having other appointments with various specialists since I was 15 (I am now 22). This was largely because the only braces we could afford weren't adequate, so I got older and had to "undo" a lot of what was done before. I'm still trying to get decent teeth now and I'm paying for it through my student loan rip
I am looking forward to it. my family was poor but I was born with really good teeth and my mom took so much pride in these free teeth and spoke of them constantly, like she used to ask me to show them to people.
I feel like the middle class lifestyle has been taken over by more wealthier people. It’s not affordable or normal to be spending 200$ on clothes or be getting the newest iPhone every Christmas
It's definitely not. I'm from an upper middle class family and I can only think of one or two times where we ever spent $200 on clothes in one trip, and my family still has their iPhone 6s from 2016. It's just not realistic and not good habits to get into. As I like to say, just because you can afford it doesn't mean you SHOULD buy it! Honestly I don't know anyone in real life who spends that frivolously
yeah, the middle class is definitely a dwindling crowd. i feel like at this point there’s really no such thing as the middle class if we consider the fact that an outstanding majority of us are closer to homelessness than ever having 500,000 dollars to our name
@@Sierra-dj8rj There is a distinct difference in my family. My mom, who was so poor she could barely keep the heat on for us as kids, married my step-dad who was very wealthy. As a kid, I got to enjoy the amenities, such as the pool and A/C and even multiple bathrooms, but never once did I ask either of them for money for new clothes or anything I wanted. My step-sisters go out WEEKLY and spend hundreds of dollars on new clothes and things they dont need! Theyve never worked a real job, have no real responsibilities, and are not held accountable for any of their actions. While it is difficult for me to watch this behavior from them, I am glad that it is not me. I am much more humble in what I have, and I work hard for the things I want!. Haha if you read all this, thanks :D
Fr!! I describe myself as upper middle class, yet my family would have gone broke a long time ago if we spent all our money the way a lot of "comfortable/middle class" KZheadrs spent their money. I just bought a MacBook today since my old laptop is literally being held together with duct tape, and I nearly cried blood. Not to mention that the only way I was able to afford a new MacBook was thanks to gifts for graduating HS this year.
yeah, I'm fairly comfortable now and have my own apartment but it's not very new or modern and it kinda looks dingy as a result, so it's not ideal KZhead space for vlogging cos it looks like I live in a weird box
When you said "I dont think I'll be making this much money forever" I immediately thought about age privilege and a video on ageism would be hella interesting!
This would be a great topic for Tiffany to cover
You predicted it
Speaking of teeth, I work in the dental field. When you mention people who are rich but think they’re middle class…. That’s most dentists. I work for a husband and wife team that own a dental practice and real estate. They are millionaires, but definitely not Jeff Bezos rich. Listening to them talk about money like it’s nothing makes me cringe. This past winter my furnace shit out and luckily for me, I know an HVAC guy who was able to replace mine for only $2000. When having a casual convo with my one of bosses, he commented that I was lucky and “$2000 is nothing”. It made me want to vomit. My paychecks aren’t even $2000, my mortgage isn’t cheap, and I strongly considered trying to go without heat that winter. They have *no clue* how hard it is.
Haha I'm about to start dental assisting with a couple very similar to this. They're literally millionaires but won't pay me for placement; I also need to take time off my paid work for it. Lmao wanna get in there and leave...
That’s gross of them. They’re bosses, they should know about how much you make if they are a privately owned establishment. You’re entire pay isn’t a good deal for what you had to pay. That sets you back. They own a business like that, they’re well off
If $2000 is nothing, then they should pay you more than that 😂 so many bosses are both stupid and out of touch it's unreal Perfect opportunity to both humble them and ask for a raise
I used to say we were comfortable because we weren't starving and got presents on Christmas and birthdays. But we didnt go to the doctors unless it was hospital worthy and even then my dad stitched his own arm rather than pay for the ER. We did dishes in the bathtub because the kitchen sink was broke. Our furnace broke so we didnt have heat for several years but had to buy space heaters so the water pipes in our ceiling wouldnt freeze which still happened even with the heaters on truly cold days. I said comfortable because I compared us to people I saw who lived on the street or in shelters. I mean I had a home and food, that was comfortable to me.
This, 1000% percent. So incredibly relatable to my experience growing up- the furnace situation happened to my family when i was growing up.
I'm glad you were able to make the best out of what you had growing up! At the same time I wish no one ever had to worry over healthcare costs or the cost to repair essential things that break down randomly in the house.
I needed glasses in high school and instead got reading glasses from dollar tree, I broke a finger and couldn’t afford the doctor, and had a breast tumor (not cancerous thank goodness) for a year before finally getting treated. But you always see what you have first because you know someone always has it worse.
As a european with free school and healthcare etc, hearing from people "we couldn't afford to go to the ER" is really horrifying. I go to the doctors at least every 3 months and have a lot of expensive medication that I can get for free over here. I feel so bad for you all :(
@@heejsaan5648 school here is free (well paid for in taxes) but medical care is rough. I'm 26 now and haven't been to see a medical professional for years, nor because I cant afford it but because it's so ingrained in me that you dont go in
Being exposed to that kind of content while living in a “2nd or 3rd world” country adds another layer to the whole experience. It’s not just that your family could never afford those luxuries, but also that many symbols of such lifestyles wouldn’t even be present in your country (we literally didn’t have malls or big amusement parks or proper restaurants or even houses that looked remotely like the classic “american dream” ones). Anyways, thanks for the video.
Completely relate to you.!!!
Really important perspective!
THIS!
Just to give some perspective, not all of America looks like the America you see on social media, though. I would say the only thing we had in the rural area I grew up is actual restaurants... and even then my single mother and I rarely went to them. Most of the times we did before my mom made a little more money, it was my grandmother who married a wealthy man that took us out. But he was very conservative, so it isn't like we got help otherwise. And even if people have access to malls, amusement parks, restaurants, or have seen regular American houses... doesn't mean they have experienced any of those things. I think honestly it's actually worse to be near that stuff, but you just can't go. I grew up in an area not around that stuff (tbh, we had to go out of our way to even see a legit restaurant, too) and it was the same for most people I went to school with... most of them didn't have access to those things, either. Let's put it this way, I had never seen a lot of wealthy things growing up so that after college when I had a sales job, I didn't even realize my boss was driving me around training me in a Mercedes. I actually was disappointed, because most of us have heard of the brand at least, but it just seemed like a regular 'ol car to me. I think it shocked my Indian boss when he realized I didn't know the brand of the car, too.
Yes, I relate so much! She mentioned most people have a smartphone these days and I was like 'lol no'. It really depends where you come from. Apart from that, there is the privilege of being a native speaker and creating content in english, the most spoken language in the world, wich allows your channel to reach more people...
“My Super Sweet 16” was the precursor of lifestyle content because it focused, majority of the time, on ordinary, “non-celeb”, rich kids. We expect celebrities to have super nice places and things because they are celebrities. Yet watching Sweet 16 as a teenager was a whole nother level. These girls were going to Europe for customized dresses, received the latest luxury cars, and had people fawning over them for an invite. As a teen watching it, I remember being a bit jealous but it was a momentary feeling. You watched the episode, maybe talked about it with friends, and that was it. But now? Who cares about having the latest makeup or a nice bedroom. Where’s your designer everything, lavish home, luxury cars, and fancy ass vacations? How are you 20-something and “I’m only 20 and I bought a 5 bedroom house”? Social media cut out the middle man and gives ordinary (mostly white) teens a means to capitalize on their following and make so much money. Disney who? Everyday is My Super Sweet 16 and then some on social media.
As a kid who grew up ""comfortable"", it did take me a long time to realize how rich I was. My family always told me that we were middle class, comfortable, etc, and everyone around me was a similar level of wealth, so I genuinely had nothing to compare to. Among other kids, there was no awareness of class and all of us assumed that our lifestyle was the norm. I didn't become aware of my class privilege until almost going to a private high school (didn't end up going, but still). Online I heard people talk about college, debt, money issues, and how impossible it all was to afford - yet here I was, with parents that could spend tens of thousands of dollars on high schools. It was shocking and it felt like I'd been lied to my whole life. The rich teens you talk about in these videos are basically the people I grew up with. And I guarantee, they have no clue how rich they are. They're parroting what their parents say and they truly believe they are the middlest of middle class.
I went to Public school. My house got destroyed by a hurricane when I was 13 and I had to buy my own car and rent. I couldn’t afford college even with top grades and a scholarship of 30 percent. There are many people like us out there that rely on food stamps and the like.
I wonder how many of those “rich” people are actually living their lifestyle on credit and no savings. Especially people in the upper middle class. I have so many friends that live extravagant lifestyles but they earn less than I do. Our banker once admitted that most people’s savings accounts are empty. I think there’s a huge segment of society that’s faking it.
Most of my friends live like that. It gets so tiring trying to advise them. One of my friend is now being hunted by loan sharks and still applied for another loan
You can only fake it for so long.
When you say credit do you mean credit cards or generational wealth?
1000000%. America is literally completely founded on credit, most people are not nearly as wealthy as they look. House? Mortgaged. Cars? Leased with a payment plan. Living off of credit cards, etc.
But to what extent can you fake it? There has to be some basis to begin with.
Someone called teeth “luxury bones” to me once and that is basically perfect. Mine need so much work I can’t even fathom affording. 😩
Luxury bones that don’t accept the same insurance or care as regular bones!! It is truly asinine
This!!! In the UK our healthcare is completely free but dental work mostly isn't (probably why the British are known for horrible teeth) and if you need dental work it can be cripplingly expensive and hard to access! Teeth are very much seen as a luxury or something purely aesthetic here but last year I almost died from a dental related issue and it really made me re-evaluate this
Yeah I wonder if its because in prior human history, teeth falling out was seen as normal to inevitable, so it was like "why bother if its only going to happen anyway." But now we have modern science and we understand how to prevent this from happening, plus its so easy to provide this "fluffy" type care (regular dental cleanings and screenings) versus providing intensive care (such as jaw surgery and feeding tubes if things go uncared for long enough). In addition to allowing people to retain their comfort and dignity. Teeth and the mouth are also a window to the bones and the health of the rest of the body. Let's move teeth up to "regular bones" status! We aren't cavemen anymore...
@@jelkel1928 Well in the 18th century poor people used to literally sell their teeth and then rich people would buy and wear them so dentistry clearly has a weird capitalist history! I think they should definitely be classed as real bones, modern dentistry is a big part in us living longer so it's pretty essential if you ask me
In my country braces are free ( alongside all other dental work) up until you are 18. You do need bad teeth to get braces tho... They wont just give it to anyone but I never knew braces was a luxury thing. It was always just seen as reallyyyyy embarassing to be seen in braces here lol
It depends so much what “middle class” means, for example as a “middle class” person living in mexico, i can say i may have the same lifestyle as a middle class american person but i would be considered pour because here living is so much less expensive than in america, and that happens in america too, a middle class person in a certain place may be broke in LA and a middle class in LA may be rich in some other place.
Yes, i was just thinking about that. I am brazilian and personally i can say that if you dont live in the big cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, it's "much easier" to be considered middle class in comparison to the US. But i bet that if we went to the United States, we would be considered poor because of the living standart. For example: in Brazil we don't have to pay to go to hospitals, to go to universities and schools, and we have a variaty of local restaurants that are really low priced in comparison to Mc Donalds (I cant remember the last time that i ate thete lol, its very expensive)
I thought about this too. I'm from Germany and here, healthcare and education are free. If someone from the US would see the way I live, they would probably think I'm rich, but here I'm considered middle class.
That point you made about some people not being able to go to the doctors because they are afraid their family might go bankrupt really adding into putting things into perspective about how privileged I am. Thank you
I find it odd how rich people always “discover” fashion trends that usually are started by lower class people
A good example of this is the current gentrification of thrifted clothing
Then they inflate the prices and lower class yet again can't buy clothes :(
Oh yeah, so true
bc they have access to everything besides the one thing lower class has and thats creativity with the limited resources they have
@@kirstene9131 Ooh good point. I did not think of that!
The Myth of Meritocracy
true
I think about this a LOT as I see more and more "day in my life in NY" videos from young influencers on TikTok vs. lower income comedy TikTok influencers. When I've seen lower income influencers gain followings it's mainly off of personality-based content, and they tend to be judged much more harshly on how engaging and funny they are as individuals vs. influencers who are able to use their wealth privilege as a basis for their content. The second type of influencer can coast by using their wealth and don't have to worry about how appealing they are as people as much as lower income influencers do. Even with pretty privilege, lower income influencers often have to work harder to put out content that will be appealing because they don't have the flashy lifestyle and sustainable clothing hauls? It's really interesting to me to see just how much wealth influences the content we often see and choose to consume.
About class consciousness: In my experience, comparing yourself to others goes both ways. Rich people compare themselves to those who are richer, but poor people can compare themselves to those who have it worse. I grew up in a poor working class community, and because everyone around me had it even worse, it took me many years of therapy to acknowledge that we were actually poor. (It was also very normal to have alkcoholic parents who beat you and/or neglect you and I didn't think any of it counted as child abuse until I started college.)
I'm lower-class, live in a messy cheap apartment, and just turned 40...tempted to start a humble, realistic lifestyle vlog series. 🧐
U go girrrlllll
Okay but being poor is not an excuse to live in a pigsty
@@hannabanana5096 chill
Yes! You’ll make a lotta ppl feel seen
Hell, I'd watch it!
I will NEVER get over them girls/boys on TIKTOK showing their day in life where all they do is drinking matcha latte, shopping, pelatonin or whatever, and watching at sunsets…like what you do to fund your perfect Manhattan condo with a view? Why are they keep lying when answering that question? SELF MADE MY ASSS😂
LMAOOOO true af
"Self made?" More like "daddy and mummy bought it all!"
THIS^^
My best friends dad is an extreme important President of a university. He probably makes a million a year. They had three kids. 2 went to Ivy League and she get less than for going to UCLA. 🙄And she thought the “average” American home was 5 bedrooms. She wasn’t the richest family where she grew up because she would see billionaires homes. But I grew up in a true middle class family who can’t afford to have their foundation fixed. And have cracks in our tile floor and walls so we have to cover them with rugs so we don’t cut our feet. She had no idea how privileged she is and it causes rifts in our friendship. She would say stuff to me like “If I were as pretty as you I would be such a successful actress” and she gets mad that I don’t go on auditions all the time like she does. But she doesn’t get that I have to work to pay my rent and I’m exhausted from working so much and don’t want to wake up at the crack of dawn to go audition. Her parents still take care of her and pay her rent at 23 years old. The only “job” she’s ever had is an occasional stint as an extra in a tv show.
It can make friendships hard, a college friend of mine just bought a second home not far from me and wants me to visit. Not gonna lie my first thought was how angry I was that my hubby and I aren't even close to buying our first home, yet. I also hope she didn't get the home ahead of someone trying to get their first one, too :-/
@@soniao2034 Yea they really didn’t. But she’s also on the spectrum so I wonder if that has any impact on it. I’m very aware that I am privileged as middle class. My parents and I went deep into debt to put in one of the best colleges in the nation, where I met my friend... But living somewhere being surrounded by extreme wealth and mostly extremely privileged people is really hard. Almost all the people I know who are “working” in acting after college are still dependent on their parents. They don’t pay rent or have jobs to support themselves. They just audition all the time and puddle around. They say in America you can come from nothing and become extremely successful... but they don’t mention how hard it is to overcome generational struggles. Her dad is the president of a university. My dad didn’t go to college. During the pandemic when acting jobs and ny entire industry fell to nothing, I considering going to law school or med school, but I legitimately cannot go as I’ve already maxed out the amount I can take out in federal loans for education.
@@soniao2034 also the reason I posted this is because I am in the “entertainment industry” and I’m just highlighting how these actors, actresses, and media moguls mostly start with a large leg up on their competition.
People relate more to each other through class than race. It definitely is a strain on relationships. My significant other and I went shopping the other day (a couple days before my rent was due) and they spent $260 at Zara. I went home and was so disappointed with myself for spending $30…
Also!! These ppl love to talk about the one gig/brief job they had…
While in college (22 years old), a friend was chocked I hadn’t gone shopping in years and only a few times before that in my lifetime, while she had gone weekly in her lifetime. I was so busy either working trying to make enough money to pay my rent or studying. I was amazed on how surprised she was at the fact that not everyone lived such a privilege lifestyle at such young age.
When they say “it’s not like I can have whatever I want” it sounds like they’re trying to be humble but in reality it’s probably their parents just being parents and not spoiling their kids, not that their parents can’t afford to buy them whatever they want lol.
Yas! " I asked for that bag and it's not like it got it"...okay but the point is that your family could have easily bought it for you.
That makes them sound even more ridiculous
I think too that they’re not just trying to downplay their family’s wealth, but they DO also want to make sure people know they weren’t spoiled, since they know that’s a negative association people make about kids who grew up wealthy. I feel like it’s a defensive reaction because they feel like they’re being “accused” of being spoiled or materialistic when people refer to them as rich, when in reality… calling someone rich is just a statement. It’s like when people get “accused” of having white privilege or whatever and they get defensive and try to deny it by saying they didn’t get everything in life handed to them. Well, sure, that might be true, but no one said that. It’s a defensive reaction that derails the conversation because they’re missing the point and interpreting acknowledgement of their status as a personal attack. A person’s parents might have been strict as hell and/or raised them to be a humble and empathetic person but that has nothing to do with the fact that they still grew up rich and had the security and benefits that provides.
Honestly, I'm less annoyed by a youtuber/influencer that can say "yes, I am rich" than one that will pretend they're broke when they always have the latest tech and drop $500 on new clothes every week. I mean tbh, when I'm rich, I will be so happy to say that I am lolol. I also remember watching these christmas hauls and honestly feeling sad that i was only receiving 2-3 gifts. To add insult to injury, they would always say "this is in no way bragging, this is just what my parents got me. I'm not rich though", and then would unbox the newest iPhone even in 2012 when they weren't a thing yet. Note: I was absolutely NOT poor growing up (I wasn't rich either though). My parents just spent their money on stuff we needed rather than everything we wanted. This whole consumerism side of youtube is actually the reason why i never took youtube seriously when growing up. I tried to create a beauty channel back in 2013, and I ended up giving it up rather quickly after realizing I would never be able to compare to these other beauty youtuber coming out with a new 1000$ haul every other day. I've actually recently moved into a new apartment, which is very beautiful and actually matches what's "in trend". And you know what? I moved a month ago, and my Instagram following has literally doubled when I haven't changed anything. Still using the same hashtags, and actually I've been putting much less effort into interacting with people than I used to do. Yet, my photos are getting hundreds (and even thousands) more likes than they used to. Does it make sense? Nope. I've also seen the same phenomenon happen on KZhead. My videos are doing insanely better now that I've moved to this apartment. I mean, maybe I've improved a lot in my content over the past month, but it seems to be a weird coincidence. It's understandable though. People want to see pretty things. It makes sense for a person who's able to get good lighting, has a pretty apartment and films decently well to blow up and make it on the internet. But it's also true that it is SUCH a huge privilege to be able to afford this living situation... Anyway, I could go on and on... maybe I should do my own commentary on the issue lool 🥲
I would watch your video, send me a link when you do :)
Wow that’s such a fascinating example of your environment helping you gain more followers! Either that or an extreme coincidence in the timing hahaha but it’s totally true that people love to interact with well-lit, “aesthetic” content
lmao i was scrolling thru tiffany's video and saw your comment. but yeah i definitely noticed it too - you don't post much different stuff but every photo looks pretty af and aesthetically pleasing and that does really help getting likes. your growth/the change in your pictures has really made me think like if my desk wouldn't be brown + the lighting and surrounding would be nicer (even tho i rly love my desk and that it is big, it's still just a part of my student housing room) then i would probably post even more pictures on my studygram. because i do have high standards for my pics and i would post wider shots but the background etc. just doesn't work the way i'd want it to. anyways your pics are hella pretty and i love them all and defo make a vid on this
Sure, the basic means of recording and uploading videos are more accessible than ever, but the bar has also been raised in other areas. Viewers expect you to have good lighting, good editing and good hair and makeup at the very least, and you'll get bonus points for costumes, music, props, animations, locations... all of which are tough to provide without a lot of money and time.
As someone who definitly grew up with a lot of privileges (in germany) I often feel ashamed for that, because I KNOW, that so many people struggle with their daily expenses. I always play it down, because I simply don't have any answer, why it was me, and not some other kid, that grew up in that circumstances.
Agreed completely. I was raised in America born to immigrants but this is exactly how I feel growing up with wealth privilege, especially seeing how other immigrants that are not white and their children rarely move up in class in America
Don't feel bad. A lot of poor people are always angry and bitter.
I'm 33 and Irish and have slightly crooked teeth that aren't perfect white. Didn't bother me too much until Instagram stories ....I got so used to seeing people talk into the camera with PERFECT teeth. Now I am wearing Invisalign which I have treated myself to with my savings...when they come off I'm getting them whitened... Irish and British people did not care much about teeth and it was never a huge class indicator/beauty standard until recently. Some Americans thought that some Irish/British celebrities with 'bad' teeth were wearing fake ones for a joke. An iconic famous Irish singer had to have his teeth on his album cover photoshopped so his album could be sold in the USA lmao.
Yessss I definitely want to research the history of the Americanized / Hollywood smile trend
@@tiffanyferg Oh from a European pov Americans seem almost brainwashed into believing bright white teeth (that are filed down) are the only teeth that are "healthy", when I was always told that they're supposed to be slightly yellow-ish because that's their natural colour
It gets even weirder when you realize that the UK has statically better dental care than the US. It's all just aesthetics
@@epicmarschmallow5049 as I said somewhere else on here even the Mexicans say dientes ingleses to mean bad teeth, but actually they are some of the healthiest teeth in the world! they just aren't always straightened and whitened because both of those can actually be BAD for the health of the teeth
yeah I'm irish and americas obsession with teeth is actually wild to me. like if they're so wonky they're causing a problem of course get braces but like idk why people care so much about other ppls teeth
As someone who grew up pretty wealthy, I believe there is a conscious effort by many parents and financial advisors to deny their children a class conscious upbringing. It ensures the preservation of the family wealth. A culture of silence about inequality makes it easier to ignore the questions (why do we have this? Do we deserve it? Etc)
absolutely, great point.
I’m sure that what you’ve said is true for a lot of people but on the flip side, I also grew up fairly wealthy and my parents really made an effort with class consciousness and living way below their means and things like that. They pushed me to understand personal finance and take classes on it which in the end will probably help with wealth preservation. Taking that personal finance class actually inspired me to become what is basically a wealth advisor for people who don’t have a lot of money because people without a lot of money work very hard and deserve to keep as much as they can. I want to learn all the ways I can advise people to prioritize different loans based on interest rates and paying the least amount of interest possible or other things like that. it’s a niche but concrete way I can really help people.
@@manyagaver1946 It sounds like our upbringings have a lot in common haha. I was more so speaking to what seems to me like a general cultural trend. Wealth redistribution ftw :)
@@manyagaver1946 Its really good you have frugal parents. they are well ofb but dont spend much. Its a very responsible way of living. Because If you are Middle class but spend too much the money Will go away. Its great you have parents who are conservative in that matter
I have 2 friends who push back every time I call them rich and it's 100% because they compare themselves the people buying private planes. They are so used to just always having money, they don't realize that that is the indicator of being "rich". One of them even complained to me about the "hassle" of having to log in to pay for his Tesla every month so he was just going to pay it off 🙄
Something to consider, one reason why some wealthy "influencers" might downplay their riches is due to the way that rich people are portrayed in media. Think about Robin Hood, AOC's "tax the rich" dress, 101 dalmations' cruella deville, the whole "eat the rich" meme, Ebenezer Scrooge, etc. The whole "evil and rich" trope is extremely common, so perhaps they want to appear more approachable and just don't want to be seen as a villain.
The beginning iteration of lifestyle creators were directly coming off the high of MTV shows like Cribs and Sweet 16. They successfully made us think that materialism was more interesting than a personality.
I relate so much to that 13 year old bitterness still hanging around. Being aware that your family doesn’t have much as a kid is rough.
Its mortifying and beings about alot of sadness and anger I'm 23 now and am still feeling salty and bitter asf especially now that the wage gap is rapidly widening everyday.
@@chantlmcclary6419 This is exactly why I'm not having children until I have built enough wealth. 25 and doing good so far. I had a privilege upbringing so by God my babies will have the best!
i had the biggest wake up call as a kid when chloe couture posted her house tour a long time ago, like i was absolutely flabbergasted that this person who i was led to believe was just a normal teenager lived in a crazy luxurious MANSION.
I hate when influencers that came from "comfortable" positions say stuff like "I was the one who put in the work to become popular", I think it's very sound deaf because they don't even see that they had the free time to be a content creator because they didn't have to work after school and they can rely on just purchasing stuff and do a "haul" rather than actually investing time to create content that's entertaining without being expensive, so, yeah, no as much merit as they want to make it seem
okay i would watch the shit out of a video about the privilege of dental care/orthodontics
I find it quite shocking that it seems like "success" now means to be rich or wealthy. It is like you can't call yourself successful anymore if you graduate and become a nurse like thousands who do every year....now you can only be considered successful if you do own a Lamborghini and such because few people can. This lifestyle of overflowing materialism is just ridiculous to me.
Thank You! I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and for awhile I’ve had a materialistic definition of what success is and up until recently for me my definition of success changed to me success is commuting to a thing until you can’t anymore or progress at the thing you are trying at.
Well I dont know if its a symptom of a social media in particular or some sort of mentality, but I never saw someone I know with a Lamborghini. So, when someone achieve their dreams, the people where I come from often view this as success. "You made it as a teacher? damn congrats". But its an external point of view as I dont know the level of satisfaction of those people.
We all have different meaning of "success", being a good mother (for me) is success, and i'm 19 years old, without kids. But i just want to be the mother that i never had, and make my children's happy.
Success has transformed differently now. Some people’s “success” is just having a family. Or being happy.
As someone who’s about to graduate to become a nurse, I’d consider that EXTREMELY successful! Success is relative, but nursing has been my dream for years. That definitely sounds like success to me. 😊
The rich gets richer while the poor gets stuck, or even gets poorer. A lot have the means to help out those in need, but choose not to. It’s heartbreaking. With abundance of influencers, I hope they think like you 🙏🏼
I'm fascinated by the tooth talk... living in Canada where we have free healthcare, we don't have free dental care, and as an adult, you can almost tell someone's class or status by looking at the quality of their teeth... also Trixie Mattel talks about as soon as she got rich and famous she replaced all her busted teeth with veneers.. And Katya tells a story about her high school teacher who was a nice lady but had awful teeth and low confidence because of it always hiding her face, and then after one weekend she came in and had all new teeth and her confidence had skyrocketed
I know the UK has a bad reputation for teeth, but it's the same here. Most dental healthcare isnt covered by the NHS and as we dont have an insurance system for just teeth, it's got to be paid at the reception desk (though I'm sure you can do it through a bill for larger sums). It means most people on low incomes just cant factor it into their expenses and dont go frequently/when they need to/at all. It also contributes to peoples fear of the dentist. It used to be a running joke that the people on jeremy Kyle all have bad teeth, which in actuality just correlates with their low average income
Yes, it's so hard to have bad teeth. I'm in Canada too and it has been a long-time pain point for me. I think I am getting closer to afford dental care but I am in my 30s so it feels late. I've spent many years hiding my smile.
@@emilyclarke8222 i agree with your point, but dental care is free here for under 18s, and most kids will get braces completely free, therefore (at least just in my experience) i haven’t really noticed teeth as an indicator of class at all compared to the situation in the states. this probably was more of the thing in the past before braces were common for teenagers so there were more problems in later life that you do have to pay for
@@emilyclarke8222 I thought under 18s got free dental care and those on benefits like UC get free dental care, similar to opticians ways of working
I grew up in an upper middle class family, but every time I hear about Americans' economic situation I feel like I grew up a damn millionaire because I can go to the hospital for free, and I never had to take loans to pay for school. America is wild.
America is still a great country where 50 million immigrants from around the world call home.
This video helped me realize just how financially privileged my family used to be. We shopped at lower-income stores, never traveled outside of the country, were renters, etcetera. However, we also went on some big vacations, went to the theatre, my sister and I had braces, etcetera. My family had one of the lowest yearly incomes in our town and probably had to budget more than the majority of people living in our town but we definitely were privileged.
who else remembers the "sevensupergirls" "sevengymnasticsgirls" (and other channels of that nature) because I remember being so jealous of them growing up !! they definitely had a lot of "i am NOT bragging" moments but i guess i was more jealous of them as people. as a POC it was so sad that all the beauty gurus at the time looked a certain way, a way that I never looked. i'm very glad we have more representation these days, it matters !!
It literally crushed me watching those but it was an addiction, comparing myself.
@@ce_ce_rule9545 same, i hated it but i still tuned in every week to watch their videos it's crazy
My assumption: “both your parents have a masters degree or established career” because if they admit to that there’s rly no denying they come from a rich family. they’d rather say “my parents worked so hard”! So poor people don’t work hard? Ugh 😑
I think they say their parents work hard to make them sound poor
@@LangBellsChannel I think most younger creators from middle class backgrounds don’t always grasp their families income/financial situation. I remember seeing some Reddit discussions about this and it’s pretty common for parents pto try to shield their kids away from financial matters until they are on the verge of adulthood, as things are“comfortable”. I would say that my parents worked hard to get where we are now, because it true, barely saw my father growing up, with my mom it inverted, as now I barely see her because of work.
@@mariakiwi1428 Yeah, I grew up poor and didn't know until I was a teenager.
Trust even people with master degrees struggle. I know 3 ppl with one and none of them get paid what they should with the amount of education they have...one is going back for a 2nd masters to be a therapist to make more.
@@tiamarie1226 that’s why I wrote “or established career” a degree won’t do anything for you if you don’t get your foot in the door career wise
Yes!! This is fantastic. I love this shit. As someone who grew up bordering lower class/lower middle class, I shared a room with my mum and sister, and later just my sister until I moved out at 20. And even then, I was sharing with my boyfriend at the time. When the relationship ended and I moved again, I had my own room for the first time at 21 and only for 4 months before moving back home to share a room with my mum. I’ve been watching KZhead for god knows how long and it’s so interesting to see how content has changed. I’ve always believed that poverty begets poverty and having a wealthier upbringing supports you more in being able to maintain that wealth into adulthood
I shared a room with my mom too which imo seemed extra poor and embarrassing. it's somewhat normal to share a room with a sibling, people do it on tv shows and in movies. but mostly im really resentful, not for the stuff, but the opportunities you dont have as a poor kid.
you're so right when you say poverty begets poverty. our world is structured so that the rich keep getting richer at the cost of the poor getting poorer
As a European, I just wanna add something cuz some things mentioned are the same or similar but one thing that I realised while going to school, I live in Germany, is that there literally is a separation of class literally done through the schools Cuz we have grammar schools (I go to one and I’m fully aware of what I’m about to say and that it can be risky but this obviously doesn’t mean every single person), where a lot of the more well of or rich kids go, ppl here do their A-levels and are very likely to go to university since grammar schools have the “toughest” curriculum etc. And there is a high chance that you will get a high paying job, Than there’s a IGS, which ig comes closest to the American high school, essentially everyone can go there and the most “mixing” happens here, sometimes you’re able to do your A-levels here And than there’s Hauptschule or Realschule, which is where you can get a degree to do apprenticeships but you can’t do your a levels Grammar schools are mostly for kids who have it easier studying and don’t have any problems with quickly picking up knowledge and Hauptschule or Realschule is more catered towards kids who can’t pick up knowledge as fast or tend to need more help etc Kids, whose parents can easily pay for tutoring mostly come from well off families and then of course can go to grammar schools and actuallystay there even if they struggle with subjects but kids from not so well off families often can’t get tutoring and then have to change schools, so often by the time you do your a levels, it’s literally just kids from middle/ upper middle class or ripper class * this of course is not the case with EVERY SINGLE PERSON but from my own experience, that’s how it tends to be* (I’m sorry if there’s any typos or mistakes, English is obviously not my first language)
I remember being really confused as to what I should expect as birthday/Christmas/etc presents because my family usually splits one really expensive gift between three-four family members and then adds some small rather inexpensive things like a nice scented candle or something but seeing these teenage girls getting the newest iPhone, brand new makeup, two pairs of shoes, a new camera, a bunch of clothing, designer bags and other knick knacks on one birthday made me feel very weird. My family is what I would consider basic european middle class so it's not like we had to cut costs where we could but I was always wondering how these families were able to afford all those presents at once it just didn't make sense to me at that time.
Hair!! Stunning!!
Thank you Lucy!! 💞
Agreed and that was so sweet. I see why you have a check, Lucy Moon. I apologize I’m not familiar with you but can I just say how much I enjoyed reading your kind words. People really just don’t like giving a good old fashioned compliment to people. A kind word can change someone’s day more than you know. ✌️🤍💫
Agree!
@@colleenc.9900 so sweet of you. Sending blessings your way 💜
Every time I hear a lifestyle youtuber go into a long winded response to being asked if they’re rich instead of just saying yes or no, I know the answer is yes
Social media is yes tone deaf at classism, but as someone who’s been low income and knew what welfare is like, I do watch lifestyle videos of wealthy youtubers because I sometimes feel inspired/motivated at what they gained or achieved, and happy if they worked hard and can enjoy the fruits of their labor. Jealousy is a very negative and unhealthy vibe and that bad energy can keep one in the poor house.
Hearing you use all of these sociological terms like “social mobility” and “social safety net” is so comforting to me
I grew up so fortunate but even I struggled with inviting people to my house because I didn’t have a pool, my backyard was small, my house wasn’t decorated as well, etc The popular kids always ended up being the richer kids. I always wonder why that is. Like is it a coincidence?
YEPPP good point! They have nice houses to host parties or even just have friends over casually, they usually have exciting birthdays… could all contribute to being seen as cool or well-liked
imagine being insecure to invite people because you don't have a pool or your house isn't that decorated!!!
makes sense, the lifestyle girlies are selling a dream to us tbh🤷🏿♀️
Same as TV ads. KZhead is essentially an advertisement platform.
what’s funny is that early youtube didn’t disclose when it was paid promotion so a lot of the time we thought they were genuine hauls when some of them were gifted the clothes or given paid promo to sell things to their impressionable young audiences. I think it wasn’t until the FTC started regulating it around 2017 when we started to know when a person was giving us brand deals or authentic content
I personally think that it depends on what side of tiktok you're on. There is definitely an advantage if you're rich, pretty, etc, but I've seen more diverse creators from all around the world in tiktok. There have been challenges such as 'tell me you are from a lower middle class family without tell me you are lower middle class" too.
I agree with the point that people need to be more open talking about wealth and money. Of course, it’s no ones business and I understand that, but it would help a lot of people. The lines wouldn’t be so blurred, it would educate people to make healthier and smart financial decisions, and overall make less mistakes. It would help people understand the significance of money, (not that they don’t already), but from different classes, perspectives, and spectrums. In a societal sense, we shouldn’t shy away from it nor should it be considered “taboo”.
I remember Gigi Gorgeous doing an "assumptions about me" video and got the assumption "You're rich" and she just goes "Ha.. YEah" lol she's amazing
Honestly I feel like Tik Tok is the epitome of pretty privilege. On KZhead, anyone has the potential to grow a decently-sized audience if they work hard enough and select a niche that suits them well. However, on Tik Tok? Yes, true, anyone can blow up just like they can on tik tok. But someone can also just post a 5s video of themselves looking in the mirror and get hundred of thousands of likes and followers?
while i think that people are definitely becoming more class-conscious than they were in early influencer days (the cancellation of bestdressed is a good example), i think that the aspirational gap is becoming bigger. bethany mota and the other lifestyle youtubers were rich, but most of the products they were promoting were using were relatively affordable - drugstore makeup, fast fashion, stuff from target. compare that to the sustainable fashion brands that cost over $100 for a top, glossier makeup, and the small online homeware brands that youtube influencers promote today. a Reformation dress is nowhere near what i will ever be able to afford - at least when i was 14 i could save up to buy the same Forever21 top that bethany mota was wearing in a video. the influencers that we’re supposed to be “aspiring” toward today are so so far from what a middle class person could budget, i think.
**not to say that people who have money shouldn’t strive to buy from more sustainable brands, since they can actually afford it. but for me, someone who doesn’t have that same access to wealth, it puts a large amount of pressure on me to spend money that i don’t think i will ever have
This was SUCH a fascinating video!! I find it incredibly interesting talking about that GUILT factor; the guilt of asking your parents for something/ money because you're aware that it is a finite and vital resource, that reverberating anxiety surrounding money that sticks with you way into adulthood
As a kid, and even now, my parents like to tell me that we aren’t wealthy; we’re comfortable. And I guess the description “comfortable” fits in the sense that money is not a point of contention or insecurity. There is no question of affording doctors, braces, or house/auto repairs. But I never had a new car; the one I got when I was 18 and am still driving at 20 is from 1991, and the paint is coming off. My parents don’t buy new cars either. My parents would get me a few gifts every birthday and Christmas, and usually there would one thing that’s worth a few hundred dollars. But comfortable is a downplay when you own a property that brings in more passive income than the median American. Or when you have enough money saved that you can pay for your child to get a master’s degree. That’s a substantial amount of wealth and privilege. And when you’re told “that’s not wealthy, that’s comfortable”, and mostly interact with people in the same socioeconomic situation as you (or higher), of course that’s what you’re going to believe it, because you probably don’t have that class conciseness. I know I wouldn’t if I didn’t have friends that couldn’t afford McDonalds, didn’t get an allowance, or had insurance that didn’t cover eye care. Most of my friends were what I’d say comfortable; they had their own rooms, enough food, and knew they’d have power, A/C, heating, and presents on birthday and holidays. But if something serious were to happen (a family member had to go out of work for a long while or the house had an major issue), it wouldn’t be that easy to recover. The kids also had to pay for their own college. So yeah… the way the rich view wealth and the what the upper class actually is are very different.
Thank you for your perspective! These are great points ❤️
I am comfortable because I have always lived below my means. Old small house in an up and coming neighborhood. Second hand clothes, furnishings and car. My car is a 17 year old Corolla….still running strong. We grew up as a struggling two parent working household…although both parents drank and smoked…it was not lost on us that there was no money for piano lessons and sports. I am lucky that my son’s disability enables him get Medicaid that pays for his massive prescriptions. Otherwise we would be living in our 17 year old Corolla. But it obvious that my mind goes to future homelessness because my choice for choosing cart of the year is Target.
Re: contextualizing your family's wealth, I think this is largely due to age. I pretty much had no idea what my parents' actual financial situation was until I went into college and got involved in money discussions. But growing up I could understand my family's position by comparing my family's lifestyle to my friends'. When you go to one friend's house and it's a small apartment with kids sharing rooms, another friend's house is modern with extra space and amenities, and you're in the middle, you gauge it on that. As someone with parents who grew up poor and working class, the hard work argument makes sense to me. My parents were frugal and didn't spend money on things "rich people" buy (we almost never went on vacation or ate at restaurants, i didn't get everything i asked for, etc) but I knew we didn't have a problem buying things we needed. Maybe this has something to do with understanding concept of money itself because as a kid you may not understand savings, investments, or money that isn't cash. Also both of my parents worked a lot when I was growing up and I always associated that with needing the money (again I had friends with parents who needed to have multiple jobs and friends who had a stay at home parent). Ok I'm rambling lol but I think the younger creators explaining their financial situation likely don't have a full understanding of it
Yes those are great points! I guess I couldn’t relate bc my parents were always way too transparent about their income and expenses hahaha
From the other end of this - I’m definitely from an upper middle class household. Growing up, I had no idea how different my life was from others. I never really asked my parents for things (or felt comfortable with it), so I started to notice in late elementary school that I didn’t have what others did in terms of colorful pens or cool clothes. Then I started going to friends houses in middle school and saw that mine was so much larger and it was super confusing because I’d thought that we were not as well off (especially with my mom stressing over debt). I don’t even think I recognized fully where my family sat on the class scale until high school. It’s definitely still weird because I tend to live on my own salary from my campus job and, as such, only do what I personally can afford. I know I have no understanding of money, so I tend to spend way less than my friends with less and stress about how much I save way more. Meanwhile my parents are doing things like getting an RV or putting a down payment on a weekend home. I do what I can to use my privilege to help my friends, like by paying for friends when we go out or covering the cost of gas. I dunno, this was super long and rambly lol
My parents also actively shielded us from any kind of hard numbers on how much money we had. I think if I have kids I won't do this though, I'll want them to understand our place in the world so they aren't ignorant.
@@tiffanyferg same, no shade on others, but I genuinely cannot understand being a child that doesn't have a gague on your parents wealth because its so a part of me. And it seems like, at least in hindsight, it should be easy to figure it out with context clues.
That's so true, I literally had to have a fight with my dad for him to finally be transparent with me about how much my parents make and how much debt they were in. I think he was ashamed to admit it, and my parent never wanted us to worry about money growing up so they spent money they didn't have. During the housing crisis I knew things were bad because my parents fought a lot over money and my mom admitted to me once that we might lose the house, but growing up without any sense of money made it so abstract and I feel really unprepared to be an adult and manage my own money as a result
There's a UK TV show for anyone interested in rich kids learning about their wealth & privilege "Rich Kids Go Skint - Channel 5". Only watched 2 episodes so far but it's been pretty interesting :)
As a person who also grew up poor, I think another useful method of measuring wealth, is measuring the amount of time you got to spend with your parents. For example, I was always really jealous of the other kids in school, cause their parents would come back home around noon, while my parents would work till midnight 🙃