> Today, spin classes, artisanal food, and the college application process ...make no mistake, they serve the same purpose: transforming class privilege into individual virtue, thereby shoring up social dominance.
It's a contrived packaging of their politics.
There are some good reflections in the second half about child rearing, but otherwise... no, self improvement and exercise are not exclusive upper class values. And by my observation, the people who insist on removing gluten from their diet, or biking casually in full race gear, are more often judged negatively and then mocked when out of earshot, instead of being considered virtuous and high class.
The notion that this is somehow a "Victorian" thing, though - that the Victorians have some special responsibility in history for inventing this strategy of social dominance - that's an error.
Humans have been doing this for much longer than that.
Perhaps the only significances of the Victorians was the rise of a middle class and "more" upward mobility. Before it had been "act your class/caste", the one you had been born in, but for the Victorians is was the class you wanted your _children_ to be born in.
But for sure, was an interesting comparison, until the vomit forced into the last line.
I’m glad that I wasn’t the only one who found that to be offputting. What a way to ruin an otherwise excellent article.