Donation Bin?
Or Kanye’s +$2000
Sweatshirt
“Trashy vs. Classy” is a social media trend where people discuss how sometimes the same thing can be viewed entirely differently based on if you are rich or poor. For example, do you own a super old car? That’s trashy if you are poor, but classy if you are rich. Hand me downs? Vintage if you are rich! Used if you are poor.
We see examples of this in many areas of life – and it might even affect what we think is cool or our decisions.
You can find more examples of this trend here.
#VanLife? Or #HousingLoss?
Can you come up with examples of “Trashy vs. Classy” about how people view housing?
What are some examples of this that we see in housing and housing judgement? Many of the people we serve face stigma every day about their lifestyles – but there can be a lot of people making judgements who see it very differently in other contexts.
As a thought experiment, with your team or alone, come up with as many examples as you can. (If you’re in an office, great activity for a staff meeting OR have a space for people to submit their own all week and discuss at the end). What are examples you might notice in your own life? Feel free to share below!
Reflection Questions:
- How do these affect the people we serve?
- How do these kinds of stigmas affect our housing-related choices?
- Does this relate to other types of inequality? (Race? Gender? Sexuality?)
- How can we help reverse the narrative on this kind of labelling?