bourgeois
Adj. When pronounced "BOO-zhee" (soft-j sound like in French) refers to a quality of (sometimes mildly) snobby-without-realizing-it,
upper-middle-class sensibilities. Usually associated with upper-middle-income white people, but not necessarily. Can involve driving the right car, getting the right (healthy or gourmet) foods, having a professional/
white-collar job, always having "nice" things, $4
lattes at Starbucks or elsewhere because you think you're above Starbucks, having a well-diversified stock
portfolio and other retirement savings, having a special set of dishes and everything else just for Christmas, status-symbol kids or pets, carbon
offsets, thinking $15 wine is cheap, listening to
NPR, and gentrifying neighborhoods. Even though not all of these things may be bad and some of them could be done by anybody (like healthy food or looking down on Starbucks), it's a certain combination and a certain attitude that goes along with it that you know when you see. As with many type-of-people-describing things, there can be some
overlap with other things,
yuppy stuff and hipster stuff especially (although hipsters tend to be associated with 20-somethings, and
yuppies tend to be younger-middle-age; bourgeois has more of an association with younger-middle-age-thru-older-middle-age); can be distinguished from super-rich stuff; some people might do bourgeois things occasionally or do things in a bourgeois way, but some people are just bourgeois and usually don't realize it.
bourgeois
by Sam Gavin on Apr 11, 2008 05:20:34
According to
Karl Marx, there were only two classes: those controlling
the means of power and those not. The bourgeois were those who controlled the political system, creating laws and values that would ensure their control of power over the
proletariat working class.
Example:
The bourgeois Board of Trustees at the College of
St. Benedict are trying to make us live on campus
all four years, what a
violation of freedom!
bourgeois
by Sam Gavin on Apr 11, 2008 05:20:10
According to
Karl Marx, there were only two classes: those controlling
the means of power and those not. The bourgeois were those who controlled the political system, creating laws and values that would ensure their control of power over the
proletariat working class.
Example:
The bourgeois Board of Trustees at the College of
St. Benedict are trying to make us live on campus
all four years, what a
violation of freedom!
Bourgeois
by mishimihendrix on Apr 20, 2020 21:00:34
Bourgeoisie, in todays terms, means middle-class, and is usually used as a pejorative term for the materialistic, rather affluent, conventional-minded part of society that "feels" on the upper levels. This group is hierarchically narrow-minded and overly-concerned with the idea of social levels, despising everything and everyone that doesn't "measure up" socially and/or financially. When making new acquaintances, they normally put an exceptionally high-priority on well-established backgrounds, traditional manners (feeling therewith
aristocratic, according to their clichées), and wealth and social status. Utterly socially pedantic themselves, they'll always be afraid of what may seem unconventional or considered socially odd.
The term refers by no means to the genuine aristocratic
stratum, which would be considered the true upper class. Although the
aristocracy might display a certain elitism, the true
aristocrat, being well-read, travelled around the world, and having had a top-class well-rounded (and not only business-oriented) education, is curious and fascinated by the multifacetedness of life, and the fact that the world cannot be reduced to a
hierarchical structure lubricated by money. A true aristocrat will have a mind affine to philosophy, literature and art. Fine Art, as a form of human expression and heritage, and not as a sign of social status and prestige (which is the way the
bourgeoisie acts towards renowned art, trying to emulate "aristocratic tendencies").
Example:
Reference to the movie "The Talented Mr.
Ripley", where a modern usage of the above definition is used.
Background: In the late 1950's, Tom Ripley, a clear member of the middle-class, sees himself being fascinated by the nonchalant European lifestyle of
Dickie Greenleaf und
Freddie Miles, after meeting them in Italy. Dickie and Freddie, are unambiguously members of
New York's aristocracy (true upper class), but, although clearly wealthy, display a very refined, non-pompous, and rather discreet lifestyle. From the start, Dickie genuinely accepts and grows fond of Tom for his quirkiness and passion for Jazz, never really caring about his background or socio-economic situation.
At a later stage in the film, Tom, having access to
Dickies wealth, but having a middle-class-minded idea of how wealthy people behave, decorates his apartment in Rome as if it belonged to Dickie, in an unsuccessful attempt to emulate his style. Without giving out any spoilers, heres a conversation between Tom and Freddie inside Tom's new flat:
- Freddie: Did this place come
furnished?
- Tom: ...
- Freddie: It doesn't look like Dickie. It's ah... it's horrible... isn't it? It's so eh... Bourgeois
This is a clear display of how Bourgeois is a term used solely with derogatory contempt, and means anything but classy, or sophisticated.
Bourgeois
by bi myself on Feb 26, 2021 22:39:17
According to
Marx and
Engels, the Bourgeois class, also called the
Bourgeoisie, is a term for those who make money off of other people's labor, rather than doing their own labor. Typically in reference to rich people.