Middle Class. Soy Milk Macchiato. Mortgages. PTA. Mumsnet. Reserve Pension Funds. White. Prim. Proper. Dull.
In Black Hole, middle class teenagers take risks whilst exploring their sexuality. We might immediately class this as typical: private schools are awash with those who wish to experiment at parties, in the full knowledge that they have their hockey team kudos that no amount of embarrassing sexual encounters will diminish.
We might look to their parents and hope that it is finished by that stage, but research suggests that those PTA meetings aren’t as dull and dispassionate as you might expect. One of the key aspects of black hole is the freedom the girls take to experiment, and this aspect of being a middle class woman doesn’t diminish with time.
The Barcelona Public Health Agency presented findings in the Annals of Epidemiology earlier this year to suggest that women who have higher disposable income and the ability to manage their own contraception are far more sexually satisfied (16% more than those on lower incomes). They were described as having a greater awareness of their own needs, which led to higher satisfaction.
Anyone with a vague awareness of Mumsnet knows there are certain threads you need to avoid, or read – depending on your disposition. Countless stories are in the press over the private affairs of the middle class enraging their husbands as they chase the option that maximizes their utility. Such wild abandon is not deemed suitable for women in the upper class, and the working class often lack the ability to do so.
So, do we take the actions of the teenagers in Black Hole to be necessary to develop an awareness of these sexual needs before they can demand them as adults? Is this, then, a natural stepping-stone on the way to adulthood?
It is easy to forget that Middle Class adults were once Middle Class teenagers, and as such had the money and trust to pursue what pleasured them.
The Middle Class. Not so prim after all.
Maisie