[HN Gopher] Behind Closed Doors review - entertaining study of L...
___________________________________________________________________
Behind Closed Doors review - entertaining study of London private
members' clubs
Author : pepys
Score : 34 points
Date : 2022-07-20 19:01 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theguardian.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theguardian.com)
| angarg12 wrote:
| I've lived in a handful of countries and UK is where I
| experienced the most intense classism.
|
| Unlike other countries where class is mostly defined by money,
| the UK tends to define it in the old school heritage and
| upbringing sense of the word. No matter if you made millions,
| unless you have pedigree, you don't belong. Makes me chuckle a
| bit when people complains about classism in the US.
| zeruch wrote:
| In the US, we both deflate the open class-ist discussion
| prevalent in the UK by pretending we are above that, while
| hypocritically we conflate class with cash -- in effect you buy
| 'pedigree' which is why our growing nouveau riche are such
| exceptionally gormless, gaudy jackwagons who often exhibit the
| worst of all trait-sets: often milquetoast but boorish, pearl-
| clutching yet belligerent, all while terrified of everything
| "different"...and we're the greatest place on Earth.
|
| It should be a condition in the DSM-V.
| vorpalhex wrote:
| Interesting snippet but I wish they had given us more detail
| about the clubs!
| er4hn wrote:
| They give you just enough to tempt you into ordering the full
| book. FTA: Thevoz's book is at its best when it
| covers the "eccentricities" of this world. Clubland is,
| after all, a place where a sign can read "members are asked not
| to bring their mistresses to dine at the club, unless
| they are the wives of other members"
| traceroute66 wrote:
| For those not familiar with UK media, The Guardian (better known
| as The Grauniad due to the frequency of spelling mistakes in its
| pages) is a very left-leaning paper.
|
| Therefore topics such as private members' clubs are to be
| considered fair game for The Guardian as its the sort of place
| their readership would not be seen dead.
|
| I would suggest that the truth is somewhere half-way between two
| sides of the proverbial coin.
|
| There are some clubs that do indeed have a bit of a reputation.
| The Carlton Club mentioned in the first paragraph for example. As
| one Londoner put it to me in relation to the alleged Pincher
| incident, "if it was bad enough to raise eyebrows at the Carlton
| Club, it must have been bad".
|
| Moving more to the other side of the coin, the Reform Club also
| mentioned in the article is not particularly controversial. Sure
| some of its ways may be old-fashioned my modern standards (e.g.
| wearing of ties by gentlemen is NOT optional). However for the
| non-Londoner for example, membership does have its benefits in
| that they have a small number of accommodation rooms available at
| a nightly rate that you would be hard pushed to find in such a
| central location, especially during peak season.
|
| Finally, firmly on the other side of the coin are those clubs
| that try to scrape by a living by catering for pursuits that are
| rather more rarified in the modern age. For example, anyone who's
| anyone in the Bridge world will know of the Portland Club, the
| main parameter for membership there being a (very!) decent Bridge
| player (a fact that will need to be vouched for by your proposer
| and seconder). You won't find any debauchery at the Portland
| Club, its a serious club for serious people !
|
| Other examples exist, but point being to take The Guardian's
| opinion on such matters with a pinch of salt.
| canniballectern wrote:
| Did you read the article? It's just a review of a book - the
| article itself doesn't have much to say either way about modern
| clubs, besides acknowledging the recent Pincher news.
| traceroute66 wrote:
| > Did you read the article?
|
| Briefly skimmed through it yes.
|
| But surely the average HN reader will know from the tech
| world that choice of item to review and style of review is
| down to editorial discretion.
|
| One might say that The Guardian is doing the very English
| thing of finding a way to say something without saying it.
| katamarimambo wrote:
| you didn't even click the damn link.
| DaedPsyker wrote:
| I feel for balance then that I strongly disagree that the
| guardian is VERY left leaning. It leans left for sure but
| primarily centre-left.
| feet wrote:
| The perception of politics is being skewed by the heavily
| extremist right-wing US, that's my best guess anyhow
| noSyncCloud wrote:
| >The Guardian [...] is a very left-leaning paper.
|
| This is A. Not true, and B. Not the perjorative you think it
| is. The Guardian is as milquetoast and centrist as it's
| possible to get.
| skissane wrote:
| "Left-leaning" and "right-leaning" are _somewhat_ objective.
| Add the word _very_ to either, and suddenly we are much more
| in subjective eye-of-the-beholder territory. What's
| "centrism" or "moderation" or "milquetoast" to one person
| will be seen as "radicalism", even "extremism", by another.
| katamarimambo wrote:
| Will dang appear out of nowhere to condemn this post like he
| did when Bari Weiss was criticized for her "common sense" BS
| website or "ad hominem" (per him) is fair game against left
| wing media?
| jl6 wrote:
| The dress code at the Reform is strict but ties are in fact
| optional.
| nibbleshifter wrote:
| The guardian might be left leaning, but specifically,
| middle/upper middle class in its left leaning-ness.
|
| Another point to note: Soho House, much loved by some of the HN
| readership, is a private members club.
| frgtpsswrdlame wrote:
| You make it sound like they're printing Lenin or something lol,
| they're a little left but certainly not 'very.'
|
| Furthermore, why wouldn't a topic like private members' clubs
| be fair game for any sort of major journalistic outfit?
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2022-07-21 23:01 UTC)