HD659 Grace Walker “And the DNA Test Shows”: and the Construction of the Working Class Mother Grace Walker

Abstract Jeremy Kyle uses The Jeremy Kyle Show in order to represent the working class woman as a deviant in society who embodies middle and upper class anxieties about the over fertile, promiscuous white woman. In this journal I will be drawing on three articles which discuss the representation of the ‘chav’ figure, which is overdetermined in contemporary culture in order to further the class divide in society and allows upper and middle class people to feel a sense of superiority towards those that can’t access the same kind of opportunities as them. This is because the welfare state is being replaced with social exclusion which has resulted in working class people being expected to become responsible for their own successes and failures and the discourses surrounding these social constraints are ignored (Hollingworth and Williams: 2009, p468).

Keywords

Chav - a young lower-class person who displays brash and loutish behaviour.

Racial Mixing - ‘chavs’ are positioned on the borderline of whiteness because of how they are influenced by popular black American culture and their sexual relations with black and Asian men.

Figurative forms – During cultural and historical moments ‘social types’ become over characterised by popular media.

Introduction

The reality television programme The Jeremy Kyle Show invites guests to appear on the show to confront opponents in front of a studio audience. Jeremy Kyle acts as a mediator between the feuding parties and offers DNA and Lie-Detector tests, counselling and drug rehabilitation to those that require them. In this journal I will analyse the facade of Jeremy Kyle’s generous gestures and his representation of the working class mother in relation to the discourses that surround the ‘chav mum’, using a three texts which discuss the discourses surrounding class and gender. I believe that this will HD659 Grace Walker prove that Jeremy Kyle is constructing the working class mother in accordance with middle and upper-class ideology and the anxiety that surrounds the working classes within society.

The ‘Chav Mum’

In her article ‘Chav Mum, Chav Scum’, Imogen Tyler discusses the emergence of the grotesque, stereotypical figure of the working class mother across popular media and the introduction of the word

‘chav’ into the vocabulary of middle and upper class people as a derogatory term for the white working class, particularly working class mothers through the socially constructed image of the ‘chav mum’. This image has been produced from the disgusted reactions from middle and upper class people to a figure which embodies cultural anxieties regarding female promiscuity, fertility and ‘racial mixing’ (Tyler: 2008, p18), and is a form of antagonism from middle and upper classes which fuels class struggle in Britain (Tyler: 2008, p19).

Tyler uses the term ‘racial mixing’ in relation to how the ‘chav’ figure is positioned at the borders of whiteness and represents the ‘sullied urban’ underclass. The word ‘chav’ is used towards the white working classes, but they aren’t seen as normative white but ‘filthy whites’ (Tyler: 2008, p26). This can be used towards my analysis of The Jeremy Kyle Show as the participants of the show are having their whiteness questioned because of their ‘filthy white’, underclass status. The ‘chav’ figure is positioned on the borderline of whiteness because of how they are influenced by popular black

American culture. This can be seen through the way that they dress, speak, their taste in music and their sexual intimacy with black and Asian working classes (Tyler: 2008, p27).

Social classifications are political formations which are played out by figurative forms. Tyler uses the term ‘figurative form’ to explain how during cultural and historical moments ‘social types’ become over characterised by the media. These over-characterised social types are placed under public ridicule due to underlying cultural crisis and anxiety surrounding that social group. These figurative forms are constructed in a way that attributes superiority to the middle and upper classes and allows them to strengthen the divide between them (Tyler: 2008, p19). The repetition of the representation of the

‘chav mum’ across different media platforms causes those representations to coalesce and this is when over-determined stereotypical representations of the ‘chav mum’ emerge. HD659 Grace Walker

The ‘Mommy Myth’

In their book, ’The Mommy Myth: The Idealisation of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined All

Women’, Susan Douglas and Meredith Michaels discuss how mass media shows a sugar-coated portrayal of motherhood rather than delving into the reality of a mother’s everyday life; the mass media instead repeatedly suggests techniques that mothers can use to improve themselves and the lives of their children, resulting in mothers often feeling inadequate (Douglas and Michaels: 2005, p2).

From the moment a mother wakes to the time that she goes to sleep she is bombarded with newspapers, magazines and television programmes demanding she knows how to perfectly raise her child along with news channels spreading moral panic of the dangers that may await her child if she loses concentration (Douglas and Michaels: 2005, p3) - They are put into a position where they are unable to do the right thing and will always be criticised. Mothers are fed up with the “mommy myth”

(Douglas and Michaels: 2005, p3) that motherhood is eternally fulfilling and rewarding and you should enjoy every moment of your lives together, which results in them feeling they are not handling their duties as well as others and resentful of those around them who seem to be doing a better job.

The ‘mommy myth’ is relevant to The Jeremy Kyle Show due to Kyle’s persecution of women for their mothering abilities. In one episode, a young mother appeared on stage pleading to be able to see her child but Kyle told her that she was unfit to be a mother and the child was safer in the care of their guardian. The reason that Kyle gave for presenting her as an unfit mother was that she had walked out on her child to spend time with her friends after giving birth, aged sixteen; rather than delving deeper into her emotional state, she was deemed selfish and irresponsible. During the interrogation of young mothers on The Jeremy Kyle Show, there is a screen on stage that shows the child being cared for; Kyle makes the mother look at their child being cared for ‘properly’ and asks them why they are not a better mother. This relates to the ‘mommy myth’ that motherhood should be a positive experience and there must be something lacking in them as a women if they are not able to see that

(Douglas and Michaels: 2005, p3).

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Three Main Lines of Class Boundaries

In their article ‘Constructions of the Working-Class Other’, Sumi Hollingworth and Katya Williams explain how the discourses surrounding the ‘chav’ figure strengthens the border between the working class and the upper and middle classes. The boundaries between classes are structured along three main lines (Hollingworth and Williams: 2009, p473): The first is the aesthetic which draws on appearance, such as excessive consumer culture for the ‘chav mother’. For example, “Gold-hooped earrings, branded sports tops, sparkling white trainers and baggy tracksuit bottoms is the uniform of

UK’s new underclass” (Tyler: 2008, p21), as said by a British journalist in 2004 when the disgust and fascination towards the working classes was at its peak. The new generation of British working classes differentiates from older generations due to their excessive consumption of consumer and branded goods. Tyler explains how depictions of the working classes pivot on appearance and the perceived excess of “bodily materiality” (Tyler: 2008, p22). The aesthetic associated with the ‘chav’ figure can be seen regularly on The Jeremy Kyle Show: In one episode, a young mother featured with peroxide blonde streaks in her brown hair, an excessive amount of fake tan, fake lashes detaching themselves from her eyelids and large gold earrings and was subsequently dubbed ‘tan monster’ by the public. Such obsessive attention to appearance connotes a low moral value

(Hollingworth and Williams: 2009, p474).

Behaviour is also a signifier of low moral value and the difference between classes is understood by working class people making a spectacle of themselves; described as loud and brash, working class people are seen as being tough as well as having a penchant for criminal behaviour (Hollingworth and

Williams: 2009, p474). Middle and upper classes are intimidated by the working classes, and instead of confronting them they turn them into a spectacle (Tyler: 2008, p23). There is moral undertone towards the way working classes are represented; upper and middle classes look down on them because they wouldn’t engage in such behaviour themselves. The middle and upper class’s critique of working class people has elements of condensation and superiority; they find comfort in knowing that these people will not succeed in life, unlike themselves (Hollingworth and Williams: 2009, p474).

These theories can be used in relation to The Jeremy Kyle Show due to the setup of the show: there are several security guards positioned around the stage and in one episode, a young mother appeared on stage, assaulted the father of her child and then walked back off again. Kyle went HD659 Grace Walker backstage to confront her for her behaviour, accompanied by one of his security guards, putting his face close to hers and antagonising her.

Thirdly, there’s moral boundaries: The ‘chav’ figure is seen as disruptive with a reluctance to follow rules and boundaries (Hollingworth and Williams: 2009, 474). The term ‘moral boundaries’ relates to

Tyler’s description of the term ‘racial difference’ - The ‘chav mum’ is seen as highly promiscuous and fertile and her whiteness has been tainted because of her sexual activity with black and Asian men

(Tyler: 2008, p26). This relates closely to The Jeremy Kyle Show due to the young women who appear on the show seeking DNA and lie-detector tests due to their promiscuous behaviour. In one episode, a young mother appeared on the show seeking a DNA test; Kyle asked her how many men had she slept with and the audience laughed when she didn’t know. This caused her behaviour to be seen as a spectacle and a source of entertainment for others.

Conclusion

I believe that the theories I have examined support my notion that The Jeremy Kyle Show constructs the image of the working classes, in particular the working class mother by disparaging the working class mother and questioning her whiteness and femininity due to her promiscuous behaviour and low moral value. The Jeremy Kyle Show represents the working classes in a stereotypical way which can also be seen in products spanning across other media platforms and television genres. Another television show which embodies similar traits is the Channel 4 show , which also portrays the working classes in a negative way and represents the working class mother as somebody who embodies traits of ‘racial mixing’ and allows her children and partner to participate in unruly, illegal behaviour. Programmes like The Jeremy Kyle Show and Benefits Street should be seen as a way of constructing a barrier between class differences, and if television programmes like these continue to be aired, a society of social exclusion will deepen and the boundaries between classes will become even more pronounced.

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Bibliography

Douglas, S and Michaels, M (2005). ‘The Mommy Myth: The Idealisation of Motherhood and How It

Has Undermined All Women’. New York: Simon and Shuster.

Hollingworth, S and Williams, K (2009), ‘Constructions of the working-class ‘Other’ among urban, white, middle-class youth: ‘chavs’, subculture and the valuing of education’, Journal of Youth Studies,

12:5, 467-482, DOI: 10.1080/13676260903081673

Tyler, I (2008) ‘Chav Mum Chav Scum’, Feminist Media Studies, 8:1,

17-34, DOI: 10.1080/14680770701824779

Screenography

Benefits Street (2014), Channel 4, United Kingdom

The Jeremy Kyle Show (2005-present), Distributed by ITV, United Kingdom

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