With moving to a new city and settling into adult life, university exposes us to an immense plethora of people: people who’ve done gap years, foundation years, straight out of sixth form and international students are all seeking new experiences. University is often framed as a site for opportunity regarding social mobility, a space where background doesn’t interfere with academic merit.
Identity and expression has become a focus point for teenagers and young adults, with a multitude of aesthetics, styles and curated personas are pushed online, creating a virtual hierarchy of social spheres built on shared taste. Pierre Bourdieu’s development of “cultural capital” encapsulates the subtle knowledge and behaviours that signal inclusion. At university, these signals surface quickly, shaping the social circles we choose to be a part of and is indexed through a multitude of markers. The ‘rah girls’ acts as a stereotype of affluence, appearing effortlessly curated: she wears ralph lauren knits and white linens, she possibly does a degree in classics and plays lacrosse for her uni. It is an identity that has become a point of examination through humour online, but what motivates this stereotype and how has this identity grown and become codified within university culture?
This piece isn’t intended to villainise privilege or romanticise struggle, but to recognise the everyday choices and presentations that reflect converging classes with unspoken codified behaviours and subliminal status symbols that imply belonging to an exclusive social sphere.
The freedom of lifestyle choices acts as a focal point to recognise class distinctions. These choices are more than personal preference but act as subtle status symbols which reflect economic privilege. Choosing catered, en-suite and on campus accommodation creates a distinction over the affordability of convenience. This is further reflected with geographical mobility with the accessibility to Russell Group universities (where over 70% of students come from higher socio-economic backgrounds) and the gradual migration North to cities such as Newcastle, Leeds and Liverpool, studentifying city suburbs and shifting neighbourhood demographics which attract affluent students. These choices perform independence and taste which is not universal across the student community. Even the opportunity to pursue arts degrees, unpaid internships and doing a year abroad signal systemic advantage: 60% of unpaid internships are undertaken by privately educated students which acutely portrays thefinancial freedom that upper class students experience. The disparity of the freedom of choice hits harder with each scroll on LinkedIn, witnessing others secure grad schemes and grow their network in the professional world. These choices create a larger ripple effect with accessing further opportunities beyond university life and intensifying social capital.
As students, we recognise the distinction between ‘university’ and ‘uni’, where the social spheres during our degrees demonstrate class barriers and economic disparity. The ability to join sports teams, partake in regular night outs and trips abroad create social segregation brought from the lack of relatability. The underrepresentation of factors including race, gender, sexuality, class, and disability greatly sway what students put as their first-choice university, further embedding academic and socioeconomic power and communicate the exclusivity of belonging.
At university, clothing isn’t just about style; it’s a form of social signalling, a visible marker of who belongs and who doesn’t. The ‘rah girl’ aesthetic is pervasive with its perfectly niche allure and ahead-of-trend aesthetic appeal: think Ralph Lauren sweaters, Tom’s Trunks linen pants, teeny weeny Brandy Melville tank tops and Longchamp and Coach tote bags. Somehow, this styling always feels ‘right’ with reflecting cultural capital through effortless taste and social fluency through a curated persona. This tailored wardrobe and subtle styling acts as an indicator for privilege: the exclusivity of these items and the insider knowledge of fashion sense instils a notion of affluence and monetary privilege. Sitting on the periphery of this identity allows students to quietly map class hierarchies within a simple walk between lectures.
Even when extreme wealth is marginal, some students hedge their privilege, performing modesty to avoid embarrassment or social scrutiny. From romanticising student poverty, this behaviour signals both self-awareness and belonging. A prime example can be demonstrated through the divide of students at the University of Edinburgh. Online, criticism on The Edinburgh Tab has emerged, with intensifying socioeconomic hierarchies and alienating Scottish identities, with isolating its presentations of the city solely on the Russell Group university and English students. One commenter on a video said, ‘not a single Scottish person in sight’, which the Edinburgh tab replied, ‘as God intended’. These serve as a reminder for endemic classism and elitism in university culture.
Performing modesty through representing themselves as working class with downplaying monetary privilege and altering accents demonstrates an awareness for class divisions yet is controversial in its codified performance of struggle. The appropriation economic hardship as a social strategy whilst still participating in an elite social sphere presents hedging as a status symbol. Evidently, students across class fear ostracisation, negotiating speech, clothing and behaviours across to avoid being othered.
The ‘rah girl’ identity is both alluring and exclusionary. Its appeal lies in its confidence, coherence, and effortless chic:everyone wants to join in because it promises belonging and social fluency. With reflecting on this, creating stereotypical social types makes university feel like a performance of fitting within the box rather than a space of expression. Identity isn’t inherently material but is socially learned through environment: university exposes students to a variety of cultures and experiences, becoming a daunting space to navigate. Whilst the ‘rah girl’ aesthetic may have become a point of online ridicule, the individual fashion and lifestyle choices shouldn’t be stigmatised, but should rather incite contemplation of the diverse sphere that university life claims to celebrate and the subtle ways that status and privilege are navigated.