Cultural stratification in the UK: Persistent gender and class differences in cultural voraciousness

Tally Katz-Gerro, Oriel Sullivan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper adds to the literature on cultural stratification by revisiting cultural voraciousness, nearly two decades after it was first introduced as a measure of cultural participation designed to capture inequalities in the pace and variety of cultural activities. Specifically, using the UK 2014–15 Time Use Survey, we compare measures of cultural voraciousness in the UK in 1998 and 2015, focussing in particular on the way cultural voraciousness is associated with both gender and class. We find continuity over time in the patterns of relationship between cultural voraciousness, gender and class, which are not explained by income or hours worked. While women at the bottom of the class scale are still the most disadvantaged in terms of unequal access to cultural participation, high level managerial women now equal equivalent men in their voracious cultural participation. We conclude that not only is cultural voraciousness still useful in depicting cultural inequalities delineated by gender and class, and not only do gender and class gaps in cultural voraciousness persist over time, but also that there is evidence for accentuated class inequality over time in cultural voraciousness among men and among women.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)391-408
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of Consumer Culture
Volume23
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.

Keywords

  • Cultural voraciousness
  • class
  • cultural consumption
  • cultural stratification
  • gender
  • inequality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Social Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Marketing

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